Graph invariants and Betti numbers of real toric manifolds (Q2176810)

Let \(G\) be a graph. The graph associahedron \(\triangle_G\) and the graph cubeahedron \(\square_G\) are simple convex polytopes constructed from \(G\). Both \(\triangle_G\) and \(\square_G\) are Delzant polytopes, which means that they determine toric manifolds \(X(\triangle_G)\) and \(X(\square_G)\). Let \(X^{\mathbb{R}}(\triangle_G)\) and \(X^{\mathbb{R}}(\square_G)\) denote the real loci of \(X(\triangle_G)\) and \(X(\square_G)\), respectively. The Betti numbers of \(X^{\mathbb{R}}(\triangle_G)\) have been computed in [\textit{S. Choi} and \textit{H. Park}, J. Math Soc. Japan 67, No. 2, 699--720 (2015; Zbl 1326.57044)] by a combinatorial graph invariant called the \(a\)-number. In this paper, the authors introduce the \(b\)-number of a graph that is analogous to the \(a\)-number. The \(b\)-numbers are then used to compute the Betti numbers of \(X^{\mathbb{R}}(\square_G)\). The authors also study the relationships between \(a\)-numbers and \(b\)-numbers from the point of view of toric topology. In particular, they show that if \(G\) is a forest and \(L(G)\) is the line graph of \(G\), then the real toric manifolds \(X^{\mathbb{R}}(\triangle_G)\) and \(X^{\mathbb{R}}(\square_{L(G)})\) have the same Betti numbers.