Surjections and double posets

TL;DR

This paper explores the structure of the Hopf algebra of surjections through the lens of double posets, introducing weak planar posets that connect surjections with algebraic properties of WQSym.

Contribution

It introduces weak planar posets as a new combinatorial framework linking surjections and double posets, expanding the understanding of WQSym's structure.

Findings

Weak planar posets are in bijection with surjections.

The Hopf algebraic properties of these posets are characterized.

Connections between double posets and WQSym are established.

Abstract

The theory and structure of the Hopf algebra of surjections (known as WQSym, the Hopf algebra of word quasi-symmetric functions) parallels largely the one of bijections (known as FQSym or MR, the Hopf algebra of word quasi-symmetric functions or Malvenuto-Reutenauer Hopf algebra). The study of surjections from a picture and double poset theoretic point of view, which is the subject of the present article, seems instead new. The article is organized as follows. We introduce first a family of double posets, weak planar posets, that generalize the planar posets and are in bijection with surjections or, equivalently, packed words. The following sections investigate their Hopf algebraic properties, which are inherited from the Hopf algebra structure of double posets and their relations with WQSym