Region level via centralization for hyperplane arrangements and beyond

Abstract: In "Faces of a Hyperplane Arrangement Enumerated by Ideal Dimension, with Applications to Plane, Plaids, and Shi," Zaslavsky showed how to compute the number $r_\ell(\mathcal{A})$ of regions of a real hyperplane arrangement $\mathcal{A}$ with a given level, refining his well known enumeration of regions and relatively bounded regions. We restate this theorem in terms of a construction called the centralization of $\mathcal{A}$, give a bijective proof, and then apply it in two ways to answer questions concerning the concept of level. Firstly, a consequence of this enumeration is that $r_\ell(\mathcal{A})$ depends only on the intersection poset $\mathcal{L}(\mathcal{A})$, such that both $r_\ell$ and centralization can be defined in the more general setting of geometric semilattices. In this context we derive a very general expression for the characteristic polynomial of a geometric semilattice with several interesting corollaries. Secondly, recent investigations into the phenomenon of level have made little use of Zaslavsky's level-counting theorem, but it can be applied to obtain or generalize many of their results. In particular we show how exponential generating function identities (arXiv:2410.10198, arXiv:2411.02971) and an expression giving the characteristic polynomial in terms of $r_\ell$ (arXiv:2411.03756) can be derived for deformations of the braid arrangement.