We introduce a notion of ‘hereditarily antisymmetric’ operator algebras and prove a structure theorem for them in finite dimensions. We also characterize those operator algebras in finite dimensions which can be made upper triangular and prove matrix analogs of the theorems of Dilworth and Mirsky for finite posets. Some partial results are obtained in the infinite dimensional case.

Let $S$ be a Shimura variety with reflex field $E$. We prove that the action of $\text{Gal}(\overline{\mathbb{Q}}/E)$ on $S$ maps special points to special points and special subvarieties to special subvarieties. Furthermore, the Galois conjugates of a special point all have the same complexity (as defined in the theory of unlikely intersections). These results follow from Milne and Shih’s construction of canonical models of Shimura varieties, based on a conjecture of Langlands which was proved by Borovoi and Milne.