Ehrhart Unimodality and Simplices for Numeral Systems

In the field of Ehrhart theory, identification of lattice polytopes with unimodal Ehrhart h*-polynomials is a cornerstone investigation. The study of h*-unimodality is home to numerous long-standing conjectures within the field, and proofs thereof often reveal interesting algebra and combinatorics intrinsic to the associated lattice polytopes. Proof techniques for h*-unimodality are plentiful, and some are apparently more dependent on the lattice geometry of the polytope than others. In recent years, proving a polynomial has only real-roots has gained traction as a technique for verifying unimodality of h-polynomials in general. However, the geometric underpinnings of the real-rooted phenomena for h*-unimodality are not well-understood. As such, more examples of this property are always noteworthy. In this talk, we will discuss a family of lattice n-simplices that associate via their normalized volumes to the n^th-place values of positional numeral systems. The h*-polynomials for simplices associated to special systems such as the factoradics and the binary numerals recover ubiquitous h-polynomials, namely the Eulerian polynomials and binomial coefficients, respectively. Simplices associated to any base-r numeral system are also provably real-rooted. We will put the h*-real-rootedness of the simplices for numeral systems in context with that of their cousins, the s-lecture hall simplices, and discuss their admittance of this phenomena as it relates to other, more intrinsically geometric, reasons for h*-unimodality.

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