Facets of the \(r\)-stable \((n,k)\)-hypersimplex (Q505699)

For integers \(0<k<n\), let \([n] = \{1,\ldots,n\}\) and \({[n]\choose k}\) denote the collection of all \(k\)-element subsets of \([n]\). The characteristic vector of a subset \(I\in {[n]\choose k}\) is the \(0/1\)-vector \(\tilde{\epsilon}_I = (\epsilon_1,\ldots,\epsilon_n)\) where \(\epsilon_i = 1\) if \(i\in I\) and \(\epsilon_i = 0\) if \(i\not\in I\). The \textit{\((n,k)\)-hypersimplex \(\Delta_{n,k}\)} is the convex hull of \(\{\tilde{\epsilon}_I : I\in {[n]\choose k}\}\) in \({\mathbb{R}^n}\). For varying \(k\) and \(n\) the class of hypersimplices forms an important collection of integer polytopes that generalize the standard \((n-1)\)-simplex. Now, assume the vertices of the \(n\)-cycle graph \(C_n\) are labeled in a clockwise fashion from \(1\) to \(n\). For an integer \(r \in \{1,\ldots,\lfloor n/k\rfloor\}\) a subset \(I\in {[n]\choose k}\), and the corresponding characteristic vector \(\tilde{\epsilon}_I\), is called \textit{\(r\)-stable} if for every \(i,j\in I\) the distance between vertices \(i\) and \(j\) on \(C_n\) is at least \(r\), that is \(d_{C_n}(i,j)\geq r\). The \textit{\(r\)-stable \((n,k)\)-hypersimplex} is the convex hull of all \(r\)-stable \(\tilde{\epsilon}_I\) where \(I\in {[n]\choose k}\). The first main result of the paper is the derivation of the facet-defining inequalities of the facets of the \(r\)-stable \((n,k)\)-hypersimplices, in terms of \((x_1,\ldots, x_n)\in {\mathbb{R}^n}\) for each \(r \in \{1,\ldots,\lfloor n/k\rfloor\}\), in particular, if \(r\neq\lfloor n/k\rfloor\), then they all have exactly \(2n\) facets. For a rational \(d\)-polytope \(P\subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^n\) and an integer \(q\geq 1\) let \(qP = \{q\tilde{t} : \tilde{t}\in P\}\). For indeterminates \(x_1,\ldots,x_n,z\) over some field \(K\) let \(A(P)_q\) be the vector space over \(K\) spanned by the monomials \(x_1^{t_1}\cdots x_n^{t_n}z^q\) where \(\tilde{t} = (t_1,\ldots,t_n)\in qP\cap {\mathbb{Z}}^n\). By the convexity of \(P\) the \textit{Ehrhart ring} \(A(P) := \bigoplus_{q\geq 0}A(P)_q\) is a well-defined finitely generated graded \(K\)-algebra. The polytope \(P\) is said to be \textit{Gorenstein} if the Ehrhart ring \(A(P)\) is a Gorenstein ring. The second main result of the paper is the classification of those \(r\)-stable \((n,k)\)-hypersimplices that are Gorenstein as precisely those where \(n = k(r+1)\). In particular, \(n = k(r+1)\) implies that the \(r\)-stable \((n,k)\)-hypersimplices all have unimodal (Ehrhart) \(\delta\)-vectors.