Questions tagged [convex-polytopes]

Convex polytopes are the convex hulls of a finite set of points in Euclidean spaces. They have rich combinatorial, arithmetic, and metrical theory, and are related to toric varieties and to linear programming

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Curve with no embedding in a toric surface

I am looking for a smooth proper curve $C$ such that there does not exist any closed embedding $C \to S$ where $S$ is a (normal projective) toric surface. Since $C$ is smooth I believe it suffices to ...
Ben C's user avatar
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Positivity of the coefficients of the Ehrhart polynomial of a cross-polytope

Question 35996 asks about the Ehrhart polynomial $i_d(n)$ of the standard regular cross-polytope. It can be defined equivalently by $$ \sum_{n\geq 0}i_d(n)x^n = \frac{(1+x)^d}{(1-x)^{d+1}}. $$ It ...
Richard Stanley's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
638 views

Does a triangulation without fixed simplex property always exist?

Suppose we are given a triangulable topological space $X$. If $X$ has the fixed point property (FPP), then obviously for every triangulation $K$ of $X$ and every simplicial map $f:K\to K$ a simplex $\...
Michał Kukieła's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
576 views

Covering the unit sphere by open hemispheres

Suppose $H_1,\ldots,H_{2n}$ are open hemispheres which cover $S^{n-1}$ with the property that removing any one of them leaves $S^{n-1}$ uncovered. Is it necessarily the case that the hemispheres can ...
Marcel Celaya's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
1k views

What is the number of equitriangulations of the n-cube?

I wonder if this question has been considered before and if anything is known. My search attempts have failed so far. Let's consider the n-dimesnional cube, $[0,1]^n$, and let's call a simplex with ...
Gjergji Zaimi's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
371 views

Connecting Lemma in the Alexandrov's existence theorem.

At the moment I am polishing my lecture notes which in particular cover Alexandrov's existence theorem. Denote by $\mathbf{P}_k$ the space of isometry classes of polyhedral metrics on the $\mathbb S^...
Anton Petrunin's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
530 views

Reciprocity (Ehrhart-style) for real polytopes?

Is there some sense in which the well-known Ehrhart reciprocity law for rational, convex, polytopes can be extended to any convex polytope with arbitrary real vertices? In other words, given any ...
11 votes
3 answers
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"Database" of simplicial polytopes/spheres

Reading through various papers on polytopes I have come across really interesting examples of simplical polytopes and non-shellable (or non-PL) simplicial spheres but sometimes it is hard to keep ...
Alexandru Papiu's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
645 views

Detecting tilings by toric geometry

This is probably a silly question, but I figured that if there is a good answer, this would be a good place to ask. Ever since I got my hands on the book "Toric Varieties" by Cox, Little and Schenck, ...
Gjergji Zaimi's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
6k views

Random Sampling a linearly constrained region in n-dimensions...

Hi, So here is my problem: Given a nonlinear, discontinous, cost function $f(x_1,x_2,..,x_N)$ along with linear constraints $x_n \ge 0, \forall n$ $x_n \le c_n$ and $\sum_{n=1}^N x_n = 1$ find an ...
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Characterizing faces of 3-dimensional polyhedra. (Related to Victor Eberhard's Theorem [1890]:)

Originally asked by Ali Dino Jumani; EXTENSIVELY EDITED by David Speyer. The previous version was a bit confused, but Steven Sivek and Graham, in the comments, figured out what was going on. G. C. ...
11 votes
2 answers
550 views

Book on the tetrahedron

Does anybody know of a book containing "all you want to know about the tetrahedron"? What you want to know should include basic geometry of the tetrahedron, study of orthocentric tetrahedra, the Monge ...
Matthieu Romagny's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
669 views

Determining whether a lattice is the face lattice of a polytope - NP hard or undecidable?

According to this source (p. 10), determining whether a simplicial complex is a simplicial sphere (the sphere recognition problem) is undecidable. According to this source, determining whether a ...
M. Winter's user avatar
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11 votes
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Why do convex polytope options constrict with dimension, rather than expand?

There are an infinite number of regular polygons in the plane, five regular polyhedra, six regular polytopes in $\mathbb{R}^4$, and then three regular polytopes in every dimension $d > 4$. There ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

How many non-equivalent sections of a regular 7-simplex?

Suppose we have a regular 7-simplex in $\mathbb{R}^8$ defined by vertices <1,0,0,...,0>, <0,1,0,..,0>,...,<0,...,0,1>. A section is a 3-dimensional linear subspace of $\mathbb{R}^8$ that ...
11 votes
2 answers
1k views

Which (semi)regular polyhedra are combinations of two others?

The convex combination of convex polytopes is a convex polytope. An example in $\mathbb{R}^2$ is that a regular octagon can be obtained as $\frac{1}{2} S + \frac{1}{2} S'$, where $S$ is a square and $...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
584 views

Tighter Caratheodory on the moment curve?

The moment curve is the set of points of the form $$(t,t^2,t^3,...,t^n) \in R^n$$ Let $M$ be the portion of the moment curve where $t\in [0,1]$, and let $\overline{M}$ be the convex hull of $M$. ...
Bill Bradley's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
422 views

Needle probing for a convex body

Suppose there is an unknown closed convex body $K$ of volume vol$(K) = V$ inside the unit cube $[-\frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{2}]^d$ in $\mathbb{R}^d$. You are permitted to probe with a (one-dimensional) ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
221 views

Geometric realization of combinatorial self-duality in polytopes

Let's say I have a combinatorially self-dual polytope $P\subseteq\Bbb R^d$, i.e., its face lattice is isomorphic to its dual (you reverse the direction of the lattice order). Question: Is it always ...
M. Winter's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
524 views

How to correctly state Cauchy's rigidity theorem?

Cauchy's rigidity theorem is usually cites briefly as Any two (convex, 3-dimensional) polyhedra with pairwise congruent faces are themselves congruent. As a more formal generalization to general ...
M. Winter's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
547 views

doubly-stochastic isomorphisms of graphs

A doubly stochastic matrix that commutes with the adjacency matrix of a graph is a doubly-stochastic automorphism of that graph (definition by Tinhofer 1986). Each (classical) automorphism of a graph ...
Delio Mugnolo's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
310 views

Is a convex polyhedron determined by its edge lengths and angular defects?

Let's consider 3-dimensional convex polyhedra $P\subset\Bbb R^3$. The angular defect at a vertex $v$ is $2\pi$ minus the sum of the interior angles of the incident faces at $v$. Question: Is a ...
M. Winter's user avatar
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How many ways to flatten a Tesseract onto a table?

A cube can be cut and flattened out onto a table in a way that the faces stay connected and none of them overlap. There are $384$ ways to make the cuts and $11$ distinct meshes emerge (see here). And ...
ryu576's user avatar
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Is my open set a ball?

Let $P$ be a polytope of dimension $n$, and let $\mathcal{C}$ be a polyhedral subdivision of $P$. That means that $\mathcal{C}$ is a finite collection of polytopes whose union is $P$, such that the ...
Nicholas Proudfoot's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
344 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 ...
SashaKolpakov's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
364 views

Lower Bound on the Volume of Certain Polytopes

Given a partition $\rho\in\mathcal{P}(n)$ with $k$ blocks $$ \rho=\{B_1,B_2,\ldots,B_{k}\} $$ we can define the set of equations $$ E_{i}:\sum_{j \in B_{i}}{x_{j-1}}=\sum_{j \in B_{i}}{x_j}\quad\text{...
ght's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
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Polytopes with few vertices.

Suppose I have a convex polytope in $\mathbb{R}^d$ which I know has few vertices (in the case which prompted this question, I seem to have a polytope in $\mathbb{R}^9$ which has sixteen vertices). Is ...
Igor Rivin's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
522 views

When does every point in a polytope lie along a chord between its edges?

Consider the 3-simplex, or tetrahedron, in 3-space. Regardless of the positions of the vertices, every point in the simplex lies on a chord between two non-adjacent edges of the simplex. Or, ...
UltraBlue06's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
2k views

On maximal regular polyhedra inscribed in a regular polyhedron

Let T, C, O, D, or I be regular tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron, respectively. Suppose that the outer polyhedron have edge-length 1. For example, it's easy to prove that ...
mathlove's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
317 views

Do maximal polyhedra have algebraic volume?

Is it possible to prove that for every $n > 3$ the maximal possible volume of a convex polyhedron having $n$ vertices inscribed in a sphere of unit radius is an algebraic number? Update: What can ...
Vladimir Reshetnikov's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
679 views

Symmetries and faces of the associahedron

The dihedral group of order $2n+2$ acts on $K_n$, the ($n-2$)-dimensional associahedron. Are there any other symmetries? References? Does the answer to 1 change if we restrict to just the 1-...
Matt Brin's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
795 views

Largest regular $k$-simplex inscribed in a $d$-cube, $k < d$

The largest (by edge length) regular simplex inscribed in a unit cube is well known in $\mathbb{R}^2$ and $\mathbb{R}^3$:     Image sources: left: NMSU, right: Mathworld. A recent Amer ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
1k views

Number of regions formed by $n$ points in general position

Given $n$ points in $\mathbb{R}^d$ in general position, where $n\geq d+1$. For every $d$ points, form the hyperplane defined by these $d$ points. These hyperplanes cut $\mathbb{R}^d$ into several ...
Min Wu's user avatar
  • 461
10 votes
1 answer
532 views

What is the convex hull of the quaternionic symmetries of the 3 dimensional cube?

It is well known that there are exactly five 3-dimensional regular convex polyhedra, known as the Platonic solids. In 1852 the Swiss mathematician Ludwig Schlafli found that there are exactly six ...
Ruy's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
319 views

covering convex sets by round balls

Let $X=\{x_1,...,x_k\}\subset E^n$ be a finite subset in the Euclidean $n$-space, $r>0$ and $B(x_i,r)$ are open balls of radius $r$ centered at the points $x_i\in X, i=1,...,k$. Suppose that $$ \...
Misha's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
656 views

Status of Barany's conjecture?

One of Barany's most intriguing conjectures is about the $f$-vectors of convex polytopes. It asks: Let $P$ be a convex $d$-polytope. Is it always true that $f_k \geq \min(f_0, f_{d-1})$? A convex $...
eins6180's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
3k views

Computionally efficient vertex enumeration for (convex) polytopes

Let $P \subseteq \mathbb{R}^d$ be an $\mathcal{H}$-polytope. The vertex enumeration problem asks for the set of vertices $V$ of $P$. Theoretically, the vertex enumeration problem for $P$ can be ...
Christopher's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
546 views

The intersection of two $l_1$ balls

Let $B_1$ and $B_2$ be two balls in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with respect to the $l_1$ norm that have different radii and different centers. Is there an upper bound for the number of vertices that $B_1\cap B_2$...
Jennifer Gao's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
519 views

What's the volume of $\{x\in[0,1]^n|\sum x_i\le t\}$ for real $t$?

EDIT: Thanks for your answers and comments. There is indeed a classical easy formula, given by Pietro Majer (with a simple nice proof) in his answer below. Given $x\in\mathbb{R}^n$, $x_i$ denotes its ...
Mathieu Baillif's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
310 views

Integer decomposition property with a partial order

Let $\mathcal{P}$ be a convex lattice polytope in $\mathbb{R}^n$. We say that $\mathcal{P}$ has the integer decomposition property (or "is IDP") if for all $k\in \mathbb{N}$ and $\alpha \in ...
Sam Hopkins's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
458 views

Odds on rolling a rhombicosidodecahedron

This is more of a curiosity to me, but I'm sure I don't have the mathematical skills to answer it. That said... I took a look at several other posts with questions that relate to this one, but I ...
TwoScoopsOfHot's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
883 views

Approximate volume computation and lattice point enumeration - hardness

Both volume computation and lattice point enumeration of convex polyhedron are $\#P$ hard. However there is a randomized polytime algorithm for constant factor approximation for volume computation. ...
Turbo's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
799 views

Triangulations of polytopes and tilings of zonotopes

Consider a set $A = \{ a_1,a_2,\ldots, a_n \} $ of vectors in $\mathbb{R}^d$, which lie in a common affine hyperplane. Two convex polytopes may be obtained from $A$, namely the convex hull of the ...
Camilo Sarmiento's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
485 views

Given the skeleton of an inscribed polytope. If I move the vertices so that no edge increases in length, can the circumradius still get larger?

Let $P\subset \Bbb R^n$ be an inscribed convex polytope, that is, all its vertices are on a common sphere of radius $r$. Let $G$ be the edge-graph of $P$. For convenience, assume $V(G)=\{1,\dotsc,s\}$....
M. Winter's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
914 views

What is determined by the combinatorics of the shadows of a convex polyhedron?

Define the shadow of a convex polyhedron $P$ in direction $u$ to be the orthogonal projection of $P$ onto a plane whose normal is $u$. The shadow is a convex $k$-gon. I am wondering to what degree $P$ ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
203 views

The set of polytopes with given $f$-vector

Let $f=(f_0,\ldots f_n)$ be a vector in $\Bbb N^{n+1}$. Let $X$ be the set of all (ordered) $f_0$-tuples in $\Bbb R^n$ whose convex hull has $f$ as its $f$-vector. Assume that $X$ is non-empty. Is ...
Avi Steiner's user avatar
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10 votes
0 answers
329 views

Bi-spherical polyhedra

Bicentric polygons have been studied: a polygon all of whose vertices lie on its circumcirle, and whose incircle is tangent to every edge:   I have not been able to find a comparable literature ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
449 views

Minimal combinatorial data needed to define a polytope [duplicate]

Suppose I give a list of vertices $(v_1, v_2, ..., v_n)$, and a list of "adjacencies", i.e. pairs of vertices $(v_i,v_j)$. Does it exists a unique polytope that has this vertices and realises the ...
giulio bullsaver's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
442 views

Pictures of the von Neumann polytope

Are there any graphic portrayals of von Neumann polytopes in low dimensions?
Jim Stasheff's user avatar
  • 3,850
9 votes
4 answers
1k views

Positivity of Ehrhart polynomial coefficients

Are there any results stating that a given family of convex polytopes have Ehrhart polynomials with non-negative coefficients? What methods are available for proving such a property for some family ...
Per Alexandersson's user avatar

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