A lattice L is said to be dually semimodular if for all elements a and b in L, a ∨ b covers b implies that a covers a ∧ b. L is consistent if for every join-irreducible j and every element x in L, the element x ∨ j is a join-irreducible in the upper interval [x,l]. In this paper, finite dually semimodular consistent lattices are investigated. Examples of these lattices are the lattices of subnormal subgroups of a finite group. In 1954, R. P. Dilworth proved that in a finite modular lattice, the number of elements covering exactly k elements is equal to the number of elements covered by exactly k elements. Here, it is established that if a finite dually semimodular consistent lattice has the same number of join-irreducibles as meet-irreducibles, then it is modular. Hence, a converse of Dilworth's theorem, in the case when k equals 1, is obtained for finite dually semimodular consistent lattices. Several combinatorial results are shown for finite consistent lattices similar to those already established for finite geometric lattices. The reach of an element x in a lattice L is the difference between the rank of x*, the join of x and all the elements covering x, and the rank of x; the maximum reach of all elements in L is the reach of L. Sharp lower bounds for the total number of elements and the number of elements of a given reach in a semimodular consistent lattice given the rank, the reach, and the number of join-irreducibles are found. Extremal lattices attaining these bounds are described. Similar results are then obtained for finite dually semimodular consistent lattices.

Let L be a lattice. For x ∈ L, we say x is a consistent join-irreducible if x V y is a join-irreducible of the lattice [y,1] for all y in L. We say L is consistent if every join-irreducible of L is consistent. In this dissertation, we study the notion of consistent elements in semimodular lattices.

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