Matching polytopes, Gorensteinness, and the integer decomposition property

Abstract

The matching polytope of a graph $G$ is the convex hull of the indicator vectors of the matchings on $G$. We characterize the graphs whose associated matching polytopes are Gorenstein, and then prove that all Gorenstein matching polytopes possess the integer decomposition property. As a special case study, we examine the matching polytopes of wheel graphs and show that they are not Gorenstein, but do possess the integer decomposition property.