Polyhedral Subspaces of $L_p$ and Polars of Zonotopes

Abstract

Let $K$ be an origin-symmetric full-dimensional convex polytope in ${\mathbb{R}}^n$, $n\ge 3$. We show that, for $-n+3<p<1$, the normed space $({\mathbb{R}}^n,\Vert \cdot {\Vert }_K)$ embeds in $L_p$ if and only if it embeds in $L_1$. The case of $p\le 0$ is understood in the generalized sense. In particular, an origin-symmetric full-dimensional convex polytope $K\subset {\mathbb{R}}^n$, $n\ge 5$, is an intersection body if and only if $K$ is the polar of a zonotope.

19 pages