Irrational proofs for three theorems of Stanley (Q854841)

The authors present new and simple proofs of Stanley's reciprocity theorem, positivity theorem and monotonicity theorem concerning the generating function of the number of integer points in polyhedra with rational vertices. The proofs proceed by ``irrational'' decompositions of rational polyhedra, i.e., by certain triangulations into simplicial cones (which constitute easy cases of the theorems) such that every integral point in the polyhedron belongs to exactly one of the simplicial cones in the triangulation.