Moment maps, strict linear precision, and maximum likelihood degree one (Q2189502)

In this article, the authors study the quotient moment map and the Fubini-Study moment map associated to a smooth projective variety. These two moment maps are not generally equal, as it is illustrated in the paper one can begin see differences between these maps even in the case of projective space. The authors characterize when the moment map coming from the quotient construction is equal to a weighted Fubini-Study moment map. This characterization leads to an investigation into polytopes with strict linear precision and to reveal remakable connections between Symplectic Geometry, Geometric Modeling, Algebraic Statistics, and Algebraic Geometry.