Universal inequalities in Ehrhart theory (Q1617946)

A convex polytope in \(\mathbb R^d\) is \textit{lattice} if all of its vertices are in \(\mathbb Z^d\). From a lattice polytope \(P\) of dimension \(d\), one may construct the \textit{Ehrhart polynomial}, denoted \(\mathrm{ehr}_P(k)\), which is the unique polynomial of degree \(d\) with rational coefficients satisfying \(\mathrm{ehr}_P(k) = |kP \cap \mathbb Z^d|\) for all positive integers \(k\). Consequently, the \textit{Ehrhart series} of \(P\), \(\sum_{k \geq 0} \text{ehr}_P(k)t^k\), is rational with numerator \(\sum_{i \geq 0} h_i^*t^i\), where each \(h_i^*\) is a nonnegative integer and \(h_i^* = 0\) for \(i > d\). To simplify terminology, we call this numerator the \textit{\(h^*\)-polynomial} of \(P\), and call \(h^*(P) = (h_0^*,\dots,h_d^*)\) the \textit{\(h^*\)-vector} of \(P\). A wide open problem in Ehrhart theory is to identify when a polynomial with nonnegative integer coefficients is the \(h^*\)-polynomial of some lattice polytopes. This has been solved when the polynomial has degree at most \(2\), and are characterized by what the authors call Scott's inequalities. This article shows that, if the \(h^*\)-vector of a lattice polytope satisfies \(h_3^* = 0\), then the \(h^*\)-vector also must satisfy Scott's inequalities. In particular, the inequalities hold regardless of the dimension of \(P\) or the degree of its \(h^*\)-polynomial; the authors deem such an inequality \textit{universal}.