Ordinary \((2m+1)\)-polytopes (Q1376042)

The author introduces the class of ordinary \((2m+1)\)-polytopes \(P\) (by total ordering of the vertices) which contains the cyclic \((2m+1)\)-polytopes and allows a complete description of the facets of each \(P\). More precisely, for \(d=2m +1\geq 5\) the \(d\)-polytope \(P\) with totally ordered vertices \(x_0< \cdots <x_n\) is ordinary if each of its facets satisfies the necessary part of Gale's Evenness Condition and a specific relation among the vertices of a facet. This class of \(d\)-polytopes is even defined for any dimension \(d\geq 3\), but it is shown that \(P\) is not cyclic only for \(d=2 m+1\). There are integers \(k,l\) with \(d\leq k,l\leq n\) such that \(\text{conv} \{x_0,x_i\}\) is an edge of \(P\) iff \(1\leq i\leq k\), and \(\text{conv} \{x_{n-1}, x_n\} \) is an edge of \(P\) iff \(1\leq i\leq 1\). It is shown that \(k\) equals 1, and this quantity is said to be the characteristic of \(P\). For given \(k\) and \(l\), the author lists the facets of \(P\) containing \(x_0\) and \(x_n\) and the other facets. In one of the main theorems a complete description of these facets and the relation \[ f_{2m} (P)= 2{k-m \choose m} +(n-k) {k-m-2 \choose m-1} \] for \(k\) being the characteristic of \(P\) are given (if \(k=n\), then \(P\) is cyclic). Finally, the author expresses the expectation that there is an interesting new class of \(d\)-polytopes (in the spirit of generalized ordinary 3-polytopes, with vertices on a convex ordinary space curve) only if \(d=2 m+1\).