The numbers of edges of 5-polytopes with a given number of vertices (Q2421314)

The \(f\)-vector of a \(d\)-dimensional polytope \(P\) is here defined by \(f(P) = (f_0(P),f_1(P),\ldots, f_{d-1}(P))\) where \(f_i(P)\) denotes the number of \(i\)-dimensional faces of \(P\). It is well-known that Ernst Steinitz characterized all possible \(f\)-vectors of 3-polytopes in 1906 and that the characterization of all possible \(f\)-vectors of 4-polytopes is still an open problem in convex geometry. The set \(\{(f_i(P),f_j(P)) : P\text{ is a 4-polytope}\}\) has been characterized for \(0\leq i < j\leq 3\) by \textit{B. Grünbaum} [Convex polytopes. Prepared by Volker Kaibel, Victor Klee, and Günter M. Ziegler. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Springer (2003; Zbl 1033.52001)], \textit{D. Barnette} [Discrete Math. 10, 201--216 (1974; Zbl 0294.52008)] and \textit{D. Barnette} and \textit{J. R. Reay} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 15, 200--209 (1973; Zbl 0263.05030)]. The main result of this paper is a complete characterization of the set \(\{(f_0(P),f_1(P)) : P\text{ is a 5-polytope}\}\). This same result was also obtained independently by different methods by \textit{G. Pineda-Villavicencio} et al. [Eur. J. Comb. 79, 27--45 (2019; Zbl 1423.52022)].