The moment polytope of the abelian polygon space (Q2230898)

The article focuses on the chain space, that is the fixed point set of an involution on the abelian polygon space. Given a vector \(\alpha=(\alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_m)\), the \textit{chain space} \(Ch(\alpha)\) is the set of piecewise linear paths in the plane starting from the origin, with side lengths \(\alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_{m-1}\), and terminating on the vertical line \(x=\alpha_m\), considered up to reflection across the horizontal axis. The \textit{moment polytope} \(P(\alpha)\) is the image of the chain space under a natural moment map. In order to study the moment polytope, the authors define a combinatorial invariant called the \textit{short code}. The results of this article apply only to generic length vectors \(\alpha\): \begin{itemize} \item If two chain spaces have the same short code, then they are diffeomorphic. \item The chain space \(Ch(\alpha)\) is aspherical if and only if its short code belongs to an explicit list of four short codes. \end{itemize} The proof is based on Gromov's Lemma [\textit{M. Gromov}, Essays in group theory 8, 75--263 (1987; Zbl 0634.20015)] and on a careful study of the face poset of \(P(\alpha)\) in terms of its short code.