Let $P\subset\R^d$ be a $d$-dimensional polytope. The {\em realization space} of~$P$ is the space of all polytopes $P'\subset\R^d$ that are combinatorially equivalent to~$P$, modulo affine transformations. We report on work by the first author, which shows that realization spaces of \mbox{4-dimensional} polytopes can be ``arbitrarily bad'': namely, for every primary semialgebraic set~$V$ defined over~$\Z$, there is a $4$-polytope $P(V)$ whose realization space is ``stably equivalent'' to~$V$. This implies that the realization space of a $4$-polytope can have the homotopy type of an arbitrary finite simplicial complex, and that all algebraic numbers are needed to realize all $4$- polytopes. The proof is constructive. These results sharply contrast the $3$-dimensional case, where realization spaces are contractible and all polytopes are realizable with integral coordinates (Steinitz's Theorem). No similar universality result was previously known in any fixed dimension.
Robertson (1988) suggested a model for the realization space of a convex d-dimensional polytope and an approach via the implicit function theorem, which -- in the case of a full rank Jacobian -- proves that the realization space is a manifold of dimension NG(P):=d(f_0+f_{d-1})-f_{0,d-1}, which is the natural guess for the dimension given by the number of variables minus the number of quadratic equations that are used in the definition of the realization space. While this indeed holds for many natural classes of polytopes (including simple and simplicial polytopes, as well as all polytopes of d…
We prove that universal second-order rigidity implies universal prestress stability and that triangulated convex polytopes in three-space (with holes appropriately positioned) are prestress stable.
The paper gives a collection of open problems on abstract polytopes that were either presented at the Polytopes Day in Calgary or motivated by discussions at the preceding Workshop on Convex and Abstract Polytopes at the Banff International Research Station in May 2005.
Peter McMullen has developed a theory of realizations of abstract regular polytopes, and has shown that the realizations up to congruence form a pointed convex cone which is the direct product of certain irreducible subcones. We show that each of these subcones is isomorphic to a set of positive semi-definite hermitian matrices of dimension $m$ over either the real numbers, the complex numbers or the quaternions. In particular, we correct an erroneous computation of the dimension of these subcones by McMullen and Monson. We show that the automorphism group of an abstract regular polytope can h…
This article exhibits a 4-dimensional combinatorial polytope that has no antiprism, answering a question posed by Bernt Lindstöm. As a consequence, any realization of this combinatorial polytope has a face that it cannot rest upon without toppling over. To this end, we provide a general method for solving a broad class of realizability problems. Specifically, we show that for any semialgebraic property that faces inherit, the given property holds for some realization of every combinatorial polytope if and only if the property holds from some projective copy of every polytope. The proof uses th…
There are two main thrusts in the theory of regular and chiral polytopes: the abstract, purely combinatorial aspect, and the geometric one of realizations. This brief survey concentrates on the latter. The dimension of a faithful realization of a finite abstract regular polytope in some euclidean space is no smaller than its rank, while that of a chiral polytope must strictly exceed the rank. There are similar restrictions on the dimensions of realizations of regular and chiral apeirotopes. From the viewpoint of realizations in a fixed dimension, the problems are now completely solved in up to…
This thesis explores two specific topics of discrete geometry, the multitriangulations and the polytopal realizations of products, whose connection is the problem of finding polytopal realizations of a given combinatorial structure. A k-triangulation is a maximal set of chords of the convex n-gon such that no k+1 of them mutually cross. We propose a combinatorial and geometric study of multitriangulations based on their stars, which play the same role as triangles of triangulations. This study leads to interpret multitriangulations by duality as pseudoline arrangements with contact points cove…
We construct an infinite family of 4-polytopes whose realization spaces have dimension smaller or equal to 96. This in particular settles a problem going back to Legendre and Steinitz: whether and how the dimension of the realization space of a polytope is determined/bounded by its f-vector. From this, we derive an infinite family of combinatorially distinct 69-dimensional polytopes whose realization is unique up to projective transformation. This answers a problem posed by Perles and Shephard in the sixties. Moreover, our methods naturally lead to several interesting classes of projectively u…
We study the problem of how to obtain an integer realization of a 3d polytope when an integer realization of its dual polytope is given. We focus on grid embeddings with small coordinates and develop novel techniques based on Colin de Verdière matrices and the Maxwell-Cremona lifting method. We show that every truncated 3d polytope with n vertices can be realized on a grid of size O(n^{9log(6)+1}). Moreover, for every simplicial 3d polytope with n vertices with maximal vertex degree Δ and vertices placed on an L x L x L grid, a dual polytope can be realized on an integer grid of size O(n L^{3Δ…
We prove that every primary basic semialgebraic set is homotopy equivalent to the set of inscribed realizations (up to Möbius transformation) of a polytope. If the semialgebraic set is moreover open, then, in addition, we prove that (up to homotopy) it is a retract of the realization space of some inscribed neighborly (and simplicial) polytope. We also show that all algebraic extensions of $\mathbb{Q}$ are needed to coordinatize inscribed polytopes. These statements show that inscribed polytopes exhibit the Mnëv universality phenomenon. Via stereographic projections, these theorems have a dire…
Fix a space dimension $d\ge 2$, parameters $α> -1$ and $β\ge 1$, and let $γ_{d,α, β}$ be the probability measure of an isotropic random vector in $\mathbb{R}^d$ with density proportional to \begin{align*} ||x||^α\, \exp\left(-\frac{\|x\|^β}β\right), \qquad x\in \mathbb{R}^d. \end{align*} By $K_λ$, we denote the Generalized Gamma Polytope arising as the random convex hull of a Poisson point process in $\mathbb{R}^d$ with intensity measure $λγ_{d,α,β}$, $λ>0$. We establish that the scaling limit of the boundary of $K_λ$, as $λ\rightarrow \infty$, is given by a universal `festoon' of piecewise pa…
We study properties of the realizations of groups as the combinatorial automorphism group of a convex polytope. We show that for any non-abelian group $G$ with a central involution there is a centrally symmetric polytope with $G$ as its combinatorial automorphisms. We show that for each integer $n$, there are groups that cannot be realized as the combinatorial automorphisms of convex polytopes of dimension at most $n$. We also give an optimal lower bound for the dimension of the realization of a group as the group of isometries that preserves a convex polytope.
An extension $(V,d)$ of a metric space $(S,μ)$ is a metric space with $S \subseteq V$ and $d|_S = μ$, and is said to be tight if there is no other extension $(V,d')$ of $(S,μ)$ with $d' \leq d$. Isbell and Dress independently found that every tight extension is isometrically embedded into a certain metrized polyhedral complex associated with $(S,μ)$, called the tight span. This paper develops an analogous theory for directed metrics, which are "not necessarily symmetric" distance functions satisfying the triangle inequality. We introduce a directed version of the tight span and show that it ha…
We review three realizations of the associahedron that arise as secondary polytopes, from cluster algebras, and as Minkowski sums of simplices, and show that under any choice of parameters, the resulting associahedra are affinely non-equivalent.
The Monotone Upper Bound Problem (Klee, 1965) asks if the number M(d,n) of vertices in a monotone path along edges of a d-dimensional polytope with n facets can be as large as conceivably possible: Is M(d,n) = M_{ubt}(d,n), the maximal number of vertices that a d-polytope with n facets can have according to the Upper Bound Theorem? We show that in dimension d=4, the answer is ``yes'', despite the fact that it is ``no'' if we restrict ourselves to the dual-to-cyclic polytopes. For each n>=5, we exhibit a realization of a polar-to-neighborly 4-dimensional polytope with n facets and a Hamilton pa…
Makeev proved that among centrally symmetric four-dimensional polytopes, with more than twenty facets and circumscribed about the Euclidean ball of diameter one, there is no universal cover for the family of unit diameter sets. In this paper we examine the converse problem, and prove that each centrally symmetric polytope, with at most fourteen facets and circumscribed about the Euclidean ball of diameter one, is a universal cover for the family of unit diameter sets.
Let $n\geq 3$, and let $B_1^n$ be the standard $n$-dimensional cross-polytope (i.e. the convex hull of standard coordinate vectors and their negatives). We show that there exists a symmetric convex body $\mathcal G_m$ in ${\mathbb R}^n$ such that the Banach--Mazur distance $d(B_1^n,\mathcal G_m)$ satisfies $d(B_1^n,\mathcal G_m)\geq n^{5/9}\log^{-C}n$, where $C>0$ is a universal constant. The body $\mathcal G_m$ is obtained as a typical realization of a random polytope in ${\mathbb R}^n$ with $2m:=2n^C$ vertices (for a large constant $C$). The result improves upon an earlier estimate of S.Szar…
In this note we prove a theorem concerning the sewing of even dimensional neighbourly polytopes. The theorem provides a fast algorithm for sewing in practice. We also give a description of the universal faces of a sewn $d$-polytope in terms of the main theorem.
We introduce the wedge product of two polytopes. The wedge product is described in terms of inequality systems, in terms of vertex coordinates as well as purely combinatorially, from the corresponding data of its constituents. The wedge product construction can be described as an iterated ``subdirect product'' as introduced by McMullen (1976); it is dual to the ``wreath product'' construction of Joswig and Lutz (2005). One particular instance of the wedge product construction turns out to be especially interesting: The wedge products of polygons with simplices contain certain combinatorially r…
The isotropic constant $L_K$ is an affine-invariant measure of the spread of a convex body $K$. For a $d$-dimensional convex body $K$, $L_K$ can be defined by $L_K^{2d} = \det(A(K))/(\mathrm{vol}(K))^2$, where $A(K)$ is the covariance matrix of the uniform distribution on $K$. It is an outstanding open problem to find a tight asymptotic upper bound of the isotropic constant as a function of the dimension. It has been conjectured that there is a universal constant upper bound. The conjecture is known to be true for several families of bodies, in particular, highly symmetric bodies such as bodie…
