Realization spaces of polytopes and matroids

Abstract

Chapter 1 describes several models for the realization space of a polytope. These models include the classical model, a model representing realizations in the Grassmannian, a new model which represents realizations by slack matrices, and a model which represents polytopes by their Gale transforms. We explore the connections between these models, and show how they can be exploited to obtain useful parametrizations of the slack realization space. Chapter 2 introduces a natural model for the realization space of a polytope up to projective equivalence which we call the slack realization space of the polytope. The model arises from the positive part of an algebraic variety determined by the slack ideal of the polytope. This is a saturated determinantal ideal that encodes the combinatorics of the polytope. The slack ideal offers an effective computational framework for several classical questions about polytopes such as rational realizability, non-prescribability of faces, and realizability of combinatorial polytopes. Chapter 3 studies the simplest possible slack ideals, which are toric, and explores their connections to projectively unique polytopes. We prove that if a projectively unique polytope has a toric slack ideal, then it is the toric ideal of the bipartite graph of vertex-facet non- incidences of the polytope. The slack ideal of a polytope is contained in this toric ideal if and only if the polytope is morally 2-level, a generalization of the 2-level property in polytopes. We show that polytopes that do not admit rational realizations cannot have toric slack ideals. A classical example of a projectively unique polytope with no rational realizations is due to Perles. We prove that the slack ideal of the Perles polytope is reducible, providing the first example of a slack ideal that is not prime. Chapter 4 studies a certain collection of polytopal operations which preserve projective uniqueness of polytopes. We look at their effect on slack matrices and use this to classify all “McMullen-type” projectively unique polytopes in dimension 5. From this we identify one of the smallest known projectively unique polytopes not obtainable from McMullen’s constructions. Chapter 5 extends the slack realization space model to the setting of matroids. We show how to use this model to certify non-realizability of matroids, and describe an explicit relationship to the standard Grassmann-Plu ̈cker realization space model. We also exhibit a way of detecting projectively unique matroids via their slack ideals by introducing a toric ideal that can be associated to any matroid. Chapter 6 addresses some of the computational aspects of working with slack ideals. We develop a Macaulay2 [27] package for computing and manipulating slack ideals. In particular, we explore the dehomogenizing and rehomogenizing of slack ideals, both from a computational and theoretical perspective.