The classical Dehn--Sommerville relations assert that the $h$-vector of an Eulerian simplicial complex is symmetric. We establish three generalizations of the Dehn--Sommerville relations: one for the $h$-vectors of pure simplicial complexes, another one for the flag $h$-vectors of balanced simplicial complexes and graded posets, and yet another one for the toric $h$-vectors of graded posets with restricted singularities. In all of these cases, we express any failure of symmetry in terms of "errors coming from the links." For simplicial complexes, this further extends Klee's semi-Eulerian relations.
We review several linear algebraic aspects of the Dehn-Sommerville relations and relate redundant analogues of the f- and h-vectors describing the subsets of a simplex 2^{1,...,m} that satisfy Dehn-Sommerville type relations to integer points contained in some rational polytopes.
We revisit several known versions of the Dehn--Sommerville relations in the context of: homology manifolds, semi-Eulerian complexes, general simplicial complexes, balanced semi-Eulerian complexes and general completely balanced complexes. In addition, we present Dehn--Sommerville relations for reciprocal complexes and general balanced simplicial complexes; which slightly generalize some of the previous results. Our proofs are uniform, and are based on two simple evaluations of the $\tilde h$-polynomial: one that recovers the $\tilde f$-polynomial, and one that counts faces according to certain…
The generalized Dehn-Sommerville relations determine the odd subalgebra of the combinatorial Hopf algebra. We introduce a class of eulerian hypergraphs that satisfy the generalized Dehn-Sommerville relations for the combinatorial Hopf algebra of hypergraphs. We characterize a wide class of eulerian hypergraphs according to the combinatorics of underlying clutters. The analogous results hold for simplicial complexes by the isomorphism which is induced from the correspondence of clutters and simplicial complexes.
If V(R) is the vertex set of a symmetric cycle R in the tope graph of a simple oriented matroid M, then for any tope T of M there exists a unique inclusion-minimal subset Q(T;R) of V(R) such that T is the sum of the topes of Q(T;R). If |Q(T;R)|>3, then the decomposition Q(T;R) of the tope T with respect to the symmetric cycle R satisfies certain Dehn-Sommerville type relations.
The $f$-vector of a $d$-dimensional polytope $P$ stores the number of faces of each dimension. When $P$ is simplicial the Dehn--Sommerville relations condense the $f$-vector into the $g$-vector, which has length $\lceil{\frac{d+1}{2}}\rceil$. Thus, to determine the $f$-vector of $P$, we only need to know approximately half of its entries. This raises the question: Which $(\lceil{\frac{d+1}{2}}\rceil)$-subsets of the $f$-vector of a general simplicial polytope are sufficient to determine the whole $f$-vector? We prove that the answer is given by the bases of the Catalan matroid.
We use Klee's Dehn-Sommerville relations and other results on face numbers of homology manifolds without boundary to (i) prove Kalai's conjecture providing lower bounds on the f-vectors of an even-dimensional manifold with all but the middle Betti number vanishing, (ii) verify Kühnel's conjecture that gives an upper bound on the middle Betti number of a 2k-dimensional manifold in terms of k and the number of vertices, and (iii) partially prove Kühnel's conjecture providing upper bounds on other Betti numbers of odd- and even-dimensional manifolds. For manifolds with boundary, we derive an exte…
We give a zero curvature proof of Dehn-Sommerville for finite simple graphs. It uses a parametrized Gauss-Bonnet formula telling that the curvature of the valuation G to f_G(t)=1+f0 t + ... + fd t^(d+1) defined by the f-vector of G is the anti-derivative F of f evaluated on the unit sphere S(x). Gauss Bonnet is then parametrized, f_G(t) = sum_x F_(S(x))(t), and holds for all simplicial complexes G. The Gauss-Bonnet formula chi(G)=sum_x K(x) for Euler characteristic chi(G) is the special case t=-1. Dehn-Sommerville is equivalent to the reflection symmetry f_G(t)+(-1)^d f_G(-1-t)=0 which is equi…
Let $P$ be a finite poset. Let $L:=J(P)$ denote the lattice of order ideals of $P$. Let $b_i(L)$ denote the number of Boolean intervals of $L$ of rank $i$. We construct a simple graph $G(P)$ from our poset $P$. Denote by $f_i(P)$ the number of the cliques $K_{i+1}$, contained in the graph $G(P)$. Our main results are some linear equations connecting the numbers $f_i(P)$ and $b_i(L)$. We reprove the Dehn--Sommerville equations for simplicial polytopes. In our proof we use free resolutions and the theory of Stanley--Reisner rings.
A combinatorial Hopf algebra is a graded connected Hopf algebra over a field $F$ equipped with a character (multiplicative linear functional) $ζ:H\to F$. We show that the terminal object in the category of combinatorial Hopf algebras is the algebra $QSym$ of quasi-symmetric functions; this explains the ubiquity of quasi-symmetric functions as generating functions in combinatorics. We illustrate this with several examples. We prove that every character decomposes uniquely as a product of an even character and an odd character. Correspondingly, every combinatorial Hopf algebra $(H,ζ)$ possesses …
Let $V$ be a real vector space of dimension $n$ and let $M\subset V$ be a lattice. Let $P\subset V$ be an $n$-dimensional polytope with vertices in $M$, and let $φ\colon V\rightarrow \CC $ be a homogeneous polynomial function of degree $d$ (i.e., an element of $\Sym^{d} (V^{*})$). For $q\in \ZZ_{>0}$ and any face $F$ of $P$, let $D_{φ,F} (q)$ be the sum of $φ$ over the lattice points in the dilate $qF$. We define a generating function $G_φ(q,y) \in \QQ [q] [y]$ packaging together the various $D_{φ,F} (q)$, and show that it satisfies a functional equation that simultaneously generalizes Ehrhart…
A partially ordered set is r-thick if every nonempty open interval contains at least r elements. This paper studies the flag vectors of graded, r-thick posets and shows the smallest convex cone containing them is isomorphic to the cone of flag vectors of all graded posets. It also defines a k-analogue of the Mobius function and k-Eulerian posets, which are 2k-thick. Several characterizations of k-Eulerian posets are given. The generalized Dehn-Sommerville equations are proved for flag vectors of k-Eulerian posets. A new inequality is proved to be valid and sharp for rank 8 Eulerian posets.
Assume G is a finite abstract simplicial complex with f-vector (v0,v1, ...), and generating function f(x) = sum(k=1 v(k-1) x^k = v0 x + v1 x^2+ v2 x^3 + ..., the Euler characteristic of G can be written as chi(G)=f(0)-f(-1). We study here the functional f1'(0)-f1'(-1), where f1' is the derivative of the generating function f1 of G1. The Barycentric refinement G1 of G is the Whitney complex of the finite simple graph for which the faces of G are the vertices and where two faces are connected if one is a subset of the other. Let L is the connection Laplacian of G, which is L=1+A, where A is the …
As is well known, h-vectors of simple (or simplicial) convex polytopes are characterized. In fact, those h-vectors must satisfy Dehn-Sommerville equations and some other inequalities. Simple convex polytopes determine Gorenstein* simplicial posets and h-vectors are defined for simplicial posets. It is known that h-vectors of Gorenstein* simplicial posets must satisfy Dehn-Sommerville equations and that every component in the h-vectors must be non-negative. In this paper we will show that h-vectors of Gorenstein* simplicial posets must satisfy one more subtle condition conjectured by R. Stanley…
We prove Gauss-Bonnet and Poincare-Hopf formulas for multi-linear valuations on finite simple graphs G=(V,E) and answer affirmatively a conjecture of Gruenbaum from 1970 by constructing higher order Dehn-Sommerville valuations which vanish for all d-graphs without boundary. An example of a quadratic valuation is the Wu characteristic w(G) which sums (-1)^(dim(x)+dim(y)) over all intersecting pairs of complete subgraphs x,y of a G. More generally, an intersection number w(A,B) sums (-1)^(dim(x)+dim(y)) over pairs x,y, where x is in A and y is in B and x,y intersect. w(G) is a quadratic Euler ch…
The interior angle vector ($\widehatα$-vector) of a polytope is a metric analogue of the $f$-vector in which faces are weighted by their solid angle. For simplicial polytopes, Dehn-Sommerville-type relations on the $\widehatα$-vector were introduced by Sommerville (1927) and Höhn (1953). Camenga (2006) defined the $\widehatγ$-vector, a linear transformation analogous to the $h$-vector and conjectured it to be non-negative. Using tools from geometric and algebraic combinatorics, we prove this conjecture and show that the $\widehatγ$-vector increases in the first half and is flawless. In contras…
For any $n > 0$ and $0 \leq m < n$, let $P_{n,m}$ be the poset of projective equivalence classes of $\{-,0,+\}$-vectors of length $n$ with sign variation bounded by $m$, ordered by reverse inclusion of the positions of zeros. Let $Δ_{n,m}$ be the order complex of $P_{n,m}$. A previous result from the third author shows that $Δ_{n,m}$ is Cohen-Macaulay over $\mathbb{Q}$ whenever $m$ is even or $m = n-1$. Hence, it follows that the $h$-vector of $Δ_{n,m}$ consists of nonnegative entries. Our main result states that $Δ_{n,m}$ is partitionable and we give an interpretation of the $h$-vector when $…
Any manifold with boundary gives rise to a Poincare duality algebra in a natural way. Given a simplicial poset $S$ whose geometric realization is a closed orientable homology manifold, and a characteristic function, we construct a manifold with boundary such that graded components of its Poincare duality algebra have dimensions $h_k"(S)$. This gives a clear topological evidence for two well-known facts about simplicial manifolds: the nonnegativity of $h"$-numbers (Novik--Swartz theorem) and the symmetry $h"_k=h"_{n-k}$ (generalized Dehn--Sommerville relations).
We investigate the face numbers of simplicial complexes with Buchsbaum vertex links, especially pseudomanifolds with isolated singularities. This includes deriving Dehn-Sommerville relations for pseudomanifolds with isolated singularities and establishing lower bound theorems when the singularities are also homologically isolated. We give formulas for the Hilbert function of a generic Artinian reduction of the face ring when the singularities are homologically isolated and for any pure two-dimensional complex. Some examples of spaces where the $f$-vector can be completely characterized are des…
Let $ρ:(D^2)^m\to I^m$ be the orbit map for the diagonal action of the torus $T^m$ on the unit poly-disk $(D^2)^m$, $I^m=[0,1]^m$ is the unit cube. Let $C$ be a cubical subcomplex in $I^m$. The moment-angle complex $\ma(C)$ is a $T^m$-invariant bigraded cellular decomposition of the subset $ρ^{-1}(C)\subset(D^2)^m$ with cells corresponding to the faces of $C$. Different combinatorial problems concerning cubical complexes and related combinatorial objects can be treated by studying the equivariant topology of corresponding moment-angle complexes. Here we consider moment-angle complexes defined …
We will study the angle sums of polytopes, listed in the $α$-vector, working to exploit the analogy between the f-vector of faces in each dimension and the alpha-vector of angle sums. The Gram and Perles relations on the $α$-vector are analogous to the Euler and Dehn-Sommerville relations on the f-vector. First we describe the spaces spanned by the the alpha-vector and the $α$-f-vectors of certain classes of polytopes. Families of polytopes are constructed whose angle sums span the spaces of polytopes defined by the Gram and Perles equations. This shows that the dimension of the affine span of…
Let P be a convex polytope not simple in general. In the focus of this paper lies a simplicial complex K_P which carries complete information about the combinatorial type of P. In the case when P is simple, K_P is the same as dP*, where P* is a polar dual polytope. Using the canonical embedding of a polytope P into nonnegative orthant, we introduce a moment-angle space Z_P for a polytope P. It is known, that in the case when P is simple the space Z_P is homeomorphic to the polyhedral product (D^2,S^1)^{K_P}. When P is not simple, we prove that the space Z_P is homotopically equivalent to the s…
