Algebro-geometric characterization of Cayley polytopes (Q481697)

Let \(e_1,\dots,e_r\) be the standard basis of \(\mathbb{Z}^n\) or \(\mathbb{R}^n\). A unimodular \(r\)-simplex is a lattice polytope which is identified with the convex hull of \(\{0,e_1,\ldots,e_r\}\) in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) by a \(\mathbb{Z}\)-affine translation. A linear map \(\mathbb{R}^n\longrightarrow \mathbb{R}^r\) is a lattice projection, if it is induced from a surjective group homomorphism \(\mathbb{Z}^n\longrightarrow \mathbb{Z}^r\). A lattice polytope \(P\) in \(\mathbb{R}^n\), is called a Cayley polytope of length \(r+1\), if there exists a lattice projection \(\mathbb{R}^n\longrightarrow \mathbb{R}^r\), which maps \(P\) onto a unimodular \(r\)-simplex. In this paper, the author provides an algebro-geometric characterization of Cayley polytopes. In the first part of the article, he proves for a lattice polytope \(P\) of dimension \(n\), that it is a Cayley polytope of length \(r+1\), if and only if the polarized toric variety associated to \(P\), is covered by \(r\)-planes. A lattice polytope \(P\) defines a toric variety \(X_P\) polarized by an ample line bundle \(L_P\). The pair \((X_P,L_P)\) is called a polarized toric variety. As a result of this theorem, the author gives a sufficient condition such that \(P\) is a Cayley polytope by using dual defects. In the second part of this article, the author characterizes the Cayley polytopes of length two (e.g. lattice polytopes with lattice width one), by using the Seshadri constants. The Seshadri constant of a polarized variety, is an invariant which measures the positivity of the variety, for more see [\textit{J.-P. Demailly}, Lect. Notes Math. 1507, 87--104 (1992; Zbl 0784.32024)] and [\textit{R. Lazarsfeld}, Positivity in algebraic geometry. I. Classical setting: line bundles and linear series. Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete. 3. Folge 48. Berlin: Springer (2004; Zbl 1093.14501)]. In general, the computation of these constants is a very difficult computational problem. The author is able to show a very nice result in which he characterizes the lattice polytopes, for which the corresponding Seshadri constant is one. More explicitly, he proves an equivalence between \(P\) being a Cayley polytope of length two, the polarized variety \((X_P,L_P)\) being covered by lines and the Seshadri constant being one.