Three Counter-Examples on Semi-Graphoids

Semi-graphoids are combinatorial structures that arise in statistical learning theory. They are equivalent to convex rank tests and to polyhedral fans that coarsen the reflection arrangement of the symmetric group Sn. In this paper we resolve two problems on semi-graphoids posed in Studený’s book [19], and we answer a related question of Postnikov, Reiner, and Williams on generalized permutohedra [18]. We also study the semigroup and the toric ideal associated with semi-graphoids.