Decomposition spaces in combinatorics

A decomposition space (also called 2 2 -Segal space) is a simplicial object satisfying an exactness condition weaker than the Segal condition: just as the Segal condition expresses composition, the new condition expresses decomposition. It is a general framework for incidence (co)algebras. In the present contribution, after establishing a formula for the section coefficients, we survey a large supply of examples, emphasising the notion’s firm roots in classical combinatorics. The first batch of examples, similar to binomial posets, serves to illustrate two key points: (1) the incidence algebra in question is realised directly from a decomposition space, without a reduction step, and reductions are often…