A lexicographic shellability characterization of geometric lattices

Geometric lattices are characterized as those finite, atomic lattices such that every atom ordering induces a lexicographic shelling given by an edge labeling known as a minimal labeling. Equivalently, geometric lattices are shown to be exactly those finite lattices such that every ordering on the join-irreducibles induces a lexicographic shelling. This new characterization fits into a similar paradigm as McNamara’s characterization of supersolvable lattices as those lattices admitting a different type of lexicographic shelling, namely one in which each maximal chain is labeled with a permutation of {1, . . . , n}.