Minkowski valuations on lattice polytopes (Q1757300)

The theory of valuations on convex sets has emerged from the classic classification results of \textit{H. Hadwiger} [Vorlesungen über Inhalt, Oberfläche und Isoperimetrie. Berlin- Göttingen-Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag (1957; Zbl 0078.35703)] and \textit{U. Betke} and \textit{M. Kneser} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 358, 202--208 (1985; Zbl 0567.52002)]. In recent years, a large body of classification results in various contexts were established for valuations defined on convex bodies, and in particular, for convex-body \textit{valued} valuations (see the paper for references). The article aims to establish classification results for valuations defined on lattice polytopes and which map onto convex bodies. To describe the main results, let \(Z\) be an operator mapping lattice polytopes to convex bodies in \(\mathbb{R}^n\). \begin{itemize} \item \(Z\) is a \textit{Minkowski valuation}, if \(Z(P) + Z(Q) = Z(P \cup Q) + Z(P \cap Q)\), whenever \(P\) and \(Q\) are lattice polytopes, such that \(P \cup Q\) and \(P \cap Q\) are as well, and where \(+\) is Minkowski (i.e.~pointwise) addition of sets. \item \(Z\) is \textit{translation invariant}, if \(Z(P+x) = Z(P)\) for every lattice polytope \(P\) and every lattice vector \(x\). \item \(Z\) is \textit{\(\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{Z})\) equivariant}, if \(Z(\phi P) = \phi(Z(P))\), for every lattice polytope \(P\) and every \(\phi \in \mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{Z})\). \item \(Z\) is \textit{\(\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{Z})\) contravariant}, if \(Z(\phi P) = \phi^{-\top}(Z(P))\), for every lattice polytope \(P\) and every \(\phi \in \mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{Z})\). \end{itemize} With this notation the first main result of the paper is Theorem 4: An operator \(Z\) that maps lattice polytopes to convex bodies in~\(\mathbb{R}^n\) is an \(\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{Z})\) equivariant and translation invariant Minkowski valuation if and only if there exist constants \(a,b \geq 0\) such that \(Z(P) = a(P - \ell_1(P)) + b(-P + \ell_1(P))\), for every lattice polytope \(P \subseteq \mathbb{R}^n\). Herein, \(\ell_1(P)\) denotes the newly identified \emph{discrete Steiner point}, which is a lattice-polytope-analog to the classical Steiner point in convex geometry. The authors also classify \(\ell_1(P)\) as the only \(\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{Z})\) and translation equivariant valuation on lattice polytopes (Theorem 5). The second main result of the paper is Theorem 11 and concerns the contravariant case: For \(n \geq 3\), an operator \(Z\) that maps lattice polytopes to convex bodies in~\(\mathbb{R}^n\) is an \(\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{Z})\) contravariant and translation invariant Minkowski valuation if and only if there exists a constant \(c \geq 0\) such that \(Z(P) = c \Pi P\), for every lattice polytope \(P \subseteq \mathbb{R}^n\), where \(\Pi P\) is the projection body of~\(P\). (The case \(n=2\) is similar but a bit more subtle.) For both results, the authors also provide a corresponding characterization for operators that map into the family of lattice polytopes again.