On a vertex-minimal triangulation of \(\mathbb R \mathrm P^4\) (Q521377)

Summary: We give three constructions of a vertex-minimal triangulation of \(4\)-dimensional real projective space \(\mathbb{R}\mathrm{P}^4\). The first construction describes a \(4\)-dimensional sphere on \(32\) vertices, which is a double cover of a triangulated \(\mathbb{R}\mathrm{P}^4\) and has a large amount of symmetry. The second and third constructions illustrate approaches to improving the known number of vertices needed to triangulate \(n\)-dimensional real projective space. All three constructions deliver the same combinatorial manifold, which is also the same as the only known \(16\)-vertex triangulation of \(\mathbb{R}\mathrm{P}^4\). We also give a short, simple construction of the \(22\)-point Witt design, which is closely related to the complex we construct.