Affine convex body semigroups. (Q382946)

Let \(I\) be a nonempty closed interval of positive real numbers. Then \(S=(\bigcup_{k\in\mathbb N}kI)\cap\mathbb N\) (where \(\mathbb N\) is the set of nonnegative integers) is a numerical semigroup. There are positive integers \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\) such that \(S\) is the set of nonnegative integer solutions of the modular inequality \(ax\bmod b\leq cx\) [\textit{J. C. Rosales} et al., J. Number Theory 103, No. 2, 281-294 (2003; Zbl 1039.20036)]. In the manuscript under review the authors study what happens in higher dimensions if we change \(I\) by a convex compact subset of \(\mathbb R_+^k\) with nonempty interior (\(\mathbb R_+\) the set of positive real numbers). Points lying in a line and in a semigroup of this kind fulfill an equation of the form \(a\mathrm d(0,X)\bmod b\leq\mathrm d(0,X)\), for some real numbers \(a\) and \(b\) with \(1<a<b\), where \(\mathrm d\) is the Euclidean distance. For the case the convex body is a polygon \(P\) on \(\mathbb R_+^2\), the semigroup \((\bigcup_{k\in\mathbb N}kP)\cap\mathbb N^2\) is finitely generated (that is, an affine semigroup) if and only if \(P\cap\tau_1\) and \(P\cap\tau_2\) contain rational points, where \(\tau_1\) and \(\tau_2\) are the lines delimiting the cone spanned by \(P\) (its extremal rays). If this is the case, the authors prove that there is a procedure to compute a minimal generating set of \((\bigcup_{k\in\mathbb N}kP)\cap\mathbb N^2\). A similar result is obtained if we replace \(P\) with a circle. Moreover, in this setting, a modular inequality is derived for elements belonging to the semigroups that are not in the extreme rays, and bounds for the minimal generators are provided. The paper contains many figures and examples illustrating the results obtained.