Ehrhart theory of polytopes and Seiberg-Witten invariants of plumbed 3-manifolds

TL;DR

This paper links Seiberg-Witten invariants of plumbed 3-manifolds to coefficients of equivariant Ehrhart polynomials derived from plumbing graphs, developing a new Ehrhart theory framework for these topological invariants.

Contribution

It introduces a novel connection between Seiberg-Witten invariants and Ehrhart polynomials via polytope constructions from plumbing graphs, expanding Ehrhart theory to topological invariants.

Findings

Seiberg-Witten invariants correspond to Ehrhart polynomial coefficients.

Developed Ehrhart theory for polytopes with group actions.

Established properties of the periodic constant of multivariable series.

Abstract

Let M be a rational homology sphere plumbed 3-manifold associated with a connected negative definite plumbing graph. We show that its Seiberg-Witten invariants equal certain coefficients of an equivariant multivariable Ehrhart polynomial. For this, we construct the corresponding polytopes from the plumbing graphs together with an action of the first homology of M, and we develop Ehrhart theory for them. At an intermediate level we define the `periodic constant' of multivariable series and establish their properties. In this way, one identifies the Seiberg-Witten invariant of a plumbed 3-manifold, the periodic constant of its `combinatorial zeta-function', and a coefficient of the associated Ehrhart polynomial. We make detailed presentations for graphs with at most two nodes. The two node case has surprising connections with the theory of affine monoids of rank two.