Algebraic boundaries of \(\mathrm{SO}(2)\)-orbitopes (Q2391832)

The algebraic boundary of a semi-algebraic set is an object of great interest in convex algebraic geometry and semi-definite optimization. In this paper, it is used to study whether or not a semi-algebraic set is \textit{basic closed}. A convex semi-algebraic set is basic closed if it can be described by finitely many polynomial inequalities. For instance, a spectrahedron is a basic closed semi-algebraic set. An interesting class of compact convex semi-algebraic sets are the \textit{orbitopes}. An orbitope is the convex hull of an orbit under a linear action of a compact real algebraic group on a real vector space, see [\textit{R. Sanyal, F. Sottile} and \textit{B. Sturmfels}, Mathematika 57, No. 2, 275--314 (2011; Zbl 1315.52001)]. The focus of this paper is on the special case of orbitopes of the group \(\mathrm{SO}(2)\) of real orthogonal \(2\times 2\) matrices with determinant \(1\). The main result is the following: Let \(X\subset \mathbb A^{2r}\) be an irreducible curve and assume that the real points \(X(\mathbb R)\) of \(X\) are dense in \(X\) in the Zariski topology. Let \(C\) be the convex hull of \(X(\mathbb R)\subset \mathbb R^{2r}\) and suppose that the interior of \(C\) is non-empty. Then the \((r-1)\)th secant variety to \(X\) is an irreducible component of the algebraic boundary of \(C\) if and only if the set of all \(r\)-tuples of real points of \(X\) that span a face of \(C\) has dimension \(r\). As applications of this result, it is proved that the Barvinok-Novik orbitopes are not basic closed and it is given a characterization for basic closed \(4\)-dimensional \(\mathrm{SO}(2)\)-orbitopes.