Lattice polytopes having \(h^*\)-polynomials with given degree and linear coefficient (Q942130)

Let \(M\) be a lattice in \(\mathbb R^n\), and let \(P\) be an \(n\)-dimensional polytope in \(\mathbb R^N\) with vertices in \(M\). Let us write \(\text{Vol}(P)\) for the normalized volume of \(P\) with respect to \(M\). A standard combinatorial object, introduced by Ehrhart and Stanley, is the generating function of \(P\) with respect to the lattice \(M\), which is known to be a rational function, as follows: \[ \sum_{k \geq 0} | (kP) \cap M | t^k = \frac{h^*_P(t)}{(1-t)^{n+1}}, \] where the numerator \(h^*_P(t) := h_0^* + h_1^* t + \dots + h_n^* t^n\) is called the \(h^*\)-polynomial of \(P\), and its coefficients \(h_0^*,\dots,h_n^* \in \mathbb Z_{\geq 0}\) are such that \(h_0^* = 1\), \(h_1^* = | P \cap M| - n - 1\), and \(h_0^*+\dots+h_n^* = \text{Vol}(P)\). The degree of \(h^*_P(t)\) is called the degree of \(P\) and is denoted by \(\deg(P)\). The main goal of this paper is to provide sufficient conditions for \(P\) to be a lattice pyramid over a lattice polytope of co-dimension 1. This problem was previously investigated by \textit{V. V. Batyrev} [Contemporary Mathematics 423, 1--10 (2006; Zbl 1121.52026)], who provided a lower bound for \(n\) in terms of \(\text{Vol}(P)\) and \(\deg(P)\) which must be satisfied for \(P\) to be a lattice pyramid. The first result of the present paper is an improvement of Batyrev's bound: the author proves that if \[ n \geq (\text{Vol}(P)-1)(2\deg(P)+1), \] then \(P\) is a lattice pyramid over an \((n-1)\)-dimensional lattice polytope. Further, the author generalizes this result by replacing \(\text{Vol}(P)\) by the number of vertices of \(P\). Specifically, he proves that if the number of vertices of \(P\) is \(\leq c+n+1\) and \(\deg(P) \leq d\) for some positive integers \(c\) and \(d\) and \[ n \geq c(2d+1)+4d-1, \] then \(P\) is a lattice pyramid over an \((n-1)\)-dimensional lattice polytope. The author also proposes a more general conjecture on sufficient conditions in terms of the \(h^*\)-polynomial and the number of vertices of \(P\) that ensure that \(P\) is a lattice pyramid. Finally, the author applies his results to derive a certain finiteness statement for the number of lattice polytopes with controlled \(h^*\)-polynomial. This again can be viewed as a generalization of a previous result of Batyrev.