The -polly-flatten-schedule pass reduces the number of scattering dimensions in its isl_union_map form to make then easier to understand. It is not meant to be used in production, only for debugging and regression tests.
To illustrate, how it can make sets simpler, here is a lifetime set used computed by DeLICM without flattening:
{ Stmt_reduction_for[0, 4] -> [0, 2, o2, o3] : o2 < 0; Stmt_reduction_for[0, 4] -> [0, 1, o2, o3] : o2 >= 5; Stmt_reduction_for[0, 4] -> [0, 1, 4, o3] : o3 > 0; Stmt_reduction_for[0, i1] -> [0, 1, i1, 1] : 0 <= i1 <= 3; Stmt_reduction_for[0, 4] -> [0, 2, 0, o3] : o3 <= 0 }
And here the same lifetime for a semantically identical one-dimensional schedule:
{ Stmt_reduction_for[0, i1] -> [2 + 3i1] : 0 <= i1 <= 4 }