A lower bound theorem for Ehrhart polynomials of convex polytopes (Q1333223)

If \({\mathcal P}\) is an integral convex polytope (that is, its vertices are lattice points, with integer cartesian coordinates), then \(i({\mathcal P},n)\) denotes the number of lattice points in \({\mathcal P}\), with \(i({\mathcal P}, 0) = 1\). As shown by Ehrhart, \[ \sum^ d_{i = 0} \delta_ i \lambda^ i : = (1 - \lambda)^{d + 1} \Bigl[ \sum_{i \geq 0} i({\mathcal P}, n) \lambda^ n \Bigr] \] is a polynomial with integer coefficients. \textit{R. P. Stanley} [Ann. Discrete Math. 6, 333-342 (1980)] further showed that the \(\delta_ i\) are nonnegative. In this paper, the author proves that, if \({\mathcal P}\) contains an interior lattice point, then \(\delta_ i \geq \delta_ 1\) for each \(1 \leq i < d\). He remarks that his technique leads to more linear inequalities between the \(\delta_ i\).