Linear extension

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In mathematics, a partial order* on a set X is an extension of a partial order ≤ on X provided that for any elements x1 and x2 of X with x1x2, it is also the case that x1* x2. A linear extension of ≤ is an extension that is a linear order, or total order.

The algorithmic problem of constructing a linear extension of a partial order on a finite set, represented by a directed acyclic graph with the set's elements as its vertices, is known as topological sorting.

This area also includes one of order theory's most famous open problems, the ⅓–⅔ conjecture, which states that in any partially ordered set P that is not totally ordered there exists a pair x, y \in P for which the linear extensions of P in which x < y number between ⅓ and ⅔ of the total number of linear extensions of P.

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