Simplicial complexes Alexander dual to boundaries of polytopes

Abstract

In the paper we treat Gale diagrams in a combinatorial way. The interpretation allows to describe simplicial complexes which are Alexander dual to boundaries of simplicial polytopes and, more generally, to nerve-complexes of general polytopes. This technique and recent results of N.Yu.Erokhovets are combined to prove the following: Buchstaber invariant $s(P)$ of a convex polytope equals 1 if and only if $P$ is a pyramid. In general, we describe a procedure to construct polytopes with $s_R(P)>k$. The construction has purely combinatorial consequences. We also apply Gale duality to the study of bigraded Betti numbers and f-vectors of polytopes.