Projected Brion's theorem

Abstract

We present an analogue of Brion's theorem for the projected integer-point transform. Brion's theorem writes the integer-point transform of a rational polyhedron $P$ as the sum of the rational functions associated to its vertex cones. The pushforward $π_*$ along a lattice projection $π$ turns the transform of $P$ into the generating function of the numbers of lattice points in the fibres of $π$. We group the vertices of $P$ into contracted classes, generated by the edges whose direction $π$ kills, and show that the sum of the rational functions associated to the vertex cones in a contracted class can be pushed forward along $π$, yielding a rational function decomposition of the projected integer-point transform. For a lattice polytope, the classes correspond to the connected components of the fixed locus of the associated toric variety under the action of a subtorus, and our formula resembles the localization formula for this subtorus. We use this decomposition to provide an explicit formula for the projected integer-point transform of a linear family of polytopes. We illustrate this result with families of Gelfand--Zetlin and string polytopes.