Lower bound theorem for normal pseudomanifolds

Abstract

In this paper we present a self-contained combinatorial proof of the lower bound theorem for normal pseudomanifolds, including a treatment of the cases of equality in this theorem. We also discuss McMullen and Walkup's generalized lower bound conjecture for triangulated spheres in the context of the lower bound theorem. Finally, we pose a new lower bound conjecture for non-simply connected triangulated manifolds.