Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 1204.4547

Minkowski Decomposition of Associahedra and Related Combinatorics

Abstract

Realisations of associahedra with linearly non-isomorphic normal fans can be obtained by alteration of the right-hand sides of the facet-defining inequalities from a classical permutahedron. These polytopes can be expressed as Minkowski sums and differences of dilated faces of a standard simplex as described by Ardila, Benedetti & Doker (2010). The coefficients $y_I$ of such a Minkowski decomposition can be computed by Möbius inversion if tight right-hand sides $z_I$ are known not just for the facet-defining inequalities of the associahedron but also for all inequalities of the permutahedron that are redundant for the associahedron. We show for certain families of these associahedra: (a) how to compute tight values $z_I$ for the redundant inequalities from the values $z_I$ for the facet-defining inequalities; (b) the computation of the values $y_I$ of Ardila, Benedetti & Doker can be significantly simplified and at most four values $z_{a(I)}$, $z_{b(I)}$, $z_{c(I)}$ and $z_{d(I)}$ are needed to compute $y_I$; (c) the four indices $a(I)$, $b(I)$, $c(I)$ and $d(I)$ are determined by the geometry of the normal fan of the associahedron and are described combinatorially; (d) a combinatorial interpretation of the values $y_I$ using a labeled $n$-gon. This last result is inspired from similar interpretations for vertex coordinates originally described originally by J.-L. Loday and well-known interpretations for the $z_I$-values of facet-defining inequalities.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Carsten Lange. 2015-06-25. Minkowski Decomposition of Associahedra and Related Combinatorics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00454-013-9546-5

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

From the Steiner Inellipse to the John Ellipsoid of a Simplex: A Corner-Volume Characterization

For a triangle of area \(T\), a planar corner-area characterization states that an interior point \(M\) lies on the Steiner inellipse precisely when the three corner triangles cut off by the lines through \(M\) parallel to the sides have areas \(T_1,T_2,T_3\) satisfying $$ T_1+T_2+T_3=\frac12 T. $$ We give the corresponding statement for a simplex in arbitrary dimension. If \(S\) is a nondegenerate \(n\)-simplex of volume \(V\) and \(V_1(M),\ldots,V_{n+1}(M)\) are the volumes of the facet-parallel corner simplices determined by \(M\), then $$ M\in\partial E_J(S) \quad\Longleftrightarrow\quad \sum_{i=1}^{n+1}V_i(M)^{2/n}=\frac1n V^{2/n}, $$ where \(E_J(S)\) is the John ellipsoid of \(S\). We also identify the entire corner-volume functional with the central second-moment quadratic of the uniform simplex. The novelty claimed here is limited to the corner-volume formulations and their connections with the planar Steiner-inellipse result; the underlying barycentric, covariance, and John-ellipsoid facts are classical.

math.MG

The $L_p$ Minkowski problem for $C$-close sets: existence and continuity

Let $C$ be a pointed closed convex cone in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with nonempty interior, and let $S^{n-1}$ denote the unit sphere in $\mathbb{R}^n$. The $L_p$ Minkowski problem for $C$-close sets is to determine, for a real number $p$ and a nonzero finite Borel measure $μ$ defined on $Ω_{C^\circ}=S^{n-1}\cap \mathrm{int} C^{\circ}$, whether there exists a $C$-close set $\mathds{A}$ such that $μ$ is the $L_p$ surface area measure of $\mathds{A}$. In this paper, we will solve the problem for $p\in (0,1)$ and for $μ$ being a nonzero finite Borel measure on $Ω_{C^\circ}$. Moreover, we establish the continuity of solutions to the $L_p$ Minkowski problem for $p\in [0, 1]$ in several settings.

math.MG

Convergence of metric measure spaces via embeddings in the Urysohn universal space

We study different notions of convergence of metric measure spaces by means of isometric embeddings into the Urysohn universal metric space $\mathbb U$. Due to the universality of $\mathbb U$, the collection $\mathbb X_1$ of isomorphism classes of normalised metric measure spaces can be canonically identified with the quotient (set) $\mathscr P_\sim(\mathbb U)=\mathscr P(\mathbb U)/\sim$ of the space $\mathscr P(\mathbb U)$ of Borel probability measures on $\mathbb U$, where $μ\simν$ if $ν$ is the pushforward of $μ$ under an isometry between their respective supports. By making crucial use of the ultrahomogeneity of $\mathbb U$, we show that, under the above identification, Gromov's box topology on $\mathbb X_1$ coincides with the quotient topology induced by the weak topology of $\mathscr P(\mathbb U)$. More quantitatively, the truncated $1$-Wasserstein distance on $\mathscr P(\mathbb U)$ induces a complete and separable distance ${\sf d}_{\rm mG}$ on $\mathbb X_1\cong\mathscr P_\sim(\mathbb U)$, which metrises the quotient topology of $\mathscr P_\sim(\mathbb U)$ and is Hölder equivalent to the box distance $\square$.

math.MG