Polyhedral Gauss-Bonnet theorems and valuations (Q1646647)

A (convex) polytope is the convex hull of finitely many points in \(\mathbb{R}^n\), and each polytope \(P\) has a corresponding Euler characteristic \(\chi(P)\). The Gauss-Bonnet theorem expresses \(\chi(P)\) as a sum of proportions of volumes that normal cones of \(P\), at its vertices, cut from the unit ball. This theorem has previously been extended to polyhedral cell complexes and piecewise flat spaces. By a polyhedron, the author means a finite union of convex polytopes in \(\mathbb{R}^n\). Since the summands of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem are additive, the Gauss-Bonnet formula can be extended to polyhedra as well. In this article, the author addresses two main questions: first, when can the Gauss-Bonnet formula be simplified beyond a direct inclusion-exclusion description? Second, to what extent can ``vertex curvature'' be defined so that Gauss-Bonnet-style theorems hold? The author introduces the notion of polyhedral vertex curvature and uses it to generate many Gauss-Bonnet formulas.