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.     

The Ehrhart Polynomial of the Birkhoff Polytope

The nth Birkhoff polytope is the set of all doubly stochastic n × n matrices, that is, those matrices with nonnegative real coefficients in which every row and column sums to one. A wide open problem concerns the volumes of these polytopes, which have been known for n $\leq$ 8. We present a new, complex-analytic way to compute the Ehrhart polynomial of the Birkhoff polytope, that is, the function counting the integer points in the dilated polytope. One reason to be interested in this counting function is that the leading term of the Ehrhart polynomial is—up to a trivial factor—the volume of the polytope. We implemented our methods in the form of a computer program, which yielded the Ehrhart polynomial (and hence the volume) of the ninth Birkhoff polytope, as well as the volume of the tenth Birkhoff polytope.     

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.     

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.      

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.     

On analytic equivalence of functions at infinity

In this paper we define the relation of analytic equivalence of functions at infinity. We prove that if the ?ojasiewicz exponent at infinity of the gradient of a polynomial f∈R[x₁,…,xn] is greater or equal to k−1, then there exists ε>0 such that for every polynomial P∈R[x₁,…,xn] of degree less or equal to k, whose coefficients of monomials of degree k are less or equal ε, the polynomials f and f+P are analytically equivalent at infinity.     

Computing the Ehrhart polynomial of a convex lattice polytope

We prove that computation of any fixed number of highest coefficients of the Ehrhart polynomial of an integral polytope can be reduced in polynomial time to computation of the volumes of faces. This research was supported by the United States Army Research Office through the Army Center of Excellence for Symbolic Methods in Algorithmic Mathematics (ACSyAM), Mathematical Sciences Institute of Cornell University, Contract DAAL03-91-C-0027.     

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.     

Reverse inequalities for zonoids and their application

We prove inequalities for mixed volumes of zonoids with isotropic generating measures. A special case is an inequality for zonoids that is reverse to the generalized Urysohn inequality, between mean width and another intrinsic volume; here the equality case characterizes parallelepipeds. We apply this to a question from stochastic geometry. It is known that among the stationary Poisson hyperplane processes of given positive intensity in n-dimensional Euclidean space, the ones with rotation invariant distribution are characterized by the fact that they yield, for k∈{2,…,n}, the maximal intensity of the intersection process of order k. We show that, if the kth intersection density is measured in an affine-invariant way, the processes of hyperplanes with only n fixed directions are characterized by a corresponding minimum property.     

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.     

Rational Ehrhart quasi-polynomials

Ehrhart?s famous theorem states that the number of integral points in a rational polytope is a quasi-polynomial in the integral dilation factor. We study the case of rational dilation factors. It turns out that the number of integral points can still be written as a rational quasi-polynomial. Furthermore, the coefficients of this rational quasi-polynomial are piecewise polynomial functions and related to each other by derivation.     

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.     

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.     

On low-dimensional faces that high-dimensional polytopes must have

We prove that every five-dimensional polytope has a two-dimensional face which is a triangle or a quadrilateral. We state and discuss the following conjecture: For every integerk1 there is an integer f(k) such that everyd-polytope,df(k), has ak-dimensional face which is either a simplex or combinatorially isomorphic to thek-dimensional cube.We give some related results concerning facet-forming polytopes and tilings. For example, sharpening a result of Schulte [25] we prove that there is no face to face tiling of ⁵ with crosspolytopes.Supported in part by a BSF Grant and by I.H.E.S, Bures-Sur-Yvette.     

Facets and volume of Gorenstein Fano polytopes

It is known that every integral convex polytope is unimodularly equivalent to a face of some Gorenstein Fano polytope. It is then reasonable to ask whether every normal polytope is unimodularly equivalent to a face of some normal Gorenstein Fano polytope. In the present paper, it is shown that, by giving new classes of normal Gorenstein Fano polytopes, each order polytope as well as each chain polytope of dimension d is unimodularly equivalent to a facet of some normal Gorenstein Fano polytopes of dimension . Furthermore, investigation on combinatorial properties, especially, Ehrhart polynomials and volume of these new polytopes will be achieved. Finally, some curious examples of Gorenstein Fano polytopes will be discovered.     

Computing the Ehrhart quasi-polynomial of a rational simplex

We present a polynomial time algorithm to compute any fixed number of the highest coefficients of the Ehrhart quasi-polynomial of a rational simplex. Previously such algorithms were known for integer simplices and for rational polytopes of a fixed dimension. The algorithm is based on the formula relating the th coefficient of the Ehrhart quasi-polynomial of a rational polytope to volumes of sections of the polytope by affine lattice subspaces parallel to -dimensional faces of the polytope. We discuss possible extensions and open questions.

     

Ehrhart Polynomials of 3-Dimensional Simple Integral Convex Polytopes

The author gives an explicit formula on the Ehrhart polynomial of a 3-dimensional simple integral convex polytope by using toric geometry.     

h-Vectors of Gorenstein polytopes

We show that the Ehrhart h-vector of an integer Gorenstein polytope with a regular unimodular triangulation satisfies McMullen's g-theorem; in particular, it is unimodal. This result generalizes a recent theorem of Athanasiadis (conjectured by Stanley) for compressed polytopes. It is derived from a more general theorem on Gorenstein affine normal monoids M: one can factor K[M] (K a field) by a “long” regular sequence in such a way that the quotient is still a normal affine monoid algebra. This technique reduces all questions about the Ehrhart h-vector of P to the Ehrhart h-vector of a Gorenstein polytope Q with exactly one interior lattice point, provided each lattice point in a multiple cP, c∈N, can be written as the sum of c lattice points in P. (Up to a translation, the polytope Q belongs to the class of reflexive polytopes considered in connection with mirror symmetry.) If P has a regular unimodular triangulation, then it follows readily that the Ehrhart h-vector of P coincides with the combinatorial h-vector of the boundary complex of a simplicial polytope, and the g-theorem applies.     

A solution to Hammer's X-ray reconstruction problem

We propose algorithms for reconstructing a planar convex body K from possibly noisy measurements of either its parallel X-rays taken in a fixed finite set of directions or its point X-rays taken at a fixed finite set of points, in known situations that guarantee a unique solution when the data is exact. The algorithms construct a convex polygon Pk whose X-rays approximate (in the least squares sense) k equally spaced noisy X-ray measurements in each of the directions or at each of the points.It is shown that these procedures are strongly consistent, meaning that, almost surely, Pk tends to K in the Hausdorff metric as k→∞. This solves, for the first time in the strongest sense, Hammer's X-ray problem published in 1963.