On hyperplanes and polytopes (Q748895)

We call a convex subset N of a convex d-polytope \(P\subset E^ d\) a k- nucleus of P if N meets every k-face of P, where \(0<k<d\). We note that P has disjoint k-nuclei if and only if there exists a hyperplane in \(E^ d\) which bisects the (relative) interior of every k-face of P, and that this is possible only if \([(d+2)/2]\leq k\leq d-1.\) Our main results are that any convex d-polytope with at most 2d-1 vertices (d\(\geq 3)\) possesses disjoint (d-1)-nuclei and that 2d-1 is the largest possible number with this property. Furthermore, every convex d-polytope with at most 2d facets (d\(\geq 3)\) possesses disjoint (d-1)-nuclei, 2d cannot be replaced by \(2d+2,\) and for \(d=3\), six cannot be replaced by seven.