A generating function for all semi-magic squares and the volume of the Birkhoff polytope

We present a multivariate generating function for all n×n nonnegative integral matrices with all row and column sums equal to a positive integer t, the so called semi-magic squares. As a consequence we obtain formulas for all coefficients of the Ehrhart polynomial of the polytope B _n of n×n doubly-stochastic matrices, also known as the Birkhoff polytope. In particular we derive formulas for the volumes of B _n and any of its faces.     

Higher integrality conditions, volumes and Ehrhart polynomials

A polytope is integral if all of its vertices are lattice points. The constant term of the Ehrhart polynomial of an integral polytope is known to be 1. In previous work, we showed that the coefficients of the Ehrhart polynomial of a lattice-face polytope are volumes of projections of the polytope. We generalize both results by introducing a notion of k-integral polytopes, where 0-integral is equivalent to integral. We show that the Ehrhart polynomial of a k-integral polytope P has the properties that the coefficients in degrees less than or equal to k are determined by a projection of P, and the coefficients in higher degrees are determined by slices of P. A key step of the proof is that under certain generality conditions, the volume of a polytope is equal to the sum of volumes of slices of the polytope.     

Counting Lattice Points by Means of the Residue Theorem

We use the residue theorem to derive an expression for the number of lattice points in a dilated n-dimensional tetrahedron with vertices at lattice points on each coordinate axis and the origin. This expression is known as the Ehrhart polynomial. We show that it is a polynomial in t, where t is the integral dilation parameter. We prove the Ehrhart-Macdonald reciprocity law for these tetrahedra, relating the Ehrhart polynomials of the interior and the closure of the tetrahedra. To illustrate our method, we compute the Ehrhart coefficient for codimension 2. Finally, we show how our ideas can be used to compute the Ehrhart polynomial for an arbitrary convex lattice polytope.     

Ehrhart polynomials of cyclic polytopes

The Ehrhart polynomial of an integral convex polytope counts the number of lattice points in dilates of the polytope. In (Coefficients and roots of Ehrhart polynomials, preprint), the authors conjectured that for any cyclic polytope with integral parameters, the Ehrhart polynomial of it is equal to its volume plus the Ehrhart polynomial of its lower envelope and proved the case when the dimension d=2. In our article, we prove the conjecture for any dimension.     

Four Questions on Birkhoff Polytope

We ask several questions on the structure of the polytope P_n of doubly stochastic n 2 n matrices, known as a Birkhoff polytope. We discuss the volume of P_n, the work of the simplex method, and the mixing of random walks on P_n.     

Norm Bounds for Ehrhart Polynomial Roots

M. Beck et al. found that the roots of the Ehrhart polynomial of a d-dimensional lattice polytope are bounded above in norm by 1+(d+1)!. We provide an improved bound which is quadratic in d and applies to a larger family of polynomials.     

Roots of Ehrhart polynomials arising from graphs

Several polytopes arise from finite graphs. For edge and symmetric edge polytopes, in particular, exhaustive computation of the Ehrhart polynomials not merely supports the conjecture of Beck et al. that all roots α of Ehrhart polynomials of polytopes of dimension D satisfy −D≤Re(α)≤D−1, but also reveals some interesting phenomena for each type of polytope. Here we present two new conjectures: (1) the roots of the Ehrhart polynomial of an edge polytope for a complete multipartite graph of order d lie in the circle |z+\fracd4| ￡ \fracd4|z+\frac{d}{4}| \le \frac{d}{4} or are negative integers, and (2) a Gorenstein Fano polytope of dimension D has the roots of its Ehrhart polynomial in the narrower strip -\fracD2 ￡ Re(a) ￡ \fracD2-1-\frac{D}{2} \leq \mathrm{Re}(\alpha) \leq \frac{D}{2}-1. Some rigorous results to support them are obtained as well as for the original conjecture. The root distribution of Ehrhart polynomials of each type of polytope is plotted in figures.     

Weighted Ehrhart theory and orbifold cohomology

We introduce the notion of a weighted δ-vector of a lattice polytope. Although the definition is motivated by motivic integration, we study weighted δ-vectors from a combinatorial perspective. We present a version of Ehrhart Reciprocity and prove a change of variables formula. We deduce a new geometric interpretation of the coefficients of the Ehrhart δ-vector. More specifically, they are sums of dimensions of orbifold cohomology groups of a toric stack.     

Counterexamples of the Conjecture on Roots of Ehrhart Polynomials

On roots of Ehrhart polynomials, Beck et al. conjecture that all roots α of the Ehrhart polynomial of an integral convex polytope of dimension d satisfy −d≤ℜ(α)≤d−1. In this paper, we provide counterexamples for this conjecture.     

The many aspects of counting lattice points in polytopes

A wide variety of topics in pure and applied mathematics involve the problem of counting the number of lattice points inside a convex bounded polyhedron, for short called a polytope. Applications range from the very pure (number theory, toric Hilbert functions, Kostant’s partition function in representation theory) to the most applied (cryptography, integer programming, contingency tables). This paper is a survey of this problem and its applications. We review the basic structure theorems about this type of counting problem. Perhaps the most famous special case is the theory of Ehrhart polynomials, introduced in the 1960s by Eugène Ehrhart. These polynomials count the number of lattice points in the different integral dilations of an integral convex polytope. We discuss recent algorithmic solutions to this problem and conclude with a look at what happens when trying to count lattice points in more complicated regions of space.     

Roots of Ehrhart Polynomials of Smooth Fano Polytopes

V. Golyshev conjectured that for any smooth polytope P with dim(P)≤5 the roots z∈ℂ of the Ehrhart polynomial for P have real part equal to −1/2. An elementary proof is given, and in each dimension the roots are described explicitly. We also present examples which demonstrate that this result cannot be extended to dimension six.     

Notes on the Roots of Ehrhart Polynomials

We determine lattice polytopes of smallest volume with a given number of interior lattice points. We show that the Ehrhart polynomials of those with one interior lattice point have largest roots with norm of order n², where n is the dimension. This improves on the previously best known bound n and complements a recent result of Braun where it is shown that the norm of a root of a Ehrhart polynomial is at most of order n². For the class of 0-symmetric lattice polytopes we present a conjecture on the smallest volume for a given number of interior lattice points and prove the conjecture for crosspolytopes. We further give a characterisation of the roots of Ehrhart polyomials in the three-dimensional case and we classify for n ≤ 4 all lattice polytopes whose roots of their Ehrhart polynomials have all real part -1/2. These polytopes belong to the class of reflexive polytopes.     

Computation of the Highest Coefficients of Weighted Ehrhart Quasi-polynomials of Rational Polyhedra

This article concerns the computational problem of counting the lattice points inside convex polytopes, when each point must be counted with a weight associated to it. We describe an efficient algorithm for computing the highest degree coefficients of the weighted Ehrhart quasi-polynomial for a rational simple polytope in varying dimension, when the weights of the lattice points are given by a polynomial function h. Our technique is based on a refinement of an algorithm of A.?Barvinok in the unweighted case (i.e., h≡1). In contrast to Barvinok’s method, our method is local, obtains an approximation on the level of generating functions, handles the general weighted case, and provides the coefficients in closed form as step polynomials of the dilation. To demonstrate the practicality of our approach, we report on computational experiments which show that even our simple implementation can compete with state-of-the-art software.     

Lattice polytopes,Hecke operators,and the Ehrhart polynomial

Let P be a simple lattice polytope. We define an action of the Hecke operators on E(P), the Ehrhart polynomial of P, and describe their effect on the coefficients of E(P). We also describe how the Brion–Vergne formula for E(P) transforms under the Hecke operators for nonsingular lattice polytopes P.      

Polytopes of partitions of numbers

We study the vertices and facets of the polytopes of partitions of numbers. The partition polytope P_n is the convex hull of the set of incidence vectors of all partitions n=x₁+2x₂++nx_n. We show that the sequence P₁,P₂,…,P_n,… can be treated as an embedded chain. The dynamics of behavior of the vertices of P_n, as n increases, is established. Some sufficient and some necessary conditions for a point of P_n to be its vertex are proved. Representation of the partition polytope as a polytope on a partial algebra—which is a generalization of the group polyhedron in the group theoretic approach to the integer linear programming—allows us to prove subadditive characterization of the nontrivial facets of P_n. These facets correspond to extreme rays of the cone of subadditive functions with additional requirements p₀=p_n and p_i+p_n−i=p_n,1≤i<n. The trivial facets are explicitly indicated. We also show how all vertices and facets of the polytopes of constrained partitions—in which some numbers are forbidden to participate—can be obtained from those of the polytope P_n. All vertices and facets of P_n for n≤8 and n≤6, respectively, are presented.     

An extension of the polytope of doubly stochastic matrices

We consider a class of matrices whose row and column sum vectors are majorized by given vectors b and c, and whose entries lie in the interval [0,?1]. This class generalizes the class of doubly stochastic matrices. We investigate the corresponding polytope Ω(b|c) of such matrices. Main results include a generalization of the Birkhoff–von Neumann theorem and a characterization of the faces, including edges, of Ω(b|c).     

An Adaptive Algorithm for Vector Partitioning

The vector partition problem concerns the partitioning of a set A of n vectors in d-space into p parts so as to maximize an objective function c which is convex on the sum of vectors in each part. Here all parameters d, p, n are considered variables. In this paper, we study the adjacency of vertices in the associated partition polytopes. Using our adjacency characterization for these polytopes, we are able to develop an adaptive algorithm for the vector partition problem that runs in time O(q(L)v) and in space O(L), where q is a polynomial function, L is the input size and v is the number of vertices of the associated partition polytope. It is based on an output-sensitive algorithm for enumerating all vertices of the partition polytope. Our adjacency characterization also implies a polynomial upper bound on the combinatorial diameter of partition polytopes. We also establish a partition polytope analogue of the lower bound theorem, indicating that the output-sensitive enumeration algorithm can be far superior to previously known algorithms that run in time polynomial in the size of the worst-case output.     

Robust Hadamard Matrices,Unistochastic Rays in Birkhoff Polytope and Equi-Entangled Bases in Composite Spaces

We study a special class of (real or complex) robust Hadamard matrices, distinguished by the property that their projection onto a 2-dimensional subspace forms a Hadamard matrix. It is shown that such a matrix of order n exists, if there exists a skew Hadamard matrix or a symmetric conference matrix of this size. This is the case for any even \(n\le 20\), and for these dimensions we demonstrate that a bistochastic matrix B located at any ray of the Birkhoff polytope, (which joins the center of this body with any permutation matrix), is unistochastic. An explicit form of the corresponding unitary matrix U, such that \(B_{ij}=|U_{ij}|^2\), is determined by a robust Hadamard matrix. These unitary matrices allow us to construct a family of orthogonal bases in the composed Hilbert space of order \(n \times n\). Each basis consists of vectors with the same degree of entanglement and the constructed family interpolates between the product basis and the maximally entangled basis. In the case \(n=4\) we study geometry of the set \({\mathcal U}_4\) of unistochastic matrices, conjecture that this set is star-shaped and estimate its relative volume in the Birkhoff polytope \({\mathcal B}_4\).     

Some rationally looking faces of Ω n having irrational minimum permanents

Let Ω _n denote the convex polytope consisting of all n × n doubly stochasiic matrices. We determine the minimum permanents which may or may not be rational and the permanent-minimizing matrices over some rationally looking faces of Ω _n We also discuss the barycentricity of the (0, l)-matrices with which we consider the permanent-minimization problem.     

Perturbation of transportation polytopes

We describe a perturbation method that can be used to reduce the problem of finding the multivariate generating function (MGF) of a non-simple polytope to computing the MGF of simple polytopes. We then construct a perturbation that works for any transportation polytope. We apply this perturbation to the family of central transportation polytopes of order $kn\times n$, and obtain formulas for the MGFs of the feasible cone of each vertex of the polytope and the MGF of the polytope. The formulas we obtain are enumerated by combinatorial objects. A special case of the formulas recovers the results on Birkhoff polytopes given by the author and De Loera and Yoshida. We also recover the formula for the number of maximum vertices of transportation polytopes of order $kn\times n$.