Ehrhart polynomial Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
For a lattice polytope , its Ehrhart polynomial counts integer points in dilates: for nonnegative integers . Ehrhart's theorem makes this counting function a polynomial. For the unit square, : there are choices for each coordinate. This turns a geometric counting problem into algebra.[ref]
Ehrhart reciprocity Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
For a -dimensional lattice polytope and positive integer , Ehrhart reciprocity stateswith relative interior when needed. Negative input means polynomial evaluation, not a negative dilation count. For the unit square, counts the interior grid points of its th dilation.[ref]
Ehrhart's theorem Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
Ehrhart's theorem says that the lattice-point count of a -dimensional lattice polytope is a polynomial in the nonnegative integer dilation factor, of degree . For full-dimensional , its leading coefficient is the ordinary volume and its constant coefficient is one. Rational vertices instead generally produce a quasipolynomial.[ref]
Computing the Continuous Discretely by Matthias Beck and Sinai Robins. Theorems 3.8 and 3.23; §3.5, leading coefficient
Normal fan of a polytope 2026-10-14
The normal cone of a face of a polytope consists of linear functionals whose minimum is attained on all of . These cones form the inward normal fan, complete in the dual of the polytope's affine span. For a full-dimensional lattice polytope, it is a complete rational fan in the full dual space.
// Target: geometry-and-topology.bigb
For a lattice polytope , form the semigroup of lattice points with and , using only in degree zero. Its semigroup algebra is graded by , and its Proj construction gives . The chart at a lattice vertex is ; these charts give the normal fan of a polytope construction. For a polytope of smaller dimension, use its intrinsic affine lattice after translation.
// Target: geometry-and-topology.bigb