Viewing a fan as a partially ordered set (of cones) we consider a category of sheaves on the fan which corresponds to a category of equivariant sheaves on the corresponding toric variety if the fan is rational. In this category we define an object which corresponds to the equivariant intersection cohomology complex. Our first main result is the ``elementary'' decomposition theorem for the direct image under subdivision of fans We also develop the Borel-Moore- Verdier duality in the derived category of sheaves on the fan.
The Hard Lefschetz theorem is known to hold for the intersection cohomology of the toric variety associated to a rational convex polytope. One can construct the intersection cohomology combinatorially from the polytope, hence it is well defined even for nonrational polytopes when there is no variety associated to it. We prove the Hard Lefschetz theorem for the intersection cohomology of a general polytope.
We compute the Betti numbers of the geometric spaces associated to nonrational simple convex polytopes and find that they depend on the combinatorial type of the polytope exactly as in the rational case. This shows that the combinatorial features of the starting polytope are encoded in these generalized toric spaces as they are in their rational counterparts.
The Hard Lefschetz theorem for intersection cohomology of nonrational polytopes was recently proved by K. Karu [Ka]. This theorem implies the conjecture of R. Stanley on the unimodularity of the generalized $h$-vector. In this paper we strengthen Karu's theorem by introducing a canonical bilinear form $(\cdot ,\cdot)_Φ$ on the intersection cohomology $IH(Φ)$ of a complete fan $Φ$ and proving the Hodge-Riemann bilinear relations for $(\cdot ,\cdot)_Φ$.
In this research announcement we associate to each convex polytope, possibly nonrational and nonsimple, a family of compact spaces that are stratified by quasifolds, i.e. the strata are locally modelled by $\R^k$ modulo the action of a discrete, possibly infinite, group. Each stratified space is endowed with a symplectic structure and a moment mapping having the property that its image gives the original polytope back. These spaces may be viewed as a natural generalization of symplectic toric varieties to the nonrational setting. We provide here the explicit construction of these spaces, and a…
In a previous article, we proved tight lower bounds for the coefficients of the generalized $h$-vector of a centrally symmetric rational polytope using intersection cohomology of the associated projective toric variety. Here we present a new proof based on the theory of combinatorial intersection cohomology developed by Barthel, Brasselet, Fieseler and Kaup. This theory is also valid for nonrational polytopes when there are no corresponding toric varieties. So we can establish our bounds for centrally symmetric polytopes even without requiring them to be rational.
We construct, for each convex polytope, possibly nonrational and nonsimple, a family of compact spaces that are stratified by quasifolds, i.e. each of these spaces is a collection of quasifolds glued together in an suitable way. A quasifold is a space locally modelled on $\R^k$ modulo the action of a discrete, possibly infinite, group. The way strata are glued to each other also involves the action of an (infinite) discrete group. Each stratified space is endowed with a symplectic structure and a moment mapping having the property that its image gives the original polytope back. These spaces m…
We establish a connection between the orbifold cohomology of hypertoric varieties and the Ehrhart theory of Lawrence polytopes. More specifically, we show that the dimensions of the orbifold cohomology groups of a hypertoric variety are equal to the coefficients of the Ehrhart $δ$-polynomial of the associated Lawrence polytope. As a consequence, we deduce a formula for the Ehrhart $δ$-polynomial of a Lawrence polytope and use the injective part of the Hard Lefschetz Theorem for hypertoric varieties to deduce some inequalities between the coefficients of the $δ$-polynomial.
We explain a method for calculating the cohomology of line bundles on a toric variety in terms of the cohomology of certain constructible sheaves on the polytope. We show its effective use by means of some examples.
Motivated by definitions in mixed Hodge theory, we define the weight filtration and the monodromy weight filtration on the combinatorial intersection cohomology of a fan. These filtrations give a natural definition of the multivariable invariants of subdivisions of polytopes, lattice polytopes and fans, namely the mixed $h$-polynomial, the refined limit mixed $h^*$-polynomial, and the mixed $cd$-index, defined by Katz--Stapledon and Dornian--Katz--Tsang. Previously, only the refined limit mixed $h^*$-polynomial had a geometric interpretation, which came from filtrations on the cohomology of a …
We find families of graphs $G$ and subgraphs $H$ of $G$ such that the number of edge colorings of $G$ avoiding a monochromatic coloring of $H$ is determined by lattice point counts or a Hodge structure on the cohomology of a certain toric variety. In general, this gives a class of ``anti-Ramsey theory problems'' with a geometric structure. For example, we find one for Ramsey numbers of classes of such graphs. The key observation is that our previous result expressing simplicial chromatic polynomials in terms of $h$-vectors of auxiliary simplicial complexes can be reinterpreted as one on edge c…
We review the theory of combinatorial intersection cohomology of fans developed by Barthel-Brasselet-Fieseler-Kaup, Bressler-Lunts, and Karu. This theory gives a substitute for the intersection cohomology of toric varieties which has all the expected formal properties but makes sense even for non-rational fans, which do not define a toric variety. As a result, a number of interesting results on the toric $g$ and $h$ polynomials have been extended from rational polytopes to general polytopes. We present explicit complexes computing the combinatorial IH in degrees one and two; the degree two com…
An n-dimensional polytope P^n is called simple if exactly n codimension-one faces meet at each vertex. The lattice of faces of a simple polytope P^n with m codimension-one faces defines an arrangement of even-dimensional planes in R^{2m}. We construct a free action of the group R^{m-n} on the complement of this arrangement. The corresponding quotient is a smooth manifold Z_P invested with a canonical action of the compact torus T^m with the orbit space P^n. For each smooth projective toric variety M^{2n} defined by a simple polytope P^n with the given lattice of faces there exists a subgroup T…
We introduce the notion of a \emph{conic sequence} of a convex polytope. It is a way of building up a polytope starting from a vertex and attaching faces one by one with certain regulations. We apply this to a toric variety to obtain an iterated cofibration structure on it. This allows us to prove several vanishing results in the rational cohomology of a toric variety and to calculate Poincaré polynomials for a large class of singular toric varieties.
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.
A hypertoric variety is a quaternionic analogue of a toric variety. Just as the topology of toric varieties is closely related to the combinatorics of polytopes, the topology of hypertoric varieties interacts richly with the combinatorics of hyperplane arrangements and matroids. Using finite field methods, we obtain combinatorial descriptions of the Betti numbers of hypertoric varieties, both for ordinary cohomology in the smooth case and intersection cohomology in the singular case. We also introduce a conjectural ring structure on the intersection cohomology of a hypertoric variety.
Let G be a complex reductive group and X a projective spherical G-variety. Moreover, assume that the subalgebra A of the cohomology ring H^*(X, R) generated by the Chern classes of line bundles has Poincare duality. We give a description of the subalgebra A in terms of the volume of polytopes. This generalizes the Khovanskii-Pukhlikov description of the cohomology ring of a smooth toric variety. In particular, we obtain a unified description for the cohomology rings of complete flag varieties and smooth toric varieties. As another example we get a description of the cohomology ring of the vari…
The paper presents a proof of the Hodge Riemann relations for the combinatorial intersection cohomology of a polytope, as fist given by K.Karu, in terms of geometric operations on polytopes.
Given a root system $Φ$ of type $A_n$, $B_n$, $C_n$, or $D_n$ in Euclidean space $E$, let $W$ be the associated Weyl group. For a point $p \in E$ not orthogonal to any of the roots in $Φ$, we consider the $W$-permutohedron $P_W$, which is the convex hull of the $W$-orbit of $p$. The representation of $W$ on the rational cohomology ring $H^\ast(X_Φ)$ of the toric variety $X_Φ$ associated to (the normal fan to) $P_W$ has been studied by various authors. Let $\{s_1,\ldots,s_n\}$ be a complete set of simple reflections in $W$. For $K \subseteq [n]$, let $W_K$ be the standard parabolic subgroup of …
An enumerative problem on a variety $V$ is usually solved by reduction to intersection theory in the cohomology of a compactification of $V$. However, if the problem is invariant under a "nice" group action on $V$ (so that $V$ is spherical), then many authors suggested a better home for intersection theory: the direct limit of the cohomology rings of all equivariant compactifications of $V$. We call this limit the affine cohomology of $V$ and construct affine characteristic classes of subvarieties of a complex torus, taking values in the affine cohomology of the torus. This allows us to make t…
We compute the $GL_{r+1}$-equivariant Chow class of the $GL_{r+1}$-orbit closure of any point $(x_1, \ldots, x_n) \in (\mathbb{P}^r)^n$ in terms of the rank polytope of the matroid represented by $x_1, \ldots, x_n \in \mathbb{P}^r$. Using these classes and generalizations involving point configurations in higher dimensional projective spaces, we define for each $d\times n$ matrix $M$ an $n$-ary operation $[M]_\hbar$ on the small equivariant quantum cohomology ring of $\mathbb{P}^r$, which is the $n$-ary quantum product when $M$ is an invertible matrix. We prove that $M \mapsto [M]_\hbar$ is a …
The real intersection cohomology of a toric variety is described in a purely combinatorial way using methods of elementary commutative algebra only. We define, for arbitrary fans, the notion of a ``minimal extension sheaf'' on the fan as an axiomatic characterization of the equivariant intersection cohomology sheaf. This provides a purely algebraic interpretation of Stanley's generalized f- and g-vector of an arbitrary polytope or complete fan under a natural vanishing condition. -- The results presented in this note originate from joint work with G.Barthel, J.-P.Brasselet and L.Kaup, continui…
The operational Chow cohomology classes of a complete toric variety are identified with certain functions, called Minkowski weights, on the corresponding fan. The natural product of Chow cohomology classes makes the Minkowski weights into a commutative ring; the product is computed by a displacement in the lattice, which corresponds to a deformation in the toric variety. We show that, with rational coefficients, this ring embeds in McMullen's polytope algebra, and that the polytope algebra is the direct limit of these Chow rings, over all compactifications of a given torus. In the nonsingular …
These notes accompany a lecture about the topology of symplectic (and other) quotients. The aim is two-fold: first to advertise the ease of computation in the symplectic category; and second to give an account of some new computations for weighted projective spaces. We start with a brief exposition of how orbifolds arise in the symplectic category, and discuss the techniques used to understand their topology. We then show how these results can be used to compute the Chen-Ruan orbifold cohomology ring of abelian symplectic reductions. We conclude by comparing the several rings associated to a w…
The simplicial wedge construction on simplicial complexes and simple polytopes has been used by a variety of authors to study toric and related spaces, including non-singular toric varieties, toric manifolds, intersections of quadrics and more generally, polyhedral products. In this paper we extend the analysis to include toric orbifolds. Our main results yield infinite families of toric orbifolds, derived from a given one, whose integral cohomology is free of torsion and is concentrated in even degrees, a property which might be termed \emph{integrally equivariantly formal}. In all cases, it …
The topology of the intersection of two real homogeneous coaxial quadrics was studied by the second author who showed that its intersection with the unit sphere is in most cases diffeomorphic to a connected sum of sphere products. Combining that approach with a recent one (due to Antony Bahri, Martin Bendersky, Fred Cohen and the first author) we study here the intersections of k>2 quadrics and we identify very general families of such manifolds that are diffeomorphic to connected sums of sphere products. These include those moment-angle manifolds for which the result was conjectured by Freder…
