Some more amplituhedra are contractible (Q1725993)

The \textit{totally nonnegative Grassmannian} $G_k^{\geq0}(\mathbb R^n)$, $1\leq k\leq n$, is the orbit space obtained from the space of real $k\times n$ matrices with all $k$-minors nonnegative via the action (by matrix multiplication from the left) of the group $\mathrm{GL}_k^+(\mathbb R)$. There is a $\mathrm CW$-decomposition of $G_k^{\geq0}(\mathbb R^n)$ into the \textit{positroid cells} and for a certain kind of $(k+m)\times n$ matrix $Z$ (where $m\geq0$ and $k+m\leq n$) a map $\widetilde Z:G_k^{\geq0}(\mathbb R^n)\rightarrow G_k(\mathbb R^{k+m})$. The image of a closed positroid cell $\overline e$ by this map is called a \textit{Grassmann polytope} and is denoted by $P_Z(e)$. If $e$ is the maximal cell in this $\mathrm CW$-decomposition, then $\overline e=G_k^{\geq0}(\mathbb R^n)$, and $P_Z(e)=\widetilde Z(G_k^{\geq0}(\mathbb R^n))$ is called an \textit{amplituhedron} and is denoted by $\mathcal A_{n,k,m}(Z)$. Amplituhedra were introduced in physics as a tool for facilitating calculations in some quantum field theories. In a few cases it is known that amplituhedra are homeomorphic to balls. \par In this paper the authors consider the case $n=k+m+1$. They show that in this case every Grassmann polytope $P_Z(e)$ is contractible. The proof relies on the Whitehead theorem -- it is shown that $P_Z(e)$ has the homotopy type of a $\mathrm CW$-complex (moreover, it admits a triangulation) and that the restriction $\widetilde Z|_{\overline e}:\overline e\rightarrow P_Z(e)$ is a weak homotopy equivalence, and so the result follows from the (known) fact that $\overline e$ is contractible. The authors also prove that if $m$ is even and if $Z$ is a $(k+m)\times(k+m+1)$ matrix with all $(k+m)$-minors positive, then the amplituhedron $\mathcal A_{k+m+1,k,m}(Z)$ is homeomorphic to a ball of dimension $km$.