The Betti poset in monomial resolutions

Let P be a finite partially ordered set with unique minimal element 0̂. We study the Betti poset of P , created by deleting elements q ∈ P for which the open interval (0̂, q) is acyclic. Using basic simplicial topology, we demonstrate an isomorphism in homology between open intervals of the form (0̂, p) ⊂ P and corresponding open intervals in the Betti poset. Our motivating application is that the Betti poset of a monomial ideal’s lcm-lattice encodes both its Z-graded Betti numbers and the structure of its minimal free resolution. In the case of rigid monomial ideals, we use the data of the Betti poset to explicitly construct the minimal free resolution. Subsequently, we introduce the notion of rigid deformation, a generalization of Bayer, Peeva, and Sturmfels’ generic deformation.