Obstructions to weak decomposability for simplicial polytopes

Provan and Billera introduced notions of (weak) decomposability of simplicial complexes as a means of attempting to prove polynomial upper bounds on the diameter of the facet-ridge graph of a simplicial polytope. Recently, De Loera and Klee provided the first examples of simplicial polytopes that are not weakly vertex-decomposable. These polytopes are polar to certain simple transportation polytopes. In this paper, we refine their analysis to prove that these $d$-dimensional polytopes are not even weakly $O(\sqrt{d})$-decomposable. As a consequence, (weak) decomposability cannot be used to prove a polynomial version of the Hirsch conjecture

More indecomposable polyhedra

We apply combinatorial methods to a geometric problem: the classification of polytopes, in terms of Minkowski decomposability. Various properties of skeletons of polytopes are exhibited, each sufficient to guarantee indecomposability of a significant class of polytopes. We illustrate further the power of these techniques, compared with the traditional method of examining triangular faces, with several applications. In any dimension $d\neq 2$, we show that of all the polytopes with $d^2+\frac{d}{2}$ or fewer edges, only one is decomposable. In 3 dimensions, we complete the classification, in terms of decomposability, of the 260 combinatorial types of polyhedra with 15 or fewer edges.Comment: PDFLaTeX, 21 pages, 6 figure

Not all simplicial polytopes are weakly vertex-decomposable

In 1980 Provan and Billera defined the notion of weak $k$-decomposability for pure simplicial complexes. They showed the diameter of a weakly $k$-decomposable simplicial complex $\Delta$ is bounded above by a polynomial function of the number of $k$-faces in $\Delta$ and its dimension. For weakly 0-decomposable complexes, this bound is linear in the number of vertices and the dimension. In this paper we exhibit the first examples of non-weakly 0-decomposable simplicial polytopes

More indecomposable polyhedra

We apply combinatorial methods to a geometric problem: the classification of polytopes, in terms of Minkowski decomposability. Various properties of skeletons of polytopes are exhibited, each sufficient to guarantee indecomposability of a significant class of polytopes. We illustrate further the power of these techniques, compared with the traditional method of examining triangular faces, with several applications. In any dimension d≠2, we show that of all the polytopes with d^2 + ½d or fewer edges, only one is decomposable. In 3 dimensions, we complete the classification, in terms of decomposability, of the 260 combinatorial types of polyhedra with 15 or fewer edges.peerReviewe

Obstructions to weak decomposability for simplicial polytopes

International audienceProvan and Billera introduced notions of (weak) decomposability of simplicial complexes as a means of attempting to prove polynomial upper bounds on the diameter of the facet-ridge graph of a simplicial polytope. Recently, De Loera and Klee provided the first examples of simplicial polytopes that are not weakly vertex-decomposable. These polytopes are polar to certain simple transportation polytopes. In this paper, we refine their analysis to prove that these $d$-dimensional polytopes are not even weakly $O(\sqrt{d})$-decomposable. As a consequence, (weak) decomposability cannot be used to prove a polynomial version of the Hirsch Conjecture

Combinatorial 3-manifolds with 10 vertices

We give a complete enumeration of all combinatorial 3-manifolds with 10 vertices: There are precisely 247882 triangulated 3-spheres with 10 vertices as well as 518 vertex-minimal triangulations of the sphere product $S^2\times S^1$ and 615 triangulations of the twisted sphere product S^2_\times_S^1. All the 3-spheres with up to 10 vertices are shellable, but there are 29 vertex-minimal non-shellable 3-balls with 9 vertices.Comment: 9 pages, minor revisions, to appear in Beitr. Algebra Geo