Inversion arrangements and Bruhat intervals

Let $W$ be a finite reflection group. For a given $w \in W$, the following assertion may or may not be satisfied: (*) The principal Bruhat order ideal of $w$ contains as many elements as there are regions in the inversion hyperplane arrangement of $w$. We present a type independent combinatorial criterion which characterises the elements $w\in W$ that satisfy (*). A couple of immediate consequences are derived: (1) The criterion only involves the order ideal of $w$ as an abstract poset. In this sense, (*) is a poset-theoretic property. (2) For $W$ of type $A$, another characterisation of (*), in terms of pattern avoidance, was previously given in collaboration with Linusson, Shareshian and Sj\"ostrand. We obtain a short and simple proof of that result. (3) If $W$ is a Weyl group and the Schubert variety indexed by $w \in W$ is rationally smooth, then $w$ satisfies (*).