All Questions
29 questions
20
votes
5
answers
1k
views
From convex polytopes to toric varieties: the constructions of Davis and Januszkiewicz
One of the most useful tools in the study of convex polytopes is to move from polytopes (through their fans) to toric varieties and see how properties of the associated toric variety reflects back on ...
18
votes
1
answer
641
views
Can all convex polytopes be realized with vertices on surface of convex body?
The following question was asked by me on Mathematics.SE. Unfortunately, no one answered it so I thought I might give it a try one level higher. Below the line you can find the slightly edited ...
17
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Can I build infinitely many polytopes from only finitely many prescribed facets?
Given a finite set of convex $d$-dimensional polytopes $\mathcal P$, for some $d\ge 2$.
Question: Is it true that there are only finitely many different convex $(d+1)$-dimensional polytopes whose ...
16
votes
0
answers
298
views
Realization spaces of 3-dimensional polytopes with fixed face areas
It is a well-know result (Steinitz, 1922) that the realization space of 3-dimensional convex polytopes with fixed combinatorics is contractible.
A proof of this theorem can be found for instance in ...
11
votes
0
answers
352
views
Right-angled polytopes
%This question is motivated by the little discussion here at the bottom.
The following thing are known about hyperbolic right-angled polytopes:
Compact hyperbolic right-angled polytopes do not exist ...
9
votes
1
answer
665
views
Question about tetrahedron decomposition
Are there tetrahedra which can be subdivided into three non-overlapping parts similar to the original? I believe this would require splitting one face into three parts. I know some types of tetrahedra ...
9
votes
1
answer
523
views
The volume of the “unit ball” in $\mathbb{R}^{m\times n}$ with respect to the cut norm
This question is inspired by the question “ε-nets with respect to the cut norm” by the user Aaron, which had been reposted to cstheory.stackexchange.com.
The cut norm ||A||C of a matrix A=(aij)∈ℝm×n ...
9
votes
0
answers
144
views
Which polytopes have compact realization spaces?
Let $P\subset\Bbb R^d$ be a convex polytope.
Its reduced realization space is the space of all combinatorially equivalent polytopes modulo projective transformations.
I am interested in polytopes for ...
8
votes
1
answer
361
views
Inscribed $n$-polytope with $2^n$ vertices of maximal volume
The question is in the title:
Question: Which inscribed $n$-dimensional polytope (inscribed in the unit sphere) with $2^n$ vertices has the largest possible volume?
Is it the $n$-dimensional cube? ...
8
votes
2
answers
383
views
Do singular values of a point set determine its shape?
Suppose I have $k$ points in $d$ dimensions. Let A be a $k\times d$ matrix with $i$th row giving the coordinates of $i$th point. Do singular values of this matrix have an interpretation as some kind ...
8
votes
3
answers
390
views
Is there any edge- but not vertex-transitive polytope in $d\ge 4$ dimensions?
I consider convex polytopes $P\subset\Bbb R^d$. The polytope is called vertex- resp. edge-transitive, if any vertex resp. edge can be mapped to any other by a symmetry of the polytope.
I am looking ...
7
votes
3
answers
866
views
Not quite regular polyhedra
Take a naive interpretation of regular polyhedra:
All vertices (including epsilon ball) congruent
All edges congruent
All faces congruent
We can now find interesting families by removing one ...
7
votes
1
answer
209
views
Are the primary parallelotopes classified? (equivalently, Voronoi cells of lattices)
A primary parallelohedron is a polyhedron that can fill space with infinite translated copies.
It is known (e.g., Coxeter, H. S. M. Regular Polytopes, 3rd ed. New York: Dover, pp. 29-30, 1973; or, ...
7
votes
0
answers
162
views
Approximating any convex shape in $\mathbb{R}^d$ with a polytope having $\mathrm{poly}(d)$ facets
We denote by $V(A)$ the $d$-volume of any convex set $A$. Furthermore, given any two convex sets $A,B\in\mathbb{R}^d$, we denote by $V_{A,B}$ the $d$-volume of the symmetric difference $V\left(A \...
6
votes
1
answer
185
views
Maximizing ratio volume/diameter^n by an affinity
Suppose we have a convex compact body $D\subset \mathbb R^n$. We can try to apply affine transformation keeping the volume and decreasing the diameter of $D$.
It is clear that there is a constant $\...
6
votes
1
answer
254
views
Triangulations of convex surfaces
Let $M$ be a smooth closed positively curved surface in Euclidean 3-space, $T$ be a geodesic triangulation of $M$, and $E$ be the edge graph of the convex hull of vertices of $T$.
It is easy to see ...
5
votes
2
answers
304
views
Is there a 4-polytope without 3-gonal and 4-gonal faces, other than the 120-cell?
The question is in the title:
Question: Is there any 4-dimensional polytope without 3-gonal and 4-gonal faces (of dimension two), other than the 120-cell?
I consider only convex polytopes (convex ...
5
votes
2
answers
294
views
Convex caps with prescribed edges
Let $P$ be a convex polygon in the plane $R^2=R^2\times \{0\}$, and $E$ be the edge graph of some subdivision of $P$ into convex polygons, which is $3$-connected. Does there exist a convex polyhedral ...
5
votes
1
answer
361
views
What is known about the duals of cyclic polytopes?
What is known about the duals of cyclic polytopes, in particular, their facets (or equivalently, the vertex-figures of cyclic polytopes)?
In even dimensions, all facets of the dual are ...
4
votes
3
answers
347
views
Minimal data required to determine a convex polytope
Let $P\subset \Bbb R^d$ be a convex polytope.
Suppose that I know
its combinatorial type (aka. the face-lattice),
the length $\ell_i$ of each edge, and
the distance $r_i$ of each vertex from the ...
4
votes
1
answer
298
views
Does Kalai's $3^d$ conjecture hold for simplicial spheres?
Kalai's $3^d$ conjecture asserts that every centrally symmetric $d$-polytope has at least $3^d$ non-empty faces. This is open in general, but has been proven for simplicial polytopes.
Question: Does ...
3
votes
3
answers
390
views
Can we uniquely define a graph to have the topology of a polytope via proper edge length selection?
I'll ask you to consider a situation wherein one has a series of edges for a graph, $(e_1, e_2, ..., e_N) \in E$, each with a specifiable length $(l_1, l_2, ..., l_N) \in L$, and the goal is to insure ...
3
votes
2
answers
438
views
If a polytope is centrally symmetric and combinatorially equivalent to a zonotope, is it a zonotope?
A zonotope is a polytope whose 2-faces are centrally symmetric.
Question: If a polytope $P$ is centrally symmetric and combinatorially equivalent to a zonotope, is it itself a zonotope?
3
votes
1
answer
152
views
Are there any more polytopes whose 2-faces are identical 4-gons?
What are examples for convex polytope $P\subset \Bbb R^d,d\ge 3$ for which holds
$P$ is 2-face transitive (that is, all 2-faces are equivalent under the symmetries of $P$), and
all 2-faces of $P$ are ...
3
votes
1
answer
218
views
Bounding the number of facets of a polytope to approximate a given convex shape in higher dimensions
We are given a convex shape $S$ lying inside the hypercube $[0,1]^d$ in the $d$-dimensional Euclidean space. Let the volume $V(S)$ of $S$ be $\tfrac12$ (I guess nothing changes for any other fixed ...
3
votes
2
answers
344
views
Is a vertex- and edge-transitive polytope already a uniform polytope?
I want to consider (convex) polytopes $P=\mathrm{conv}\{p_1,...,p_n\}\subset\Bbb R^d$ which are both, vertex- and edge-transitive (or maybe stronger: 1-flag-transitive).
Question: Is every such ...
3
votes
0
answers
187
views
Approximating any $d$-dimensional convex shape that occupies a constant fraction of its bounding box with a polytope having $\mathrm{poly}(d)$ facets
Given any convex set $A\in\mathbb{R}^d$, we denote by $V(A)$ its $d$-volume. Furthermore, given any two convex sets $A_1,A_2\in\mathbb{R}^d$, we denote by $V_{A_1,A_2}$ the $d$-volume of the symmetric ...
1
vote
1
answer
103
views
A source for $01$-polytopes
Can you recommend any books or survey articles on $01$-polytopes, thats is, polytopes with vertices in $\{0,1\}^n$?
I am less interested in random $01$-polytopes, but more in the combinatorial ...
1
vote
0
answers
154
views
Volume of a polytope as its degenerates to be lower dimensional
Consider a polytope $P$ defined by the usual inequalities $A\mathbf{x}\leq \mathbf{b}$; let me assume that $P$ is not contained in a proper subspace. A result which I believe to true, but am not ...