Gorenstein toric Fano varieties

We investigate Gorenstein toric Fano varieties by combinatorial methods using the notion of a reflexive polytope which appeared in connection to mirror symmetry. The paper contains generalisations of tools and previously known results for nonsingular toric Fano varieties. As applications we obtain new classification results, bounds of invariants and formulate conjectures concerning combinatorial and geometrical properties of reflexive polytopes.Comment: AMS-LaTeX, 29 pages with 5 figure

Algebraic Topology of Calabi-Yau Threefolds in Toric Varieties

We compute the integral homology (including torsion), the topological K-theory, and the Hodge structure on cohomology of Calabi-Yau threefold hypersurfaces and complete intersections in Gorenstein toric Fano varieties. The methods are purely topological