A universality theorem for projectively unique polytopes and a conjecture of Shephard

Abstract

We prove that every polytope described by algebraic coordinates is the face of a projectively unique polytope. This provides a universality property for projectively unique polytopes. Using a closely related result of Below, we construct a combinatorial type of 5-dimensional polytope that is not realizable as a subpolytope of any stacked polytope. This disproves a classical conjecture in polytope theory, first formulated by Shephard in the seventies.