We investigate the face numbers of simplicial complexes with Buchsbaum vertex
links, especially pseudomanifolds with isolated singularities. This includes
deriving Dehn-Sommerville relations for pseudomanifolds with isolated
singularities and establishing lower bound theorems when the singularities are
also homologically isolated. We give formulas for the Hilbert function of a
generic Artinian reduction of the face ring when the singularities are
homologically isolated and for any pure two-dimensional complex.
We prove that for any finite real hyperplane arrangement the average
projection volumes of the maximal cones is given by the coefficients of the
characteristic polynomial of the arrangement. This settles the conjecture of
Drton and Klivans that this held for all finite real reflection arrangements.
The methods used are geometric and combinatorial. As a consequence we determine
that the angle sums of a zonotope are given by the characteristic polynomial of
the order dual of the intersection lattice of the arrangement.
The face ring of a simplicial complex modulo m generic linear forms is shown
to have finite local cohomology if and only if the link of every face of
dimension m or more is `nonsingular', i.e., has the homology of a wedge of
spheres of the expected dimension. This is derived from an enumerative result
for local cohomology of face rings modulo generic linear forms, as compared
with local cohomology of the face ring itself. The enumerative result is
generalized in slightly weaker form to squarefree modules.