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# Toric Hyperkähler Varieties

## 1 Introduction

Hyperkähler geometry has emerged as an important new direction in differential and algebraic geometry, with numerous applications to mathematical physics and representation theory. Roughly speaking, a hyperkähler manifold is a Riemannian manifold of dimension $`4n`$, whose holonomy is in the unitary symplectic group $`Sp(n)SO(4n)`$. The key example is the quaternionic space $`^n^{2n}^{4n}`$. Our aim is to relate hyperkähler geometry to the combinatorics of convex polyhedra. We believe that this connection is fruitful for both subjects. Our objects of study are the toric hyperkähler manifolds of Bielawski and Dancer . They are obtained from $`^n`$ by taking the hyperkähler quotient  by an abelian subgroup of $`Sp(n)`$. Bialewski and Dancer found that the geometry and topology of toric hyperkähler manifolds is governed by hyperplane arrangements, and Konno  gave an explicit presentation of their cohomology rings. The present paper is self-contained and contains new proofs for the relevant results of  and .

We start out in Section 2 with a discussion of semi-projective toric varieties. This may be of independent interest. A toric variety $`X`$ is called semi-projective if $`X`$ has a torus-fixed point and $`X`$ is projective over its affinization $`\mathrm{Spec}(H^0(X,𝒪_X))`$. We show that semi-projective toric varieties are exactly the ones which arise as GIT quotients of a complex vector space by an abelian group. Then we calculate the cohomology ring of a semi-projective toric orbifold $`X`$. It coincides with the cohomology of the core of $`X`$, which is defined as the union of all compact torus orbit closures. This result and further properties of the core are derived in Section 3.

The lead characters in the present paper are the Lawrence toric varieties, to be introduced in Section 4 as the GIT quotients of symplectic torus actions on even-dimensional affine spaces. They can be regarded as the “most non-compact” among all semi-projective toric varieties. The combinatorics of Lawrence toric varieties is governed by the Lawrence construction of convex polytopes \[20, §6.6\] and its intriguing interplay with matroids and hyperplane arrangements.

In Section 6 we define toric hyperkähler varieties as subvarieties of Lawrence toric varieties cut out by certain natural bilinear equations. In the smooth case, they are shown to be biholomorphic with the toric hyperkähler manifolds of Bielawski and Dancer, whose differential-geometric construction is reviewed in Section 5 for the reader’s convenience. Under this identification the core of the toric hyperkähler variety coincides with the core of the ambient Lawrence toric variety. We shall prove that these spaces have the same cohomology ring which has the following description. All terms and symbols appearing in Theorem 1.1 are defined in Sections 4 and 6.

###### Theorem 1.1

Let $`A:^n^d`$ be an epimorphism, defining an inclusion $`𝕋_{}^d𝕋_{}^n`$ of compact tori, and let $`\theta ^d`$ be generic. Then the following graded $``$-algebras are isomorphic:

1. the cohomology ring of the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )=^n////_{(\theta ,0)}𝕋_{}^d`$,
2. the cohomology ring of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )=^{2n}//_\theta 𝕋_{}^d`$,
3. the cohomology ring of the core $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )`$, which is the preimage of the origin under the affinization map of either the Lawrence toric variety or the toric hyperkähler variety,
4. the quotient ring $`[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n]/(M^{}(𝒜)+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜))`$, where $`M^{}(𝒜)`$ is the matroid ideal which is generated by squarefree monomials representing cocircuits of $`A`$, and $`\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)`$ is the ideal generated by the linear forms that correspond to elements in the kernel of $`A`$.

If the matrix $`A`$ is unimodular then $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ and $`Y(A,\theta )`$ are smooth and $``$ can be replaced by $``$.

Here is a simple example where all three spaces are manifolds: take $`A:^3,(u_1,u_2,u_3)u_1+u_2+u_3`$ with $`\theta 0`$. Then $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is the complex projective plane $`^2`$. The Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is the quotient of $`^6=^3^3`$ modulo the symplectic torus action $`(x,y)(tx,t^1y)`$. Geometrically, $`X`$ is a rank $`3`$ bundle over $`^2`$, visualized as an unbounded $`5`$-dimensional polyhedron with a bounded $`2`$-face, which is a triangle. The toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is embedded into $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ as the hypersurface $`x_1y_1+x_2y_2+x_3y_3=0`$. It is isomorphic to the cotangent bundle of $`^2`$. Note that $`Y(A,\theta )`$ itself is not a toric variety.

For general matrices $`A`$, the varieties $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ and $`Y(A,\theta )`$ are orbifolds, by the genericity hypothesis on $`\theta `$, and they are always non-compact. The core $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is projective but almost always reducible. Each of its irreducible components is a projective toric orbifold.

In Section 7 we give a dual presentation, in terms of cogenerators, for the cohomology ring. These cogenerators are the volume polynomials of Khovanskii-Pukhlikov  of the bounded faces of our unbounded polyhedra. As an application we prove the injectivity part of the Hard Lefschetz Theorem for toric hyperkähler varieties, which, in light of the following corollary to Theorem 1.1, provides new inequalities for the $`h`$-numbers of rationally representable matroids.

###### Corollary 1.2

The Betti numbers of the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ are the $`h`$-numbers (defined in Stanley’s book \[16, §III.3\]) of the rank $`nd`$ matroid given by the integer matrix $`A`$.

The quiver varieties of Nakajima  are hyperkähler quotients of $`^n`$ by some subgroup $`GSp(n)`$ which is a product of unitary groups indexed by a quiver (i.e. a directed graph). In Section 8 we examine toric quiver varieties which arise when $`G`$ is a compact torus. They are the toric hyperkähler manifolds obtained when $`A`$ is the differential $`^{\mathrm{edges}}^{\mathrm{vertices}}`$ of a quiver. Note that our notion of toric quiver variety is not the same as that of Altmann and Hille . Theirs are toric and projective: in fact, they are the irreducible components of our core $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )`$.

We close the paper by studying two examples in detail. First in Section 9 we illustrate the main results of this paper for a particular example of a toric quiver variety, corresponding to the complete bipartite graph $`K_{2,3}`$. In the final Section 10 we examine the ALE spaces of type $`A_n`$. Curiously, these manifolds are both toric and hyperkähler, and we show that they and their products are the only toric hyperkähler manifolds which are toric varieties in the usual sense.

### Acknowledgment.

This paper grew out of a lecture on toric aspects of Nakajima’s quiver varieties  given by the second author in the Fall 2000 Quiver Varieties seminar at UC Berkeley, organized by the first author. We are grateful to the participants of this seminar for their contributions. In particular we thank Mark Haiman, Allen Knutson and Valerio Toledano. (See www.math.berkeley.edu/$``$hausel/quiver/ for seminar notes.) We thank Roger Bielawski for drawing our attention to Konno’s work , and we thank Manoj Chari for explaining the importance of  for Betti numbers of toric quiver varieties. Both authors were supported by the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, in the form of a Miller Research Fellowship (1999-2002) for the first author and a Miller Professorship (2000-2001) for the second author. The second author was also supported by the National Science Foundation (DMS-9970254).

## 2 Semi-projective toric varieties

Projective toric varieties are associated with rational polytopes, that is, bounded convex polyhedra with rational vertices. This section describes toric varieties associated with (typically unbounded) rational polyhedra. The resulting class of semi-projective toric varieties will be seen to equal the GIT-quotients of affine space $`^n`$ modulo a subtorus of $`𝕋_{}^n`$.

Let $`A=[a_1,\mathrm{},a_n]`$ be a $`d\times n`$-integer matrix whose $`d\times d`$-minors are relatively prime. We choose an $`n\times (nd)`$-matrix $`B=[b_1,\mathrm{},b_n]^T`$ which makes the following sequence exact:

$`0^{nd}\stackrel{B}{}^n\stackrel{A}{}^d\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}.`$ (1)
The choice of $`B`$ is equivalent to choosing a basis in $`\mathrm{ker}(A)`$. The configuration $`:=\{b_1,\mathrm{},b_n\}`$ in $`^{nd}`$ is said to be a Gale dual of the given vector configuration $`𝒜:=\{a_1,\mathrm{},a_n\}`$ in $`^d`$.

We denote by $`𝕋_{}`$ the complex group $`^{}`$ and by $`𝕋_{}`$ the circle $`U(1)`$. Their Lie algebras are denoted by $`𝔱_{}`$ and $`𝔱_{}`$ respectively. We apply the contravariant functor $`\mathrm{Hom}(,𝕋_{})`$ to the short exact sequence (1). This gives a short exact sequence of abelian groups:

$`1𝕋_{}^{nd}\stackrel{B^T}{}𝕋_{}^n\stackrel{A^T}{}𝕋_{}^d\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}1}.`$ (2)
Thus $`𝕋_{}^d`$ is embedded as a $`d`$-dimensional subtorus of $`𝕋_{}^n`$. It acts on the affine space $`^n`$. We shall construct the quotients of this action in the sense of geometric invariant theory (= GIT). The ring of polynomial functions on $`^n`$ is graded by the semigroup $`𝒜^d`$:

$$S=[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n],\mathrm{deg}(x_i)=a_i𝒜.$$
(3)
A polynomial in $`S`$ is homogeneous if and only if it is a $`𝕋_{}^d`$-eigenvector. For $`\theta 𝒜`$, let $`S_\theta `$ denote the (typically infinite-dimensional) $``$-vector space of homogeneous polynomials of degree $`\theta `$. Note that $`S_\theta `$ is a module over the subalgebra $`S_0`$ of degree zero polynomials in $`S=_{\theta 𝒜}S_\theta `$. The following lemma is a standard fact in combinatorial commutative algebra.

###### Lemma 2.1

The $``$-algebra $`S_0`$ is generated by a finite set of monomials, corresponding to the minimal generators of the semigroup $`^n\mathrm{im}(B)`$. For any $`\theta 𝒜`$, the graded component $`S_\theta `$ is a finitely generated $`S_0`$-module, and the ring $`S_{(\theta )}=_{r=0}^{\mathrm{}}S_{r\theta }`$ is a finitely generated $`S_0`$-algebra.

The $``$-algebra $`S_0`$ coincides with the ring of invariants $`S^{𝕋_{}^d}`$. The $`S_0`$-algebra $`S_{(\theta )}`$ is isomorphic to $`_{r=0}^{\mathrm{}}t^rS_{r\theta }`$, and we regard it as $``$-graded by the degree of $`t`$.

###### Definition 2.2

The affine GIT quotient of $`^n`$ by the $`d`$-torus $`𝕋_{}^d`$ is the affine toric variety

$$X(A,0):=^n//_0𝕋_{}^d:=\mathrm{Spec}(S^{𝕋_{}^d})=\mathrm{Spec}(S_0)=\mathrm{Spec}\left([^n\mathrm{im}(B)]\right).$$
(4)
For any $`\theta 𝒜`$, the projective GIT quotient of $`^n`$ by the $`d`$-torus $`𝕋_{}^d`$ is the toric variety

$$X(A,\theta ):=^n//_\theta 𝕋_{}^d:=\mathrm{Proj}(S_{(\theta )})=\mathrm{Proj}\underset{r=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}t^rS_{r\theta }.$$
(5)
Recall that the isomorphism class of any toric variety is given by a fan in a lattice. A toric variety is a toric orbifold if its fan is simplicial. We shall describe the fans of the toric varieties $`X(A,0)`$ and $`X(A,\theta )`$ using the notation in Fulton’s book . We write $`M`$ for the lattice $`^{nd}`$ in (1) and $`N=\mathrm{Hom}(M,)`$ for its dual. The torus $`𝕋_{}^{nd}`$ in (2) is identified with $`N𝕋_{}`$. The column vectors $`=\{b_1,\mathrm{},b_n\}`$ of the matrix $`B^T`$ form a configuration in $`N^{nd}`$. We write $`\mathrm{pos}()`$ for the convex polyhedral cone spanned by $``$ in the vector space $`N_{}=N^{nd}`$. Note that the affine toric variety associated with the cone $`\mathrm{pos}()`$ equals $`X(A,0)`$.

A triangulation of the configuration $``$ is a simplicial fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ whose rays lie in $``$ and whose support equals $`\mathrm{pos}()`$. A T-Cartier divisor on $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is a continuous function $`\mathrm{\Psi }:\mathrm{pos}()`$ which is linear on each cone of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and takes integer values on $`N\mathrm{pos}()`$. The triangulation $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is called regular if there exists a T-Cartier divisor $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ which is ample, i.e. the function $`\mathrm{\Psi }:\mathrm{pos}()`$ is convex and restricts to a different linear function on each maximal cone of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Two T-Cartier divisors $`\mathrm{\Psi }_1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Psi }_2`$ are equivalent if $`\mathrm{\Psi }_1\mathrm{\Psi }_2`$ is a linear map on $`\mathrm{pos}()`$, i.e. it is an element of $`M`$. A divisor on $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is an equivalence class of T-Cartier divisors on $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Since $`\mathrm{\Psi }_1`$ is ample if and only if $`\mathrm{\Psi }_2`$ is ample, ampleness is well-defined for divisors $`[\mathrm{\Psi }]`$. Finally, we define a polarized triangulation of $``$ to be a pair consisting of a triangulation $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ of $``$ and an ample divisor $`[\mathrm{\Psi }]`$.

The cokernel of $`M\stackrel{B}{}^n`$ is identified with $`^d`$ in (1) and we call it the Picard group. Hence $`𝒜=\{a_1,\mathrm{},a_n\}`$ is a vector configuration in the Picard group. The chamber complex $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜)`$ of $`𝒜`$ is defined to be the coarsest fan with support $`\mathrm{pos}(𝒜)`$ that refines all triangulations of $`𝒜`$. Experts in toric geometry will note that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜)`$ equals the secondary fan of $``$ as in . We say that $`\theta 𝒜`$ is generic if it lies in an open chamber of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜)`$. Thus $`\theta 𝒜`$ is generic if it is not in any lower-dimensional cone $`\mathrm{pos}\{a_{i_1},\mathrm{},a_{i_{d1}}\}`$ spanned by columns of $`A`$. The chamber complex $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜)`$ parameterizes the different combinatorial types of the convex polyhedra

$$P_\theta =\{u^n:Au=\theta ,u0\}$$

as $`\theta `$ ranges over $`𝒜`$. In particular, $`\theta `$ is generic if and only if $`P_\theta `$ is $`(nd)`$-dimensional and each of its vertices has exactly $`d`$ non-zero coordinates (i.e. $`P_\theta `$ is simple). A vector $`\theta `$ in $`𝒜`$ is called an integral degree if every vertex of the polyhedron $`P_\theta `$ is a lattice point in $`^n`$.

###### Proposition 2.3

There is a one-to-one correspondence between generic integral degrees $`\theta `$ in $`𝒜`$ and polarized triangulations $`(\mathrm{\Sigma },[\mathrm{\Psi }])`$ of $``$. When forgetting the polarization this correspondence gives a bijection between open chambers of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜)`$ and regular triangulations $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ of $``$.

Proof:  Given a generic integral degree $`\theta `$, we construct the corresponding polarized triangulation $`(\mathrm{\Sigma },[\mathrm{\Psi }])`$. First choose any $`\psi ^n`$ such that $`A\psi =\theta `$. Then consider the polyhedron

$$Q_\psi :=\{vM_{}:Bv\psi \}.$$

The map $`vBv\psi `$ is an affine-linear isomorphism from $`Q_\psi `$ onto $`P_\theta `$ which identifies the set of lattice points $`Q_\psi M`$ with the set of lattice points $`P_\theta ^n`$. The set of linear functionals which are bounded below on $`Q_\psi `$ is precisely the cone $`\mathrm{pos}()N`$. Finally, define the function

$$\mathrm{\Psi }:\mathrm{pos}(),w\mathrm{min}\{wv:vQ_\psi \}.$$

This is the support function of $`Q_\psi `$, which is piecewise-linear, convex and continuous. It takes integer values on $`N\mathrm{pos}()`$ because each vertex of $`Q_\psi `$ lies in $`M`$. Since $`Q_\psi `$ is a simple polyhedron, its normal fan is a regular triangulation $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$ of $``$, and $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ restricts to a different linear function on each maximal face of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$. Hence $`(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta ,[\mathrm{\Psi }])`$ is a polarized triangulation of $``$.

Conversely, if we are given a polarized triangulation $`(\mathrm{\Sigma },[\mathrm{\Psi }])`$ of $``$, then we define $`\psi :=(\mathrm{\Psi }(b_1),\mathrm{},\mathrm{\Psi }(b_n))^n`$, and $`\theta =A\psi `$ is the corresponding generic integral degree in $`𝒜`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Theorem 2.4

Let $`\theta 𝒜`$ be a generic integral degree. Then $`X(A,\theta )`$ is an orbifold and equals the toric variety $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$, where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$ is the regular triangulation of $``$ given by $`\theta `$ as in Proposition 2.3.

Proof:  First note that the multigraded polynomial ring $`S`$ is the homogeneous coordinate ring in the sense of Cox  of the toric variety $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$. Specifically, our sequence (1) is precisely the second row in (1) on page 19 of . The irrelevant ideal $`B_{\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta }`$ of $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$ equals the radical of the ideal generated by $`_{r=1}^{\mathrm{}}S_{r\theta }`$. Since $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$ is a simplicial fan, by \[6, Theorem 2.1\], $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$ is the geometric quotient of $`^n\backslash 𝒱(B_{\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta })`$ modulo $`𝕋_{}^d`$. The variety $`𝒱(B_{\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta })`$ consists of the points in $`^n`$ which are not semi-stable with respect to the $`𝕋_{}^d`$-action. By standard results in Geometric Invariant Theory, the geometric quotient of the semi-stable locus in $`^n`$ modulo $`𝕋_{}^d`$ coincides with $`X(A,\theta )=\mathrm{Proj}(S_{(\theta )})=^n//_\theta 𝕋_{}^d`$. Therefore $`X(A,\theta )`$ is isomorphic to $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Corollary 2.5

The distinct GIT quotients $`X(A,\theta )=^n//_\theta 𝕋_{}^d`$ which are toric orbifolds are in bijection with the open chambers in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜)`$, and hence with the regular triangulations of $``$.

Recall that for every scheme $`X`$ there is a canonical morphism

$`\pi _X:XX_0`$ (6)
to the affine scheme $`X_0=\mathrm{Spec}(H^0(X,𝒪_X))`$ of regular functions on $`X`$. We call a toric variety $`X`$ semi-projective if $`X`$ has at least one torus-fixed point and the morphism $`\pi _X`$ is projective.

###### Theorem 2.6

The following three classes of toric varieties coincide:

1. semi-projective toric orbifolds,
2. the GIT-quotients $`X(A,\theta )`$ constructed in (5) where $`\theta 𝒜`$ is a generic integral degree,
3. toric varieties $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is a regular triangulation of a set $``$ which spans the lattice $`N`$.

Proof:  The equivalence of the classes 2 and 3 follows from Theorem 2.4. Let $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ be a toric variety in class 3. Since $``$ spans the lattice, the fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ has a full-dimensional cone, and hence $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ has a torus-fixed point. Since $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is simplicial, $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ is an orbifold. The morphism $`\pi _X`$ can be described as follows. The ring of global sections $`H^0(X(\mathrm{\Sigma }),𝒪_{X(\mathrm{\Sigma })})`$ is the semigroup algebra of the semigroup in $`M`$ consisting of all linear functionals on $`N`$ which are non-negative on the support $`|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$ of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Its spectrum is the affine toric variety whose cone is $`|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$. The triangulation $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ supports an ample T-Cartier divisor $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$. The morphism $`\pi _X`$ is projective since it is induced by $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$. Hence $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ is in class 1.

Finally, let $`X`$ be any semi-projective toric orbifold. It is represented by a fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ in a lattice $`N`$. The fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is simplicial since $`X`$ is an orbifold, and $`|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$ spans $`N_{}`$ since $`X`$ has at least one fixed point. Since the morphism $`\pi _X`$ is projective, the fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is a regular triangulation of a subset $`^{}`$ of $`|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$ which includes the rays of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. The set $`^{}`$ need not span the lattice $`N`$. We choose any superset $``$ of $`^{}`$ which is contained in $`\mathrm{pos}(^{})=|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$ and which spans the lattice $`N`$. Then $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ can also be regarded as a regular triangulation of $``$, and we conclude that $`X`$ is in class 3. $`\mathrm{}`$

### Remark.

1. The passage from $`^{}`$ to $``$ in the last step means that any GIT quotient of $`^n^{}`$ modulo any abelian subgroup of $`𝕋_{}^n^{}`$ can be rewritten as a GIT quotient of some bigger affine space $`^n`$ modulo a subtorus of $`𝕋_{}^n`$. This construction applies in particular when the given abelian group is finite, in which case the initial subset $`^{}`$ of $`N`$ is linearly independent.

2. Our proof can be extended to show the following: if $`X`$ is any toric variety where the morphism $`\pi _X`$ is projective then $`X`$ is the product of a semi-projective toric variety and a torus.

3. The affinization map (6) for $`X(A,\theta )`$ is by definition the canonical map to $`X(A,0)`$.

A triangulation $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ of a subset $``$ of $`N^{nd}`$ is called unimodular if every maximal cone of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is spanned by a basis of $`N`$. This property holds if and only if $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ is a toric manifold (= smooth toric variety). We say that a vector $`\theta `$ in $`𝒜`$ is a smooth degree if $`C^1\theta \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}`$ implies $`\mathrm{det}(C)=\pm 1`$ for every non-singular $`d\times d`$-submatrix $`C`$ of $`A`$. Equivalently, the edges at any vertex of the polyhedron $`P_\theta `$ generate $`\mathrm{ker}_{}A^{nd}`$. From Theorem 2.6 we conclude:

###### Corollary 2.7

The following three classes of smooth toric varieties coincide:

1. semi-projective toric manifolds,
2. the GIT-quotients $`X(A,\theta )`$ constructed in (5) where $`\theta 𝒜`$ is a generic smooth degree,
3. toric varieties $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is a regular unimodular triangulation of a spanning set $`N`$.

###### Definition 2.8

The matrix $`A`$ is called unimodular if the following equivalent conditions hold:

* all non-zero $`d\times d`$-minors of $`A`$ have the same absolute value,
* all $`(nd)\times (nd)`$-minors of the matrix $`B`$ in (1) are $`1`$, $`0`$ or $`+1`$,
* every triangulation of $``$ is unimodular,
* every vector $`\theta `$ in $`𝒜`$ is an integral degree,
* every vector $`\theta `$ in $`𝒜`$ is a smooth degree.

###### Corollary 2.9

For $`A`$ unimodular, every GIT quotient $`X(A,\theta )`$ is a semi-projective toric manifold, and the distinct smooth quotients $`X(A,\theta )`$ are in bijection with the open chambers in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜)`$.

Every affine toric variety has a natural moment map onto a polyhedral cone, and every projective toric variety has a moment map onto a polytope. These are described in Section 4.2 of . It is straightforward to extend this description to semi-projective toric varieties. Suppose that the $`S_0`$-algebra $`S_{(\theta )}`$ in Lemma 2.1 is generated by a set of $`m+1`$ monomials in $`S_\theta `$, possibly after replacing $`\theta `$ by a multiple in the non-unimodular case. Let $`_{}^m`$ be the projective space whose coordinates are these monomials. Then, by definition of “Proj”, the toric variety $`X(A,\theta )`$ is embedded as a closed subscheme in the product $`_{}^m\times \mathrm{Spec}(S_0)`$. We have an action of the $`(nd)`$-torus $`𝕋_{}^n/𝕋_{}^d`$ on $`_{}^m`$, since $`S_\theta `$ is an eigenspace of $`𝕋_{}^d`$. This gives rise to a moment map $`\mu _1:_{}^m^{nd}`$, whose image is a convex polytope. Likewise, we have the affine moment map $`\mu _2:\mathrm{Spec}(S_0)^{nd}`$ whose image is the cone polar to $`\mathrm{pos}()`$. This defines the moment map

$$\mu :X(A,\theta )_{}^m\times \mathrm{Spec}(S_0)^{nd},(u,v)\mu _1(u)+\mu _2(v).$$
(7)
The image of $`X(A,\theta )`$ under the moment map $`\mu `$ is the polyhedron $`P_\theta Q_\psi `$, since the convex hull of its vertices equals the image of $`\mu _1`$ and the cone $`P_0Q_0`$ equals the image of $`\mu _2`$.

Given an arbitrary fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ in $`N`$, Section 2.3 in  describes how a one-parameter subgroup $`\lambda _v`$, given by $`vN`$, acts on the toric variety $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$. Consider any point $`x`$ in $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ and let $`\gamma \mathrm{\Sigma }`$ be the unique cone such that $`x`$ lies in the orbit $`O_\gamma `$. The orbit $`O_\gamma `$ is fixed by the one-parameter subgroup $`\lambda _v`$ if and only if $`v`$ lies in the $``$-linear span $`\gamma `$ of $`\gamma `$. Thus the irreducible components $`F_i`$ of the fixed point locus of the $`\lambda _v`$-action on $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ are the orbit closures $`\overline{O}_{\sigma _i}`$ where $`\sigma _i`$ runs over all cones in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ which are minimal with respect to the property $`v\sigma _i`$.

The closure of $`O_\gamma `$ in $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ is the toric variety $`X(\mathrm{Star}(\gamma ))`$ given by the quotient fan $`\mathrm{Star}(\gamma )`$ in $`N(\gamma )=N/(N\gamma )`$; see \[8, page 52\]. From this we can derive the following lemma.

###### Lemma 2.10

For $`vN`$ and $`xO_\gamma `$ the limit $`lim_{z0}\lambda _v(z)x`$ exists and lies in $`F_i=\overline{O}_{\sigma _i}`$ if and only if $`\gamma \sigma _i`$ is a face and the image of $`v`$ in $`N_{}/\gamma `$ is in the relative interior of $`\sigma _i/\gamma `$.

The set of all faces $`\gamma `$ of $`\sigma _i`$ with this property is closed under taking intersections and hence this set has a unique minimal element. We denote this minimal element by $`\tau _i`$. Thus if we denote

$$U_i^v=\{xX(\mathrm{\Sigma }):\underset{z0}{lim}\lambda _v(z)x\text{ exists and lies in }F_i\},$$

or just $`U_i`$ for short, then this set decomposes as a union of orbits as follows:

$$U_i=_{\tau _i\gamma \sigma _i}O_\gamma .$$
(8)
In what follows we further suppose $`v|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$. Then Lemma 2.10 implies $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })=_iU_i`$, which is the Bialynicki-Birula decomposition  of the toric variety with respect to the one-parameter subgroup $`\lambda _v`$.

We now apply this to our semi-projective toric variety $`X(A,\theta )`$ with fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }=\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$. The moment map $`\mu _v`$ for the circle action induced by $`\lambda _v`$ is given by the inner product $`\mu _v(x)=v,\mu (x)`$ with $`\mu `$ as in (7). We relabel the fixed components $`F_i`$ according to the values of this moment map, so that

$`\mu _v(F_i)<\mu _v(F_j)\text{ implies }i<j.`$ (9)
Given this labeling, the distinguished faces $`\tau _i\sigma _i`$ have the following important property:

$`\tau _i\sigma _j\text{ implies }ij.`$ (10)
This generalizes the property $`()`$ in \[8, Chapter 5.2\], and it is equivalent to

$`U_j\text{ is closed in }U_j=_{ij}U_i.`$ (11)
This means that the Bialynicki-Birula decomposition of $`X(A,\theta )`$ is filtrable in the sense of . Now we are able to prove the following result, which is well-known in the projective case.

###### Proposition 2.11

The integral cohomology of a smooth semi-projective toric variety $`X(A,\theta )`$ equals

$$H^{}(X(A,\theta );)[x_1,x_2,\mathrm{},x_n]/(\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)+I_\theta ),$$

where $`I_\theta `$ is the Stanley-Reisner ideal of the simplicial fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$, i.e. $`I_\theta `$ is generated by square-free monomials $`x_{i_1}x_{i_2}\mathrm{}x_{i_k}`$ corresponding to non-faces $`\{b_{i_1},b_{i_2},\mathrm{},b_{i_k}\}`$ of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$, and $`\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)`$ is the circuit ideal

$$\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜):=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\lambda _ix_i|\lambda ^n,A\lambda =0.$$

Proof:  Let $`D_1,D_2,\mathrm{},D_n`$ denote the divisors corresponding to the rays $`b_1,b_2,\mathrm{},b_n`$ in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$. The cohomology class of any torus orbit closure $`\overline{O}_\sigma `$ can be expressed in terms of the $`D_i`$’s, namely if the rays in $`\sigma `$ are $`b_{i_1},b_{i_2},\mathrm{},b_{i_k}`$, then $`[\overline{O}_\sigma ]=[D_{i_1}][D_{i_2}]\mathrm{}[D_{i_k}]`$. Following the reasoning in \[8, Section 5.2\], we first prove that certain torus orbit closures linearly span $`H^{}(X(A,\theta );)`$ and hence the cohomology classes $`[D_1],[D_2],\mathrm{},[D_n]`$ generate $`H^{}(X(A,\theta );)`$ as a $``$-algebra.

We choose $`v|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$ to be generic, so that each $`\sigma _i`$ is $`(nd)`$-dimensional and each $`F_i`$ is just a point. Then (8) shows that $`U_i`$ is isomorphic with the affine space $`^{nk_i}`$, where $`k_i=\mathrm{dim}(\tau _i)`$.

We set $`U_j=_{ij}U_i`$ and $`U_{<j}=_{i<j}U_i`$. Note that $`U_j`$ is closed in $`U_j`$. Thus writing down the cohomology long exact sequence of the pair $`(U_j,U_{<j})`$, we can show by induction on $`j`$ that the cohomology classes of the closures of the cells $`U_i`$ generate $`H^{}(X(A,\theta );)`$ additively. Because the closure of a cell $`U_i`$ is the closure of a torus orbit, it follows that the cohomology classes $`[D_1],[D_2],\mathrm{},[D_n]`$ generate $`H^{}(X(A,\theta );)`$. Thus sending $`x_i[D_i]`$ defines a surjective ring map $`[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n]H^{}(X(A,\theta );)`$, whose kernel is seen to contain $`\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)+I_\theta `$. That this is precisely the kernel follows from the “algebraic moving lemma” of \[8, page 107\]. $`\mathrm{}`$

A similar proof works with $``$-coefficients when $`X(A,\theta )`$ is not smooth but just an orbifold.

###### Corollary 2.12

The rational cohomology ring of a semi-projective toric orbifold $`X(A,\theta )`$ equals

$$H^{}(X(A,\theta );)[u_1,u_2,\mathrm{},u_n]/(\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)+I_\theta ).$$

In light of Corollary 2.12, the Betti numbers of $`X(A,\theta )`$ satisfy $`b_{2i}=h_i(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$, where $`h_i(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$ are the $`h`$-numbers of the Stanley-Reisner ideal $`I_\theta `$, cf. \[16, Section III.3\]. This observation leads to the following result.

###### Corollary 2.13

If $`f_i(P_\theta ^{bd})`$ denotes the number of $`i`$-dimensional bounded faces of $`P_\theta `$ then the Betti numbers of the semi-projective toric orbifold $`X(A,\theta )`$ are given by the following formula:

$`b_{2k}=\mathrm{dim}_{}H^{2k}(X(A,\theta );)={\displaystyle \underset{i=k}{\overset{nd}{}}}(1)^{ik}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{i}{k}\right)f_i(P_\theta ^{bd}).`$ (12)
Proof:  Lemma 2.3 of  implies that

$$\underset{i=0}{\overset{nd}{}}h_i(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )x^i=\underset{\sigma \mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta \backslash \mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta }{}(x1)^{nd\mathrm{dim}(\sigma )},$$
(13)
where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$ denotes the boundary of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$. Hence the right hand sum is over all interior cones $`\sigma `$ of the fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$. These cones are in order-reversing bijection with the bounded faces of $`P_\theta `$. Hence (13) is the sum of $`(x1)^{\mathrm{dim}(F)}`$ where $`F`$ runs over all bounded faces of $`P_\theta `$. This proves (12). $`\mathrm{}`$

## 3 The core of a toric variety

The proof of Corollary 2.13 shows the importance of interior cones of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$. They are the ones for which the closure of the corresponding torus orbit in $`X(A,\theta )`$ is compact. This suggests the following

###### Definition 3.1

The core of a semi-projective toric variety $`X(A,\theta )`$ is $`C(A,\theta )=_{\sigma \mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta \backslash \mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta }O_\sigma `$. Thus the core $`C(A,\theta )`$ is the union of all compact torus orbit closures in $`X(A,\theta )`$.

###### Theorem 3.2

The core of a semi-projective toric orbifold $`X(A,\theta )`$ is the inverse image of the origin under the canonical projective morphism $`X(A,\theta )X(A,0)`$ as in (6). It also equals the inverse image of the bounded faces of the polyhedron $`P_\theta `$ under the moment map (7) from $`X(A,\theta )`$ onto $`P_\theta `$. In particular, the core of $`X(A,\theta )`$ is a union of projective toric orbifolds.

Proof:  On the level of fans, the toric morphism $`X(A,\theta )X(A,0)`$ corresponds to forgetting the triangulation of the cone $`|\mathrm{\Sigma }|=\mathrm{pos}()`$. It follows from the description of toric morphisms in Section 1.4 of  that the inverse image of the origin is the union of the orbit closures corresponding to interior faces of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. This was our first assertion. Each face of a simple polyhedron is a simple polyhedron, and each bounded face is a simple polytope. If $`\sigma `$ is the interior cone of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ dual to a bounded face of $`P_\theta `$ then the corresponding orbit closure is the projective toric orbifold $`X(\mathrm{Star}(\sigma ))`$. The core $`C(A,\theta )`$ is the union of these orbifolds. $`\mathrm{}`$

We fix a generic vector $`v\mathrm{int}|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$. Then the $`F_i`$ above are points and lie in $`C(A,\theta )`$. In what follows we shall study the action of the one-parameter subgroup $`\lambda _v`$ on the core $`C(A,\theta )`$. We define

$$D_i=U_i^v=\{xX(A,\theta ):\underset{z\mathrm{}}{lim}\lambda _v(z)x\text{ exists and equals }F_i\}.$$

Lemma 2.10 implies that this gives a decomposition of the core: $`C(A,\theta )=_iD_i`$. The closure $`\overline{D}_i`$ is a projective toric orbifold, and it is the preimage of a bounded face of $`P_\theta `$ via the moment map (7). If we now introduce an ordering as in (9) then the counterpart of (11) is the following:

$`D_j=_{ij}D_i\text{ is compact}.`$ (14)
This property of the decomposition $`C(A,\theta )=_iD_i`$ translates into a non-trivial statement about the convex polyhedron $`P_\theta `$. Let $`P_\theta ^{bd}`$ denote the bounded complex, that is, the polyhedral complex consisting of all bounded faces of $`P_\theta `$. Let $`P_j`$ denote the bounded face of $`P_\theta `$ corresponding to $`\overline{D}_j`$, and let $`p_j`$ denote the vertex of $`P_\theta `$ corresponding to $`F_j`$. Then $`P_j=_{ij}P_i`$ is a subcomplex of the bounded complex $`P_\theta ^{bd}`$, and $`P_j\backslash P_{<j}`$ consists precisely of those faces of $`P_j`$ which contain $`p_j`$. This property is called star-collapsibility. It implies that $`P_{<j}`$ is a deformation retract of $`P_j`$ and in turn that $`P_\theta ^{bd}`$ is contractible. The contractibility also follows from \[4, Exercise 4.27 (a)\]. In summary we have proven the following result.

###### Theorem 3.3

The bounded complex $`P_\theta ^{bd}`$ of $`P_\theta `$ is star-collapsible; in particular, it is contractible.

This theorem implies that the core of any semi-projective toric variety is connected, since $`C(A,\theta )`$ is the preimage of the bounded complex $`P_\theta ^{bd}`$ under the continuous moment map. Moreover, since the cohomology of $`P_\theta ^{bd}`$ vanishes, the bounded complex does not contribute to the cohomology of $`C(A,\theta )`$. This fact is expressed in the following proposition, which will be crucial in Section 7.

###### Proposition 3.4

Let $`C(A,\theta )`$ be the core of a semi-projective toric orbifold and consider a class $`\alpha `$ in $`H^{}(C(A,\theta );)`$. If $`\alpha `$ vanishes on every irreducible component of $`C(A,\theta )`$ then $`\alpha =0`$.

Proof:  Let $`v\mathrm{int}|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$, $`F_i`$ and $`D_i`$ as above. We prove by induction on $`j`$ that

$`\text{if }\alpha H^{}(D_j;)\text{ and }\alpha _{\overline{D}_i}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}\text{ for }ij,\text{ then }\alpha =0.`$ (15)
This implies the proposition, because if $`\alpha `$ vanishes on every irreducible component of the core then it vanishes on every irreducible projective subvariety $`\overline{D}_i`$ of the core. The statement (15) then implies by induction that $`\alpha `$ vanishes on the core.

To prove (15) consider the Mayer-Vietoris sequence of the covering $`D_j=D_{<j}\overline{D}_j`$.

$`\mathrm{}H^k(D_j;)\stackrel{\alpha }{}H^k(D_{<j};)H^k(\overline{D}_j;)\stackrel{\beta }{}H^k(D_{<j}\overline{D}_j;)\mathrm{}`$
We show that the map $`\alpha `$ is injective, which will prove our claim. For this we show that $`\beta `$ is surjective. This follows from the surjectivity of $`H^k(\overline{D}_j;)H^k(\overline{D}_j\backslash D_j;)`$, because clearly $`D_{<j}\overline{D}_j=\overline{D}_j\backslash D_j`$.

To prove this we do Morse theory on the projective toric orbifold $`\overline{D}_j`$. First it follows from Morse theory that $`H^{}(\overline{D}_j;)H^{}(\overline{D}_j\backslash F_j;)`$ surjects. Moreover we have that $`\overline{D}_j\backslash D_j`$ is the core of the quasi-projective variety $`\overline{D}_j\backslash F_j`$. This means that $`\overline{D}_j\backslash D_j`$ is the set of points $`x`$ in $`\overline{D}_j`$ such that $`lim_z\mathrm{}\lambda _v(z)x`$ is not in $`F_j`$. Then the proof of Theorem 3.5 shows that $`H^{}(\overline{D}_j\backslash F_j;)`$ is isomorphic with $`H^{}(\overline{D}_j\backslash D_j;)`$. This proves (15) and in turn our Proposition 3.4. $`\mathrm{}`$

We finish this section with an explicit description of the cohomology ring of $`C(A,\theta )`$, namely, we identify it with the cohomology of the ambient semi-projective toric orbifold $`X(A,\theta )`$:

###### Theorem 3.5

The embedding of the core $`C(A,\theta )`$ in $`X(A,\theta )`$ induces an isomorphism on cohomology with integer coefficients.

Proof:  Let $`v\mathrm{int}|\mathrm{\Sigma }|`$, $`F_i`$, $`U_i`$ and $`D_i`$ as above. We clearly have an inclusion $`D_jU_j`$. We show by induction on $`j`$ that this inclusion induces an isomorphism on cohomology. Consider the following commutative diagram:

$$\begin{array}{ccccccc}\mathrm{}& H^k(U_j,U_{<j};)& & H^k(U_j;)& & H^k(U_{<j};)& \mathrm{}\\ & & & & & & \\ \mathrm{}& H^k(D_j,D_{<j};)& & H^k(D_j;)& & H^k(D_{<j};)& \mathrm{}\end{array}.$$

The rows are the long exact sequence of the pairs $`(U_j,U_{<j})`$ and $`(D_j,D_{<j})`$ respectively. The vertical arrows are induced by inclusion. The last vertical arrow is an isomorphism by induction.

By excision $`H^k(U_j,U_{<j};)H^k(T(N_j),t_0;Z)`$, where $`N_j`$ is the normal (orbi-)bundle to $`U_j`$ and $`T(N_j)`$ is the Thom space $`N_jt_0`$, where $`t_0`$ is the point at infinity. Similarly $`H^k(D_j,D_{<j};)H^k(T(D_j),t_0;)`$, where $`T(D_j)=D_j/D_{<j}`$ is the one point compactification of $`D_j`$, which is homeomorphic to the Thom space of $`N_j|_{F_j}`$, the negative bundle at $`F_j`$. Because $`F_j`$ is a deformation retract of $`U_j`$ and because the normal bundle $`N_j`$ to $`U_j`$ in $`U_j`$ restricts to the normal bundle of $`F_j`$ in $`D_j`$, we find that $`T(D_j)`$ is a deformation retract of $`T(N_j)`$. Consequently the first vertical arrow is also an isomorphism. The Five Lemma now delivers our assertion. $`\mathrm{}`$

### Remark.

One can prove more, namely, that $`C(A,\theta )`$ is a deformation retract of $`X(A,\theta )`$. This follows from Theorem 3.5 and the analogous statement about the fundamental group, which vanishes for both spaces. Alternatively, one can use Bott-Morse theory in the spirit of the proof of \[14, Theorem 3.2\] to get the homotopy equivalence.

## 4 Lawrence toric varieties

In this section we examine an important class of toric varieties which are semi-projective but not projective. We fix an integer $`d\times n`$-matrix $`A`$ as in (1), and we write $`A^\pm =[A,A]`$ for the $`d\times 2n`$-matrix obtained by appending the negative of $`A`$ to $`A`$. The corresponding vector configuration $`𝒜^\pm =𝒜𝒜`$ spans $`^d`$ as a semigroup; in symbols, $`𝒜^\pm =𝒜=^d`$. A vector $`\theta `$ is generic with respect to $`𝒜^\pm `$ if it does not lie on any hyperplane spanned by a subset of $`𝒜`$.

###### Definition 4.1

We call $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ a Lawrence toric variety, for any generic vector $`\theta ^d`$.

Our choice of name comes from the Lawrence construction in polytope theory; see e.g. Chapter 6 in . The Gale dual of the centrally symmetric configuration $`𝒜^\pm `$ is denoted $`\mathrm{\Lambda }()`$ and is called the Lawrence lifting of $``$. It consists of $`2n`$ vectors which span $`^{2nd}`$. The cone $`\mathrm{pos}(\mathrm{\Lambda }())`$ is the cone over the $`(2nd1)`$-dimensional Lawrence polytope with Gale transform $`𝒜^\pm `$.

Consider the even-dimensional affine space $`^{2n}`$ with coordinates $`z_1,\mathrm{},z_n,w_1,\mathrm{},w_n`$. We call a torus action on $`^{2n}`$ symplectic if the products $`z_1w_1,\mathrm{},z_nw_n`$ are fixed under this action.

###### Proposition 4.2

The following three classes of toric varieties coincide:

1. Lawrence toric varieties,
2. toric orbifolds which are GIT-quotients of a symplectic torus action on $`^{2n}`$ for some $`n`$,
3. toric varieties $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is the cone over a regular triangulation of a Lawrence polytope.

Proof:  This follows from Theorem 2.6 using the observation that a torus action on $`^{2n}`$ is symplectic if and only if it arises from a matrix of the form $`A^\pm `$. This means the action looks like

$$z_it^{a_i}z_i,w_it^{a_i}w_i(i=1,2,\mathrm{},n)$$

Note that a polytope is Lawrence if and only if its Gale transform is centrally symmetric. $`\mathrm{}`$

The matrix $`A^\pm `$ is unimodular if and only if the smaller matrix $`A`$ is unimodular. Therefore unimodularity of $`A`$ implies the smoothness of the Lawrence toric variety, by Corollary 2.9. An interesting feature of Lawrence toric varieties is that the converse to this statement also holds:

###### Proposition 4.3

The Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is smooth if and only if $`A`$ is unimodular.

Proof:  The chamber complex $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜^\pm )`$ is the arrangement of hyperplanes spanned by subsets of $`𝒜`$. The vector $`\theta `$ is assumed to lie in an open cell of that arrangement. For any column basis $`C=\{a_{i_1},\mathrm{},a_{i_d}\}`$ of the $`d\times n`$-matrix $`A`$ there exists a unique linear combination

$$\lambda _1a_{i_1}+\lambda _2a_{i_2}+\mathrm{}+\lambda _da_{i_d}=\theta .$$

Here all the coefficients $`\lambda _j`$ are non-zero rational numbers. We consider the polynomial ring

$$[z,w]=[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n,y_1,\mathrm{},y_n].$$

The $`2n`$ variables are used to index the elements of $`𝒜^\pm `$ and the elements of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }()`$. We set

$$\sigma (C,\theta )=\{x_{i_j}:\lambda _j>0\}\{y_{i_j}:\lambda _j<0\}.$$

Its complement $`\overline{\sigma }(C,\theta )=\{x_1,\mathrm{},x_n,y_1,\mathrm{},y_n\}\backslash \sigma (C,\theta )`$ corresponds to a subset of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }()`$ which forms a basis of $`^{2nd}`$. The triangulation $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$ of the Lawrence polytope defined by $`\theta `$ is identified with its set of maximal faces. This set equals

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta =\{\overline{\sigma }(C,\theta ):C\text{is any column basis of}A\}.$$
(16)
Hence the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )=X(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$ is smooth if and only if every basis in $`\mathrm{\Lambda }()`$ spans the lattice $`^{2nd}`$ if and only if every column basis $`C`$ of $`A`$ spans $`^d`$. The latter condition is equivalent to saying that $`A`$ is a unimodular matrix. $`\mathrm{}`$

The $`^d`$-graded polynomial ring $`[x,y]`$ is the homogeneous coordinate ring  of $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$.

###### Corollary 4.4

The Stanley-Reisner ideal of the fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$ equals

$$I_\theta =\underset{C}{}\sigma (C,\theta )[x,y],$$
(17)
i.e. $`I_\theta `$ is the intersection of the monomial prime ideals generated by the sets $`\sigma (C,\theta )`$ where $`C`$ runs over all column bases of $`A`$. The irrelevant ideal of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta )`$ equals

$$B_\theta =\sigma (C,\theta ):C\text{is any column basis of}A[x,y].$$
(18)
We now compute the cohomology of a Lawrence toric variety. For simplicity of exposition we assume $`A`$ is unimodular so that $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is smooth. The orbifold case is analogous. First note

$$\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜^\pm )=x_1+y_1,x_2+y_2,\mathrm{},x_n+x_n+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜),$$

where $`\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)`$ is generated by all linear forms $`_{i=1}^n\lambda _ix_i`$ such that $`\lambda =(\lambda _1,\mathrm{},\lambda _n)`$ lies in $`\mathrm{ker}(A)=\mathrm{im}(B)`$. From Proposition 2.11, we have

$$H^{}(X(A^\pm ,\theta );)=[x,y]/\left(x_1+y_1,x_2+y_2,\mathrm{},x_n+y_n+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)+I_\theta \right).$$

Let $`\varphi `$ denote the $``$-algebra epimorphism which collapses the variables pairwise:

$$\varphi :[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n,y_1,\mathrm{},y_n][x_1,\mathrm{},x_n],x_ix_i,y_ix_i(i=1,2,\mathrm{},n).$$

Then we can rewrite the presentation of the cohomology ring as follows:

$$H^{}(X(A^\pm ,\theta );)=[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n]/\left(\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)+\varphi (I_\theta )\right).$$

Clearly, the image of the ideal (17) under $`\varphi `$ is the intersection of the ideals

$$\varphi \left(\sigma (C,\theta )\right)=x_i:iC$$

where $`C`$ runs over the column bases of $`A`$. Note that this ideal is independent of the choice of $`\theta `$ It depends only on $`A`$. This ideal is called the matroid ideal of $``$ and it is abbreviated by

$`M^{}(𝒜)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \{x_{i_1},\mathrm{},x_{i_d}:\{a_{i_1},\mathrm{},a_{i_d}\}𝒜\text{is linearly independent}\}}`$
$`=`$ $`x_{i_1}\mathrm{}x_{i_k}:\{b_{i_1},\mathrm{},b_{i_k}\}\text{ is linearly dependent }=M().`$
We summarize what we have proved concerning the cohomology of a Lawrence toric variety.

###### Theorem 4.5

The integral cohomology ring of a smooth Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is independent of the choice of the generic vector $`\theta `$ in $`^d`$. It equals

$$H^{}(X(A^\pm ,\theta );)=[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n]/\left(\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)+M^{}(𝒜)\right).$$
(19)
The same holds for Lawrence toric orbifolds with $``$ replaced by $``$.

### Remark.

The independence of the cohomology ring on $`\theta `$ is an unusual phenomenon in the GIT-construction. Usually, the topology of the quotient changes when one crosses a wall. Theorem 4.5 says that this is not the case for symplectic torus actions. An explanation of this fact is offered through our Theorem 1.1, as there are no walls in the hyperkähler quotient construction.

The ring $`[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n]/M^{}(𝒜)`$ is the Stanley-Reisner ring of the matroid complex (of linearly independent subsets) of the $`(nd)`$-dimensional configuration $``$. This ring is Cohen-Macaulay, and $`\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)`$ provides a linear system of parameters. We write $`h()=(h_0,h_1,\mathrm{},h_{nd})`$ for its $`h`$-vector. This is a well-studied quantity in combinatorics; see e.g.  and \[16, Section III.3\].

###### Corollary 4.6

The Betti numbers of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ are independent of $`\theta `$, and they coincide with the entries in the $`h`$-vector of the rank $`nd`$ matroid given by $``$:

$$\mathrm{dim}_{}H^{2i}(X(A^\pm ,\theta );)=h_i().\mathrm{for}i=0,1,\mathrm{},nd.$$

Our second result in this section concerns the core of a Lawrence toric variety of dimension $`2nd`$. We fix a generic vector $`\theta `$ in $`^d`$. The fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\theta `$ is the normal fan of the unbounded polyhedron

$$P_\theta =\{(u,v)^n^n:AuAv=\theta ,u,v0\}.$$

As in the proof of Proposition 2.3, we chose any vector $`\psi ^n`$ such that $`A\psi =\theta `$, and we consider the following full-dimensional unbounded polyhedron in $`^{2nd}`$:

$$Q_\psi =\{(w,t)^{nd}^n:t\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0},Bw+t\psi \}.$$

The map $`(w,t)(Bw+t\psi ,t)`$ is an affine-linear isomorphism from $`Q_\psi `$ onto $`P_\theta `$.

We define $`(B,\psi )`$ to be the arrangement of the following $`n`$ hyperplanes in $`^{nd}`$:

$$\{w^{nd}:b_iw=\psi _i\}(i=1,2,\mathrm{},n).$$

The arrangement $`(B,\psi )`$ is regarded as a polyhedral subdivision of $`^{nd}`$ into relatively open polyhedra of various dimensions. The collection of all such polyhedra which are bounded form a subcomplex, called the bounded complex of $`(B,\psi )`$ and denoted by $`^{bd}(B,\psi )`$.

###### Theorem 4.7

The bounded complex $`^{bd}(B,\psi )`$ of the hyperplane arrangement $`(B,\psi )`$ in $`^{nd}`$ is isomorphic to the complex of bounded faces of the $`(2nd)`$-dimensional polyhedron $`Q_\psi P_\theta `$.

Proof:  We define an injective map from $`^{nd}`$ into the polyhedron $`Q_\psi `$ as follows

$$w(w,t),\text{where}t_i=\mathrm{max}\{0,\psi _ib_iw\}.$$
(20)
This map is linear on each cell of the hyperplane arrangement $`(B,\psi )`$, and the image of each cell is a face of $`Q_\psi `$. In particular, every bounded cell of $`(B,\psi )`$ is mapped to a bounded face of $`Q_\psi `$ and each unbounded cell of $`(B,\psi )`$ is mapped to an unbounded face of $`Q_\psi `$. It remains to be shown that every bounded face of $`Q_\psi `$ lies in the image of the map (20).

Now, the image of (20) is the following subcomplex in the boundary of our polyhedron:

$`\{(w,t)Q_\psi :t_i(b_iw+t_i\psi _i)=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}\text{for}i=1,2,\mathrm{},n\}`$
$``$ $`\{(u,v)P_\theta :u_iv_i=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}\text{for}i=1,2,\mathrm{},n\}`$
Consider any face $`F`$ of $`P_\theta `$ which is not in this subcomplex, and let $`(u,v)`$ be a point in the relative interior of $`F`$. There exists an index $`i`$ with $`u_i>0`$ and $`v_i>0`$. Let $`e_i`$ denote the $`i`$-th unit vector in $`^n`$. For every positive real $`\lambda `$, the vector $`(u+\lambda e_i,v+\lambda e_i)`$ lies in $`P_\theta `$ and has the support as $`(u,v)`$. Hence $`(u+\lambda e_i,v+\lambda e_i)`$ lies in $`F`$ for all $`\lambda 0`$. This shows that $`F`$ is unbounded. $`\mathrm{}`$

Theorem 4.7 and Corollary 2.13 imply the following enumerative result:

###### Corollary 4.8

The Betti numbers of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ satisfy

$$\mathrm{dim}_{}H^{2i}(X(A^\pm ,\theta );)=\underset{i=k}{\overset{nd}{}}(1)^{ik}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{i}{k}\right)f_i(^{bd}(B,\psi )),$$

where $`f_i(^{bd}(B,\psi ))`$ denotes the number of $`i`$-dimensional bounded regions in $`(B,\psi )`$.

There are two natural geometric structures on any Lawrence toric variety. First the canonical bundle of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is trivial, because the vectors in $`𝒜^\pm `$ add to $`0`$. This means that $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is a Calabi-Yau variety. Moreover, since the symplectic $`𝕋_{}^d`$-action preserves the natural Poisson structure on $`^{2n}^n(^n)^{}`$, the GIT quotient $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ inherits a natural holomorphic Poisson structure. The holomorphic symplectic leaves of this Poisson structure are what we call toric hyperkähler manifolds. The special leaf which contains the core of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ will be called the toric hyperkähler variety. We present these definitions in complete detail in the following two sections.

## 5 Hyperkähler quotients

Our aim is to describe an algebraic approach to the toric hyperkähler manifolds of Bielawski and Dancer . In this section we sketch the original differential geometric construction in . This construction is the hyperkähler analogue to the construction of toric varieties using Kähler quotients. We first briefly review the latter. Fix the standard Euclidean bilinear form on $`^n`$,

$$g(z,w)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\left(\mathrm{re}(z_i)\mathrm{re}(w_i)+\mathrm{im}(z_i)\mathrm{im}(w_i)\right).$$

The corresponding Kähler form is

$$\omega (z,w)=g(iz,w)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\left(\mathrm{re}(z_i)\mathrm{im}(w_i)\mathrm{im}(z_i)\mathrm{re}(w_i)\right).$$

Let $`A`$ be as in (1) and consider the real torus $`𝕋_{}^d`$ which is the maximal compact subgroup of $`𝕋_{}^d`$. The group $`𝕋_{}^d`$ acts on $`^n`$ preserving the Kähler structure. This action has the moment map

$$\mu _{}:^n(𝔱_{}^d)^{}^d,(z_1,\mathrm{},z_n)\frac{1}{2}\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}|z_i|^2a_i.$$
(21)
Fix $`\xi _{}^d`$. The Kähler quotient $`X(A,\xi _{})=^n//_\xi _{}𝕋_{}^d=\mu _{}^1(\xi _{})/𝕋_{}^d`$ inherits a Kähler structure from $`^n`$ at its smooth points. If $`\xi _{}=\theta `$ lies in the lattice $`^d`$ then there is a biholomorphism between the smooth loci in the GIT quotient $`X(A,\theta )`$ and the Kähler quotient $`X(A,\xi _{})`$. Hence if $`A`$ is unimodular and $`\theta `$ generic then the complex manifolds $`X(A,\theta )`$ and $`X(A,\xi _{})`$ are biholomorphic.

Now we turn to toric hyperkähler manifolds. Let $``$ be the skew field of quaternions, the $`4`$-dimensional real vector space with basis $`1,i,j,k`$ and associative algebra structure given by $`i^2=j^2=k^2=ijk=1`$. Left multiplication by $`i`$ (resp. $`j`$ and $`k`$) defines complex structures $`I:`$, with $`I^2=\mathrm{Id}_{}`$, (resp. $`J`$ and $`K`$) on $``$. We now put the flat metric $`g`$ on $``$ arising from the standard Euclidean scalar product on $`^4`$ with $`1,i,j,k`$ as an orthonormal basis. This is called a hyperkähler metric because it is a Kähler metric with respect to all three complex structures $`I`$, $`J`$ and $`K`$. It means that the differential $`2`$-forms, the so-called Kähler forms, given by $`\omega _I(X,Y)=g(IX,Y)`$ for tangent vectors $`X`$ and $`Y`$, and the analogously defined $`\omega _J`$ and $`\omega _K`$ are closed. A special orthogonal transformation, with respect to this metric, is said to preserve the hyperkähler structure if it commutes with all three complex structures $`I`$, $`J`$ and $`K`$ or equivalently if it preserves the Kähler forms $`\omega _I`$, $`\omega _J`$ and $`\omega _K`$. The group of such transformations, the unitary symplectic group $`Sp(1)`$, is generated by multiplication by unit quaternions from the right. A maximal abelian subgroup $`𝕋_{}U(1)Sp(1)`$ is thus specified by a choice of a unit quaternion. We break the symmetry between $`I`$, $`J`$ and $`K`$ and choose the maximal torus generated by multiplication from the right by the unit quaternion $`i`$. Thus $`U(1)`$ acts on $``$ by sending $`\xi `$ to $`\xi \mathrm{exp}(\varphi i)`$, for $`exp(\varphi i)U(1)i`$. It follows from (21) that the moment map $`\mu _I:`$ with respect to the symplectic form $`\omega _I`$ is given by

$$\mu _I(x+yi+uj+vk)=\mu _I(x+yi+(ui+v)k)=\frac{1}{2}(x^2+y^2u^2v^2).$$
(22)
Similarly we obtain formulas for $`\mu _J`$ and $`\mu _K`$ by writing down the eigenspace decomposition in the respective complex structures:

$`\mu _J(x+yi+uj+vk)`$ $`=`$ $`\mu _J\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{y+u}{\sqrt{2}}}+{\displaystyle \frac{xv}{\sqrt{2}}}j\right){\displaystyle \frac{i+j}{\sqrt{2}}}+\left({\displaystyle \frac{yu}{\sqrt{2}}}j+{\displaystyle \frac{x+v}{\sqrt{2}}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{k1}{\sqrt{2}}}\right]`$
$`=`$ $`yu+xv,`$
$`\mu _K(x+yi+uj+vk)`$ $`=`$ $`\mu _K\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{y+v}{\sqrt{2}}}+{\displaystyle \frac{x+u}{\sqrt{2}}}k\right){\displaystyle \frac{i+k}{\sqrt{2}}}+\left({\displaystyle \frac{yv}{\sqrt{2}}}+{\displaystyle \frac{x+u}{\sqrt{2}}}k\right){\displaystyle \frac{ik}{\sqrt{2}}}\right]`$
$`=`$ $`yvxu.`$
We now consider the map $`\mu _{}=\mu _J+i\mu _K`$ from $``$ to $``$. It can be thought of as the holomorphic moment map for the $`I`$-holomorphic action of $`𝕋_{}𝕋_{}`$ on $``$ with respect to the $`I`$-holomorphic symplectic form $`\omega _{}=\omega _J+i\omega _K`$. If we identify $``$ with $``$ by introducing two complex coordinates, $`z=x+iyi`$ and $`w=vuii`$, then the $`I`$-holomorphic moment map $`\mu _{}:`$ is given algebraically by multiplying complex numbers:

$$\mu _{}(z,w)=\mu _J(z,w)+i\mu _K(z,w)=yu+xv+i(yvxu)=zw.$$
(23)
The discussion in the previous paragraph generalizes in an obvious manner to $`^n`$ for $`n>1`$. Indeed, the $`n`$-dimensional quaternionic space $`^n`$ has three complex structures $`I`$,$`J`$ and $`K`$, given by left multiplication with $`i,j,k`$. Putting the flat metric $`g_n=g^n`$ on $`^n`$ yields a hyperkähler metric, i.e. the differential $`2`$-forms $`\omega _I(X,Y)=g_n(IX,Y)`$ and similarly $`\omega _J`$ and $`\omega _K`$ are Kähler (meaning closed) forms. The automorphism group of this hyperkähler structure is the unitary symplectic group $`Sp(n)`$. We fix the maximal torus $`𝕋_{}^n=U(1)^nSp(n)`$ given by the following definition. For $`\lambda =(\mathrm{exp}(\varphi _1i),\mathrm{exp}(\varphi _2i),\mathrm{},\mathrm{exp}(\varphi _ni))𝕋_{}^n`$ and $`(\xi _1,\xi _2,\mathrm{},\xi _n)^n`$ we set

$$\lambda (\xi _1,\xi _2,\mathrm{},\xi _n)=(\xi _1\mathrm{exp}(\varphi _1i),\xi _2\mathrm{exp}(\varphi _2i),\mathrm{},\xi _n\mathrm{exp}(\varphi _ni)).$$
(24)
As in the $`n=1`$ case above, this fixes an isomorphism $`^n^n^n`$ where two complex vectors $`z,w^n^ni^n`$ represent the quaternionic vector $`z+wk^n^ni^nj^nk^n`$. Expressing vectors in $`^n`$ in these complex coordinates, the torus action (24) translates into

$`\lambda (z,w)=(\lambda z,\lambda ^1w)\text{for}\lambda 𝕋_{}^n\text{and}(z,w)^n.`$ (25)
The toric hyperkähler manifolds in  are constructed by choosing a subtorus $`𝕋_{}^d𝕋_{}^n`$ and taking the hyperkähler quotient  of $`^n`$ by $`𝕋_{}^d`$. We do this by choosing integer matrices $`A`$ and $`B`$ as in (1) and (2). The subtorus $`𝕋_{}^d`$ of $`𝕋_{}^n`$ acts on $`^n`$ by (25) preserving the hyperkähler structure. The hyperkähler moment map of the action (25) of $`𝕋_{}^d`$ on $`^n`$ is defined by

$$\mu =(\mu _I,\mu _J,\mu _K):^n(𝔱_{}^d)^{}^3,$$

where $`\mu _I`$, $`\mu _J`$ and $`\mu _K`$ are the Kähler moment maps with respect to $`\omega _I`$, $`\omega _J`$ and $`\omega _K`$ respectively. Using the formulas (22) and (23), the components of $`\mu `$ are in complex coordinates as follows:

$$\mu _{}(z,w):=\mu _I(z,w)=\frac{1}{2}\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}(|z_i|^2|w_i|^2)a_i(𝔱_{}^d)^{},$$
(26)
$$\mu _{}(z,w):=\mu _J(z,w)+i\mu _K(z,w)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}z_iw_ia_i(𝔱_{}^d)^{}(𝔱_{}^d)^{}.$$
(27)
Here $`a_i`$ is the $`i`$-th column vector of the matrix $`A`$. We can also think of $`\mu _{}`$ as the moment map for the $`I`$-holomorphic action of $`𝕋_{}^d`$ on $`^n`$ with respect to $`\omega _{}=\omega _I+i\omega _K`$. Now take

$$\xi =(\xi ^1,\xi ^2,\xi ^3)(𝔱_{}^d)^{}^3$$

and introduce $`\xi _{}=\xi ^1(𝔱_{}^d)^{}`$ and $`\xi _{}=\xi ^2+i\xi ^3(𝔱_{}^d)^{}`$ so we can write $`\xi =(\xi _{},\xi _{})(𝔱_{}^d)^{}(𝔱_{}^d)^{}`$. The hyperkähler quotient of $`^n`$ by the action (25) of the torus $`𝕋_{}^d`$ at level $`\xi `$ is defined as

$`Y(A,\xi ):=^n////_\xi 𝕋_{}^d:=\mu ^1(\xi )/𝕋_{}^d=(\mu _{}^1(\xi _{})\mu _{}^1(\xi _{}))/𝕋_{}^d.`$ (28)
By a theorem of , this quotient has a canonical hyperkähler structure on its smooth locus.

Bielawski and Dancer show in  that if $`\xi (𝔱_{}^d)^{}^3`$ is generic then $`Y(A,\xi )`$ is an orbifold, and it is smooth if and only if $`A`$ is unimodular. Since $`\xi `$ is generic outside a set of codimension three in $`(𝔱_{}^d)^{}^3`$, they can show that the topology and therefore the cohomology of the toric hyperkähler manifold is independent on $`\xi `$. In what follows we consider vectors $`\xi `$ for which $`\xi _{}=0`$ in $`^d`$ and $`\xi _{}=\theta ^d^d(𝔱_{}^d)^{}`$. The underlying complex manifold in complex structure $`I`$ of the hyperkähler manifold $`Y(A,(\theta ,0_{}))`$ has a purely algebraic description as explained in the next section.

## 6 Algebraic construction of toric hyperkähler varieties

The $`^d`$-graded polynomial ring $`[z,w]=[z_1,\mathrm{},z_n,w_1,\mathrm{},w_n]`$, with the grading given by $`A^\pm =[A,A]`$, is the homogeneous coordinate ring of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$. By a result of Cox , closed subschemes of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ correspond to homogeneous ideals in $`[z,w]`$ which are saturated with respect to the irrelevant ideal $`B_\theta `$ in (18). Let us now consider the ideal

$`\mathrm{Circ}():={\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}}a_{ij}z_iw_i|j=1,\mathrm{},d[z,w],`$ (29)
whose generators are the components of the holomorphic moment map $`\mu _{}`$ of (27). The ideal $`\mathrm{Circ}()`$ is clearly homogeneous and it is a complete intersection. We assume that none of the row vectors of the matrix $`B`$ is zero. Under this hypothesis, the ideal $`\mathrm{Circ}()`$ is a prime ideal.

###### Definition 6.1

The toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is the irreducible subvariety of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A,\theta )`$ defined by the homogeneous ideal $`\mathrm{Circ}()`$ in the coordinate ring $`[z,w]`$ of $`X(A,\theta )`$.

###### Proposition 6.2

If $`\theta `$ is generic then the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is an orbifold. It is smooth if and only if the matrix $`A`$ is unimodular.

Proof:  It follows from (27) that a point in $`^{2n}`$ has a finite stabilizer under the group $`𝕋_{}^d`$ if and only if the point is regular for $`\mu _{}`$ of (27), i.e. if the derivative of $`\mu _{}`$ is surjective there. This implies that, for $`\theta `$ generic, the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is an orbifold because then the variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is an orbifold. For the second statement note that if $`A`$ is unimodular then $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is smooth, consequently $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is also smooth. However, if $`A`$ is not unimodular then $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ has orbifold singularities which lie in the core. Now the core $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ lies entirely in $`Y(A,\theta )`$, by Lemma 6.4 below, thus $`Y(A,\theta )`$ inherits singular points from $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

We can now prove that our toric hyperkähler varieties are biholomorphic to the toric hyperkähler manifolds of the previous section.

###### Theorem 6.3

Let $`\xi _{}=\theta ^d(𝔱_{}^d)^{}^d`$ for generic $`\theta `$. Then the toric hyperkähler manifold $`Y(A,(\xi _{},0))`$ with complex structure $`I`$ is biholomorphic with the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$.

Proof:  Suppose $`A`$ is unimodular. The general theory of Kähler quotients (e.g. in ) implies that the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ and the corresponding Kähler quotient $`X(A^\pm ,\xi _{})=\mu _{}^1(\xi _{})/𝕋_{}^d`$ are biholomorphic, where $`\mu _{}`$ is defined in (26) and $`\xi _{}=\theta ^d^d(𝔱_{}^d)^{}`$. Now the point is that $`\mu _{}:^n^d`$ is invariant under the action of $`𝕋_{}^d`$ and therefore descends to a map on $`X(A^\pm ,\xi _{})=\mu _{}^1(\xi _{})/𝕋_{}^d`$ and similarly on $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ making the following diagram commutative:

$`\begin{array}{cccc}\mu _{}^\xi :& X(A^\pm ,\xi _{})& & ^d\\ & & & \\ \mu _{}^\theta :& X(A^\pm ,\theta )& & ^d\end{array}.`$
It follows that $`Y(A,(\xi _{},0))=(\mu _{}^\xi )^1(0)`$ and $`Y(A,\theta )=(\mu _{}^\theta )^1(0)`$ are biholomorphic as claimed.

The proof is similar in the case when the spaces have orbifold singularities. $`\mathrm{}`$

Recall the affinization map $`\pi _X:X(A^\pm ,\theta )X(A^\pm ,0)`$ from (6), and the analogous map $`\pi _Y:Y(A,\theta )Y(A,0)`$. These fit together in the following commutative diagram:

$`\begin{array}{ccc}Y(A,\theta )& \stackrel{\pi _Y}{}& Y(A,0)\\ i_\theta & & i_0\\ X(A^\pm ,\theta )& \stackrel{\pi _X}{}& X(A^\pm ,0)\\ \mu _{}^\theta & & \mu _{}^0\\ ^d& & ^d\end{array},`$
where $`i_\theta :Y(A,\theta )X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ denotes the natural embedding in Definition 6.1 by the preimage of $`\mu _{}^\theta `$ at $`0^d`$. From this we deduce the following lemma:

###### Lemma 6.4

The cores of the Lawrence toric variety and of the toric hyperkähler variety coincide, that is, $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )=\pi _X^1(0)=\pi _Y^1(0)`$.

### Remark.

It is shown in  that the core of the toric hyperkähler manifold $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is the preimage of the bounded complex in the hyperplane arrangement $`(,\psi )`$ by the hyperkähler moment map. We know from Theorem 3.2 that the core of the Lawrence toric variety equals the preimage of $`P_\theta ^{bd}`$ under the Kähler moment map. Thus Theorem 4.7 is a combinatorial analogue of Lemma 6.4.

We need one last ingredient in order to prove the theorem stated in the Introduction.

###### Lemma 6.5

The embedding of the core $`C(A,\theta )`$ in $`Y(A,\theta )`$ gives an isomorphism in cohomology.

Proof:  Consider the $`𝕋_{}`$-action on the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ defined by the vector $`v=_{i=1}^nb_i^{nd}`$. This action comes from multiplication by non-zero complex numbers on the vector space $`^{2n}`$. The holomorphic moment map $`\mu _{}`$ of (27) is homogeneous with respect to multiplication by a non-zero complex number, and consequently $`\mu _{}^\theta `$ is also homogeneous with respect to the circle action $`\lambda _v`$. It follows that this $`𝕋_{}`$-action leaves the toric hyperkähler variety invariant. Moreover, since $`v`$ is in the interior of $`\mathrm{pos}()`$, all the results in Section 3 are valid for this $`𝕋_{}`$-action on $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$. Now the proof of Theorem 3.5 can be repeated verbatim to show that the cohomology of $`Y(A,\theta )`$ agrees with the cohomology of the core. $`\mathrm{}`$

Proof of Theorem 1.1: 1.= 3. is a consequence of Lemma 6.4 and Lemma 6.5.

2.= 3. This is a consequence of Theorem 3.5.

1.= 4. is the content of Theorem 4.5. $`\mathrm{}`$

### Remark.

1. In fact, we could claim more than the isomorphism of cohomology rings in Theorem 1.1. The remark after Theorem 3.5 implies that the spaces $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )Y(A,\theta )X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ are deformation retracts in one another. A similar result appears in \[3, Theorem 6.5\].

2. The result 2.=4. in the smooth case was proven by Konno in .

3. We deduce from Theorem 1.1, Corollary 4.6 and Corollary 4.8 the following formulas for Betti numbers. The second formula is due to Bielawski and Dancer \[3, Theorem 6.7\].

###### Corollary 6.6

The Betti numbers of the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ agree with:

* the $`h`$-numbers of the matroid of $``$: $`b_{2k}(Y(A,\theta ))=h_k()`$.
* the following linear combination of the number of bounded regions of the affine hyperplane arrangement $`(B,\psi )`$:

$$b_{2k}(Y(A,\theta ))=\underset{i=k}{\overset{nd}{}}(1)^{ik}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{i}{k}\right)f_i(^{bd}(B,\psi )).$$
(32)

This corollary shows the importance of the combinatorics of the bounded complex $`^{bd}(B,\psi )`$ in the topology of $`Y(A,\theta )`$ and $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$. This intriguing connection will be more apparent in the next section. Before we get there we infer some important properties of the bounded complex from Corollary 9.1 and Theorem E of .

###### Proposition 6.7

The bounded complex $`^{bd}(B,\psi )`$ is pure-dimensional. If $`\psi `$ is generic and $``$ is coloop-free then every maximal face of $`^{bd}(B,\psi )`$ is an $`(nd)`$-dimensional simple polytope.

A coloop of $``$ is a vector $`b_i`$ which lies in every column basis of $`B`$. This is equivalent to $`a_i`$ being zero. Note that if $`A`$ has a zero column then we can delete it to get $`A^{}`$, which means that $`Y(A,\theta )=Y(A^{},\theta )\times ^2`$ and similarly for the Lawrence toric variety. Therefore we will assume in the next section that none of the columns of $`A`$ is zero.

## 7 Cogenerators of the cohomology ring

There are three natural presentations of the cohomology ring of the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ associated with a $`d\times n`$-matrix $`A`$ and a generic vector $`\theta ^d`$. In these presentations $`H^{}(Y(A,\theta );)`$ is expressed as a quotient of the polynomial ring $`[x,y]`$ in $`2n`$ variables, as a quotient of the polynomial ring $`[x]`$ in $`n`$ variables, or as a quotient of the polynomial ring $`[t][x]/\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)`$ in $`d`$ variables, respectively. In this section we compute systems of cogenerators for $`H^{}(Y(A,\theta );)`$ relative to each of the three presentations. As an application we show that the Hard Lefschetz Theorem holds for toric hyperkähler varieties, and we discuss some implications for the combinatorial problem of classifying the $`h`$-vectors of matroid complexes.

We begin by reviewing the definition of cogenerators of a homogeneous polynomial ideal. Consider the commutative polynomial ring generated by a basis of derivations on affine $`m`$-space:

$$[]=[_1,_2,\mathrm{},_m].$$

The polynomials in $`[]`$ act as linear differential operators with constant coefficients on

$$[x]=[x_1,x_2,\mathrm{},x_m].$$

If $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is any subset of $`[x]`$ then its annihilator $`\mathrm{Ann}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is the ideal in $`[]`$ consisting of all linear differential operators with constant coefficients which annihilate all polynomials in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. If $`I`$ is any zero-dimensional homogeneous ideal in $`[]`$ then there exists a finite set $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of homogeneous polynomials in $`[x]`$ such that $`I=\mathrm{Ann}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$. We say that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a set of cogenerators of $`I`$. If $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a singleton, say, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=\{p\}`$, then $`I=\mathrm{Ann}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is a Gorenstein ideal. In this case, the polynomial $`p=p(x)`$ which cogenerates $`I`$ is unique up to scaling. More generally, if all polynomials in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ are homogeneous of the same degree then $`I=\mathrm{Ann}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is a level ideal. In this case, the $``$-vector space spanned by $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is unique, and it is desirable for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ to be a nice basis for this space.

We replace the vector $`\psi =(\psi _1,\mathrm{},\psi _n)`$ in Theorem 4.7 by an indeterminate vector $`x=(x_1,\mathrm{},x_n)`$ which ranges over a small neighborhood of $`\psi `$ in $`^n`$. For $`x`$ in this neighborhood, the polyhedron $`Q_x`$ remains simple and combinatorially isomorphic to $`Q_\psi `$, and the hyperplane arrangement $`(B,x)`$ remains isomorphic to $`(B,\psi )`$. Let $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{\Delta }_r`$ denote the maximal bounded regions of $`(B,x)`$. These are $`(nd)`$-dimensional simple polytopes, by Proposition 6.7 and our assumption that $``$ is coloop-free. They can be identified with the maximal bounded faces of the $`(2nd)`$-dimensional polyhedron $`Q_x`$, by Theorem 4.7. The volume of the polytope $`\mathrm{\Delta }_i`$ is a homogeneous polynomial in $`x`$ of degree $`nd`$ denoted

$$V_i(x)=V_i(x_1,\mathrm{},x_n)=\mathrm{vol}(\mathrm{\Delta }_i)(i=1,2,\mathrm{},r)$$

###### Theorem 7.1

The volume polynomials $`V_1,\mathrm{},V_r`$ form a basis of cogenerators for the cohomology ring of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ and of the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$:

$$H^{}(Y(A,\theta );)=[_1,_2,\mathrm{},_n]/\mathrm{Ann}\left(\{V_1,V_2,\mathrm{},V_r\}\right).$$
(33)
Proof:  Each simple polytope $`\mathrm{\Delta }_i`$ represents an $`(nd)`$-dimensional projective toric variety $`X_i`$. The core $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ is glued from the toric varieties $`X_1,\mathrm{},X_r`$, and it has the same cohomology as $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ and $`Y(A,\theta )`$ as proved in Theorem 1.1. Hence we get a natural ring epimorphism induced from the inclusion of each toric variety $`X_i`$ into the core $`C(A^\pm ,\theta )`$:

$$\varphi _i:H^{}(C(A^\pm ,\theta );)H^{}(X_i;).$$
(34)
In terms of coordinates, the map $`\varphi _i`$ is described as follows:

$$\varphi _i:[_1,,\mathrm{},_n]/(M()+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜))[_1,,\mathrm{},_n]/(I_{\mathrm{\Delta }_i}+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)),$$
(35)
where $`I_{\mathrm{\Delta }_i}`$ is the Stanley-Reisner ring of the simplicial normal fan of the polytope $`\mathrm{\Delta }_i`$. Each facet of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_i`$ has the form $`\{w\mathrm{\Delta }_i:b_jw=\psi _j\}`$ for some $`j\{1,2,\mathrm{},n\}`$. The ideal $`I_{\mathrm{\Delta }_i}`$ is generated by all monomials $`_{j_1}_{j_2}\mathrm{}_{j_s}`$ such that the intersection of the facets $`\{w\mathrm{\Delta }_i:b_{j_\nu }w=\psi _{j_\nu }\}`$, for $`\nu =1,2,\mathrm{},s`$, is the empty set. By the genericity hypothesis on $`\psi `$, this will happen if $`\{b_{j_1},b_{j_2},\mathrm{},b_{j_s}\}`$ is linearly dependent, or, equivalently, if $`_{j_1}_{j_2}\mathrm{}_{j_s}`$ lies in the matroid ideal $`M()`$. We conclude that $`M()I_{\mathrm{\Delta }_i}`$, and the map $`\varphi _i`$ in (35) is induced by this inclusion.

Proposition 3.4 implies that

$$\mathrm{ker}(\varphi _1)\mathrm{ker}(\varphi _2)\mathrm{}\mathrm{ker}(\varphi _r)=\{0\}.$$
(36)
Here is an alternative proof for this in the toric hyperkähler case. We first note that the top-dimensional cohomology of an equidimensional union of projective varieties equals the direct sum of the pieces:

$$H^{2n2d}(C(A^\pm ,\theta );)H^{2n2d}(X_1;)\mathrm{}H^{2n2d}(X_r;),$$
(37)
and the restriction of the map $`\varphi _i`$ to degree $`2n2d`$ is the $`i`$-th coordinate projection in this direct sum. In particular, (36) holds in the top degree. We now use a theorem of Stanley \[16, Theorem III.3.4\] which states that the Stanley-Reisner ring of a matroid is level. Using condition (j) in \[16, Proposition III.3.2\], this implies that the socle of our cohomology ring $`H^{}(C(A^\pm ,\theta );)`$ consists precisely of the elements of degree $`2n2d`$. Suppose that (36) does not hold, and pick a non-zero element $`p()`$ of maximal degree in the left hand side. The cohomological degree of $`p()`$ is strictly less than $`2n2d`$ by (37). For any generator $`_j`$ of $`H^{}(C(A^\pm ,\theta );)`$, the product $`_jp()`$ lies in the left hand side of (36) because $`\varphi _i(_jp())=\varphi _i(_j)\varphi (p())=0`$. By the maximality hypothesis in the choice of $`p()`$, we conclude that $`_jp()=0`$ in $`H^{}(C(A^\pm ,\theta );)`$ for all $`j=1,2,\mathrm{},n`$. Hence $`p()`$ lies in the socle of $`H^{}(C(A^\pm ,\theta );)`$. By Stanley’s Theorem, this means that $`p()`$ has cohomological degree $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}n2d`$. This is a contradiction and our claim follows.

The result (36) which we just proved translates into the following ideal-theoretic statement:

$$M()+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{r}{}}\left(I_{\mathrm{\Delta }_i}+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)\right).$$
(38)
Since $`X_i`$ is a projective orbifold, the ring $`H^{}(X_i;)`$ is a Gorenstein ring. A result of Khovanskii and Pukhlikov  states that its cogenerator is the volume polynomial, i.e.

$$I_{\mathrm{\Delta }_i}+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)=\mathrm{Ann}(V_i)\mathrm{for}i=1,2,\mathrm{},r.$$

We conclude that $`M()+\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)=\mathrm{Ann}\left(\{V_1,\mathrm{},V_r\}\right)`$, which proves the identity (33). $`\mathrm{}`$

### Remark.

We note that the above proof of (36) is reversible, i.e. Proposition 3.4 actually implies the levelness result of Stanley \[16, Theorem III.3.4\] for matroids representable over $``$.

We next rewrite the result of Theorem 7.1 in terms of the other two presentations of our cohomology ring. From the perspective of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$, it is most natural to work in a polynomial ring in $`2n`$ variables, one for each torus-invariant divisor of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$.

###### Corollary 7.2

The common cohomology ring of the Lawrence toric variety and the toric hyperkähler variety has the presentation

$$H^{}(X(A^\pm ,\theta );)=[_{x_1},_{x_2},\mathrm{},_{x_n},_{y_1},_{y_2},\mathrm{},_{y_n}]/\mathrm{Ann}(V_1(xy),\mathrm{},V_r(xy)).$$

Proof:  The polynomials $`V_i(xy)=V_i(x_1y_1,x_2y_2,\mathrm{},x_ny_n)`$ are annihilated precisely by the annihilators of $`V_i(x)`$ and by the extra ideal generators $`_{x_1}+_{y_1},\mathrm{},_{x_n}+_{y_n}`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

This corollary states that the cogenerators of the Lawrence toric variety are the volume polynomials of the maximal bounded faces of the associated polyhedron $`Q_\psi =P_\theta `$. The same result holds for any semi-projective toric variety, even if the maximal bounded faces of its polyhedron have different dimensions. This can be proved using Proposition 3.4.

The economical presentation of our cohomology ring is as a quotient of a polynomial ring in $`d`$ variables $`_{t_1},\mathrm{},_{t_d}`$. The matrix $`A`$ defines a surjective homomorphism of polynomial rings

$$\alpha :[_{x_1},\mathrm{},_{x_n}][_{t_1},\mathrm{},_{t_d}],_{x_j}\underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}a_{ij}_{t_i},$$

and a dual injective homomorphism of polynomial rings

$$\alpha ^{}:[t_1,\mathrm{},t_d][x_1,\mathrm{},x_n],t_i\underset{j=1}{\overset{n}{}}a_{ij}x_j.$$

The kernel of $`\alpha `$ equals $`\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)`$ and therefore

$$H^{}(Y(A,\theta );)=[_{t_1},\mathrm{},_{t_d}]/\alpha (M()).$$
(39)
We obtain cogenerators for this presentation of our cohomology ring as follows. Suppose that the indeterminate vector $`t=(t_1,\mathrm{},t_d)`$ ranges over a small neighborhood of $`\theta =(\theta _1,\mathrm{},\theta _d)`$ in $`^d`$. For $`t`$ in this neighborhood, the polyhedron $`P_t`$ remains simple and combinatorially isomorphic to $`P_\theta `$. The maximal bounded faces of $`P_t`$ can be identified with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{\Delta }_r`$ as before, but now the volume of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_i`$ is a homogeneous polynomial of degree $`nd`$ in only $`d`$ variables:

$$v_i(t)=v_i(t_1,\mathrm{},t_d)=\mathrm{vol}(\mathrm{\Delta }_i)\mathrm{for}i=1,2,\mathrm{},r.$$

The polynomial $`v_i(t)`$ is the unique preimage of the polynomial $`V_i(x)`$ under the inclusion $`\alpha ^{}`$.

###### Corollary 7.3

The cohomology of the Lawrence toric variety and the toric hyperkähler variety equals

$$H^{}(Y(A,\theta );)=[_{t_1},\mathrm{},_{t_d}]/\mathrm{Ann}(\{v_1,\mathrm{},v_r\}).$$

Proof:  A differential operator $`f=f(_{x_1},\mathrm{},_{x_n})`$ annihilates $`\alpha ^{}(v)`$ for some $`v=v(t_1,\mathrm{},t_d)`$ if and only if the operator $`\alpha (f)`$ annihilates $`v`$ itself. This is the Chain Rule of Calculus. Hence

$$\mathrm{Ann}(\{v_1,\mathrm{},v_r\})=\alpha \left(\mathrm{Ann}(\{V_1,\mathrm{},V_r\})\right)=\alpha \left(\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)+M()\right)=\alpha (M()).$$

The claim now follows from equation (39). $`\mathrm{}`$

### Remark.

Since the cohomology ring of $`Y(A,\theta )`$ does not depend on $`\theta `$, we get the remarkable fact that the vector space generated by the volume polynomials does not depend on $`\theta `$ either.

We close this section by presenting an application to combinatorics. We use notation and terminology as in \[16, Section III.3\]. Let $`M`$ be any matroid of rank $`nd`$ on $`n`$ elements which can be represented over the field $``$, say, by a configuration $`^{nd}`$ as above, and let $`h(M)=(h_0,h_1,\mathrm{},h_k)`$ be its $`h`$-vector. A longstanding open problem is to characterize the $`h`$-vectors of matroids. For a survey see  or \[16, Section III.3\]. We wish to argue that toric hyperkähler geometry can make a valuable contribution to this problem. According to Corollary 6.6 the $`h`$-numbers of $`M`$ are precisely the Betti numbers of the associated toric hyperkähler variety:

$$h_i(M)=\mathrm{rank}H^{2i}(Y(A,\theta );).$$
(40)
As a first step, we prove the injectivity part of the Hard Lefschetz Theorem for toric hyperkähler varieties. The $`g`$-vector of the matroid is $`g(M)=(g_1,g_2,\mathrm{},g_{\frac{nd}{2}})`$ where $`g_i=h_ih_{i1}`$.

###### Theorem 7.4

The $`g`$-vector of a rationally represented coloop-free matroid is a Macaulay vector, i.e. there exists a graded $``$-algebra $`R=R_0R_1\mathrm{}R_{\frac{nd}{2}}`$ generated by $`R_1`$ and with $`g_i=\mathrm{dim}_{}(R_i)`$ for all $`i`$.

Proof:  Let $`[D]H^2(Y(A,\theta );)`$ be the class of an ample divisor. The restriction $`D|_{X_j}`$ to any component $`X_j`$ of the core is an ample divisor on the projective toric orbifold $`X_j`$. Consider the map

$$L:H^{2i2}(Y(A,\theta );)H^{2i}(Y(A,\theta );),$$
(41)
given by multiplication with $`[D]`$. We claim that this map is injective for $`i=1,\mathrm{},\frac{nd}{2}`$. To see this, let $`\alpha H^{2i2}(Y(A,\theta );)`$ be a nonzero cohomology class. Then according to equation (36), there exists an index $`j\{1,2,\mathrm{},r\}`$ such that $`\alpha |_{X_j}`$ is nonzero. Then the Hard Lefschetz Theorem for the projective toric orbifold $`X_j`$ implies that $`\alpha |_{X_j}[D|_{X_j}]`$ is a non-zero class in $`H^{2i}(X_j;)`$. Its preimage $`\alpha [D]`$ under the map $`\varphi _j`$ is non-zero, and we conclude that the map (41) is injective for $`2ind`$. Consider the quotient algebra $`R=H^{}(Y(A,\theta );)/[D]`$. The injectivity result just established implies that

$$g_i=h_ih_{i1}=\mathrm{dim}_{}\left(H^{2i}(Y(A,\theta );)/[D]\right)=\mathrm{dim}_{}(R_i).$$

This completes the proof of Theorem 7.4. $`\mathrm{}`$

### Remark.

After the submission of our paper we learned that Swartz  has given a different proof of Theorem 7.4 for all coloop-free matroids.

## 8 Toric quiver varieties

In this section we discuss an important class of toric hyperkähler manifolds, namely, Nakajima’s quiver varieties in the special case when the dimension vector has all coordinates equal to one. Let $`Q=(V,E)`$ be a directed graph (a quiver) with $`d+1`$ vertices $`V=\{v_0,v_1,\mathrm{},v_d\}`$ and $`n`$ edges $`\{e_{ij}:(i,j)E\}`$. We consider the group of all $``$-linear combinations of $`V`$ whose coefficients sum to zero. We fix the basis $`\{v_0v_1,\mathrm{},v_0v_d\}`$ for this group, which is hence identified with $`^d`$. We also identify $`^n`$ with the group of $``$-linear combinations $`_{ij}\lambda _{ij}e_{ij}`$ of the set of edges $`E`$. The boundary map of the quiver $`Q`$ is the following homomorphism of abelian groups

$$A:^n^d,e_{ij}v_iv_j.$$
(42)
Throughout this section we assume that the underlying graph of $`Q`$ is connected. This ensures that $`A`$ is an epimorphism. The kernel of $`A`$ consists of all $``$-linear combinations of $`E`$ which represent cycles in $`Q`$. We fix an $`n\times (nd)`$-matrix $`B`$ whose columns form a basis for the cycle lattice $`\mathrm{ker}(A)`$. Thus we are in the situation of (1). The following result is well-known:

###### Lemma 8.1

The matrix $`A`$ representing the boundary map of a quiver $`Q`$ is unimodular.

Every edge $`e_{ij}`$ of $`Q`$ determines one coordinate function $`z_{ij}`$ on $`^n`$ and two coordinate functions $`z_{ij},w_{ij}`$ on $`^n`$. The action of the $`d`$-torus on $`^n`$ and $`^n`$ given by the matrix $`A`$ equals

$$z_{ij}t_it_j^1z_{ij},w_{ij}t_i^1t_jw_{ij}.$$
(43)
We are interested in the various quotients of $`^n`$ and $`^n`$ by this action. Since the matrix $`A`$ represents the quiver $`Q`$, we write $`X(Q,\theta )`$ instead of $`X(A,\theta )`$, we write $`X(Q^\pm ,\theta )`$ instead of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$, and we write $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ instead of $`Y(A,\theta )`$. From Corollary 2.9 and Lemma 8.1, we conclude that all of these quotients are manifolds when the parameter vector $`\theta `$ is generic:

###### Proposition 8.2

Let $`\theta `$ be a generic vector in the lattice $`^d`$. Then $`X(Q,\theta )`$ is a smooth projective toric variety of dimension $`nd`$, $`X(Q^\pm ,\theta )`$ is a non-compact smooth toric variety of dimension $`2nd`$, and $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ is a smooth toric hyperkähler variety of dimension $`2(nd)`$.

We call $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ a toric quiver variety. These are precisely the quiver varieties of Nakajima  in the case when the dimension vector has all coordinates equal to one. Altmann and Hille  used the term “toric quiver variety” for the projective toric variety $`X(Q,\theta )`$, which is a component in the common core of our toric quiver variety $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ and its ambient Lawrence toric variety $`X(Q^\pm ,\theta )`$. According to our general theory, the manifolds $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ and $`X(Q^\pm ,\theta )`$ and their core have the same integral cohomology ring, to be described in terms of quiver data in Theorem 8.3.

Fix a vector $`\theta ^d`$ and a subset $`\tau E`$ which forms a spanning tree in $`Q`$. Then there exists a unique linear combination with integer coefficients $`\lambda _{ij}^\tau `$ which represents $`\theta `$ as follows:

$$\theta =\underset{(i,j)\tau }{}\lambda _{ij}^\tau (v_iv_j).$$

Note that the vector $`\theta `$ is generic if $`\lambda _{ij}^\tau `$ is non-zero for all spanning trees $`\tau `$ and all $`(i,j)\tau `$.

For every spanning tree $`\tau `$, we define a subset of the monomials in $`T=[z_{ij},w_{ij}]`$ as follows.

$$\sigma (\tau ,\theta ):=\{z_{ij}:(i,j)\tau \text{and}\lambda _{ij}^\tau >0\}\{w_{ij}:(i,j)\tau \text{and}\lambda _{ij}^\tau <0\}.$$

Recall that a cut of the quiver $`Q`$ is a collection $`D`$ of edges which traverses a partition $`(W,V\backslash W)`$ of the vertex set $`V`$. We regard $`D`$ as a signed set by recording the directions of its edges as follows

$`D^{}=`$ $`\{(i,j)E:iV\backslash W\text{and}jW\},`$
$`D^+=`$ $`\{(i,j)E:iW\text{and}jV\backslash W\}.`$
We now state our main result regarding toric quiver varieties:

###### Theorem 8.3

Let $`\theta ^d`$ be generic. The Lawrence toric variety $`X(Q^\pm ,\theta )`$ is the smooth $`(2nd)`$-dimensional toric variety defined by the fan whose $`2n`$ rays are the columns of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }()=\left(\begin{array}{cc}𝐈& 𝐈\\ \mathrm{𝟎}& B^T\end{array}\right)`$ and whose maximal cones are indexed by the sets $`\sigma (\tau ,\theta )`$, where $`\tau `$ runs over all spanning trees of $`Q`$. The toric quiver variety $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ is the $`2(nd)`$-dimensional submanifold of $`X(Q^\pm ,\theta )`$ defined by the equations $`_{(i,j)D^+}z_{ij}w_{ij}=_{(i,j)D^{}}z_{ij}w_{ij}`$ where $`D`$ runs over all cuts of $`Q`$. The common cohomology ring of these manifolds is the quotient of $`[_{ij}:(i,j)E]`$ modulo the ideal generated by the linear forms in $`B`$ and the monomials $`_{(i,j)D}_{ij}`$ where $`D`$ runs over all cuts of $`Q`$.

A few comments are in place: the variables $`_{ij}`$, $`(i,j)E`$, are the coordinates of the row vector $``$, so the entries of $`B`$ are a cycle basis for $`Q`$. The equations which cut out the toric quiver variety $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ lie in the Cox homogeneous coordinate ring of the Lawrence toric manifold $`X(Q^\pm ,\theta )`$. A more compact representation is obtained if we replace “cuts” by “cocircuits”. By definition, a cocircuit in $`Q`$ is a cut which is minimal with respect to inclusion. The proof of Theorem 8.3 follows from our general results for integer matrices $`A`$ and is left to the reader.

Corollary 6.6 shows that the Betti numbers of $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ are the $`h`$-numbers of the matroid of $`B`$. This is not the usual graphic matroid of $`Q`$ but it is the cographic matroid associated with $`Q`$. Thus the Betti numbers of the toric quiver variety $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ are the $`h`$-numbers of the cographic matroid of $`Q`$. The generating function for the Betti numbers, the $`h`$-polynomial of the cographic matroid, is known in combinatorics as the reliability polynomial of the graph $`Q`$; see .

###### Corollary 8.4

The Poincaré polynomial of the toric quiver variety $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ equals the reliability polynomial of the graph $`Q`$, which is the $`h`$-polynomial of its cographic matroid. In particular, the Euler characteristic of $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ coincides with the number of spanning trees of $`Q`$.

Recent work of Lopez  gives an explicit enumerative interpretation of the coefficients of the reliability polynomial of a graph and hence of the Betti numbers of a toric quiver variety. In particular, that paper proves Stanley’s longstanding conjecture on $`h`$-vectors of matroid complexes \[16, Conjecture III.3.6\] for the special case of cographic matroids.

## 9 An example of a toric quiver variety

We shall describe a particular toric quiver variety $`Y(K_{2,3},\theta )`$ of complex dimension four. Consider the quiver in Figure 1, the complete bipartite graph $`K_{2,3}`$ given by $`d=4`$, $`n=6`$ and $`E=\{(0,2),(0,3),(0,4),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4)\}`$.

The matrix $`A`$ representing the boundary map (42) is given in Figure 2. The six columns of $`A`$ span the cone over a triangular prism as depicted in Figure 3. A Gale dual of this configuration is given by the six vectors in the plane in Figure 4. The rows of $`B^T`$ span the cycle lattice of $`K_{2,3}`$.

Our manifolds are constructed algebraically from the multigraded polynomial rings

$$S=[z_{02},z_{03},z_{04},z_{12},z_{13},z_{14}]\text{and}T=S[w_{02},w_{03},w_{04},w_{12},w_{13},w_{14}],$$
(46)
where the degrees of the twelve variables are given by the columns of the matrix $`A^\pm `$:

$$\mathrm{degree}(z_{ij})=\mathrm{degree}(w_{ij})=v_iv_j.$$
(47)
This grading corresponds to the torus action (43) on the polynomial rings $`S`$ and $`T`$.

Fix $`\theta =(\theta _1,\theta _2,\theta _3,\theta _4)^4`$. It represents the following linear combination of vertices of $`K_{2,3}`$:

$$(\theta _1+\theta _2+\theta _3+\theta _4)v_0\theta _1v_1\theta _2v_2\theta _3v_3\theta _4v_4$$

The monomials $`z_{02}^{u_{02}}z_{03}^{u_{03}}z_{04}^{u_{04}}z_{12}^{u_{12}}z_{13}^{u_{13}}z_{14}^{u_{14}}`$ in the graded component $`S_\theta `$ correspond to the nonnegative $`2\times 3`$-integer matrices $`\left(\begin{array}{ccc}u_{02}& u_{03}& u_{04}\\ u_{12}& u_{13}& u_{14}\end{array}\right)`$ with column sums $`\theta _2,\theta _3,\theta _4`$ and row sums $`\theta _1+\theta _2+\theta _3+\theta _4`$ and $`\theta _1`$. For instance, for $`\theta =(3,2,2,2)`$ there are precisely seven monomials in $`S_\theta `$ as shown on Figure 6.

Taking “Proj” of the algebra generated by these seven monomials we get a smooth toric surface $`X(K_{2,3},\theta )`$ in $`^6`$. This surface is the blow-up of $`^2`$ at three points.

As $`\theta `$ varies, there are eighteen different types of smooth toric surfaces $`X(K_{2,3},\theta )`$. They correspond to the eighteen chambers in the triangular prism, or, equivalently, to the eighteen complete fans on $``$. This picture arises in the Cremona transformation of classical algebraic geometry, where the projective plane is blown up at three points and then the lines connecting them are blown down. The eighteen surfaces are the intermediate blow-ups and blow-downs.

We next describe the Lawrence toric varieties $`X(K_{2,3}^\pm ,\theta )`$ which are the GIT quotients of $`^{12}`$ by the action (43). First, the (singular) affine quotient $`X(K_{2,3}^\pm ,0)`$ is the spectrum of the algebra

$`T_0=`$ $`[z_{02}w_{02},z_{03}w_{03},z_{04}w_{04},z_{12}w_{12},z_{13}w_{13},z_{14}w_{14},z_{02}z_{13}w_{12}w_{03},`$
$`z_{03}z_{12}w_{13}w_{02},z_{02}z_{14}w_{12}w_{04},z_{04}z_{12}w_{14}w_{02},z_{03}z_{14}w_{13}w_{04},z_{04}z_{13}w_{14}w_{03}].`$
This is the affine toric variety whose fan is the cone over the $`7`$-dimensional Lawrence polytope given by the matrix $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}𝐈& 𝐈\\ \mathrm{𝟎}& B^T\end{array}\right)`$, where $`𝐈`$ is the $`6\times 6`$-unit matrix. This Lawrence polytope has $`160`$ triangulations, all of which are regular, so there are $`160`$ different types of smooth Lawrence toric varieties $`X(K_{2,3}^\pm ,\theta )`$ as $`\theta `$ ranges over the generic points in $`^4`$. For instance, for $`\theta =(3,2,2,2)`$ as in Figure 6, $`X(K_{2,3}^\pm ,\theta )`$ is constructed as follows. The graded component $`T_\theta `$ is generated as a $`T_0`$-module by $`13`$ monomials: the seven $`z`$-monomials in $`S_\theta `$ and the six additional monomials:

$$w_{02}z_{03}^2z_{04}^2z_{12}^3,w_{03}z_{02}^2z_{04}^2z_{13}^3,w_{04}z_{02}^2z_{03}^2z_{14}^3,w_{12}z_{13}^2z_{14}^2z_{02}^3,w_{13}z_{12}^2z_{14}^2z_{03}^3,w_{14}z_{12}^2z_{13}^2z_{04}^3.$$
(48)
The $`13`$ monomial generators of $`T_\theta `$ correspond to the $`13`$ lattice points in the star diagram in Figure 6. The toric variety $`X(K_{2,3}^\pm ,\theta )=\mathrm{Proj}(_{n0}T_{n\theta })`$ is characterized by its irrelevant ideal in the Cox homogeneous coordinate ring $`T`$, which is graded by (47). The irrelevant ideal is the radical of the monomial ideal $`T_\theta `$. It is generated by the $`12`$ square-free monomials obtained by erasing exponents of the monomials in (48) and Figure 6. The $`7`$-simplices in the triangulation of the Lawrence polytope are the complements of the supports of these twelve monomials,

We finally come to the toric quiver variety $`Y(K_{2,3},\theta )`$, which is smooth and four-dimensional. It is the complete intersection in the Lawrence toric variety $`X(K_{2,3}^\pm ,\theta )`$ defined by the equations

$$z_{02}w_{02}+z_{03}w_{03}+z_{04}w_{04}=z_{02}w_{02}+z_{12}w_{12}=z_{03}w_{03}+z_{13}w_{13}=z_{04}w_{04}+z_{14}w_{14}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}0}.$$

These equations are valid for all $`160`$ toric quiver varieties $`Y(K_{2,3},\theta )`$. The cores of the manifolds vary greatly. For instance, for $`\theta =(3,2,2,2)`$, the core of $`Y(K_{2,3},\theta )`$ consists of six copies of the projective plane $`^2`$ which are glued to the blow-up of $`^2`$ at three points as in Figure 6.

The common cohomology ring of the $`8`$-dimensional Lawrence toric varieties $`X(K_{2,3}^\pm ,\theta )`$ and the $`4`$-dimensional toric quiver varieties $`Y(K_{2,3},\theta )`$ is independent of $`\theta `$ and equals

$`[]/_{03}_{04}_{12},_{02}_{04}_{13},_{02}_{03}_{14},_{13}_{14}_{02},_{12}_{14}_{03},_{12}_{13}_{04},`$
$`_{02}_{03}_{04},_{12}_{13}_{14},_{02}_{12},_{03}_{13},_{04}_{14},_{02}_{03}_{12}+_{13},_{02}_{04}_{12}+_{14}.`$
From this presentation we can compute the Betti numbers as follows:

$$H^{}(Y(K_{2,3});)=H^0(Y(K_{2,3});)H^2(Y(K_{2,3});)H^4(Y(K_{2,3});)=^1^4^7.$$

The $`7`$-dimensional space of cogenerators is spanned by the areas of the six triangles in Figure 6, e.g., $`V_{\{03,04,12\}}(x)=(x_{03}+x_{04}x_{12})^2`$, together with the area polynomial of the hexagon

$$V_{hex}(x)=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}2}x_{03}x_{14}+2x_{14}x_{02}+2x_{02}x_{13}+2x_{13}x_{04}+2x_{04}x_{12}+2x_{12}x_{03}x_{02}^2x_{03}^2x_{04}^2x_{12}^2x_{13}^2x_{14}^2.$$

## 10 Which toric varieties are hyperkähler ?

Toric hyperkähler varieties are constructed algebraically as complete intersections in Lawrence toric varieties, but they are generally not toric varieties themselves. What we mean by this is that there does not exist a subtorus of the dense torus of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ such that $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is an orbit closure of that subtorus. The objective of this section is to characterize and study the rare exceptional cases when $`Y(A,\theta )`$ happens to be a toric variety. We are particularly interested in the case of manifolds, when $`A`$ is unimodular. The following is the main result in this section.

###### Theorem 10.1

A toric manifold is a toric hyperkähler variety if and only if it is a product of ALE spaces of type $`A_n`$ if and only if it is a toric quiver variety $`X(Q,\theta )`$ where $`Q`$ is a disjoint union of cycles.

The ALE space of type $`A_n`$ is denoted $`^2//\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$ where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$ is the cyclic group of order $`n`$ acting on $`^2`$ as the matrix group $`\{\left(\begin{array}{cc}\eta & 0\\ 0& \eta ^1\end{array}\right):\eta ^n=1\}`$. The smooth surface $`^2//\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$ is defined as the unique crepant resolution of the $`2`$-dimensional cyclic quotient singularity

$$^2/\mathrm{\Gamma }_n=\mathrm{Spec}[x,y]^{\mathrm{\Gamma }_n}=\mathrm{Spec}[x^n,xy,y^n].$$

Equivalently, we can construct $`^2//\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$ as the smooth toric surface whose fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n`$ consists of the cones $`_0\{(1,i1),(1,i)\}`$ for $`i=1,2,\mathrm{},n`$ and whose lattice is the standard lattice $`^2`$.

Let us start out by showing that the ALE space $`^2//\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$ is indeed a toric quiver variety. Let $`C_n`$ denote the $`n`$-cycle. This is the quiver with vertices $`V=\{0,1,\mathrm{},n1\}`$ and edges

$$E=\{(0,1),(1,2),(2,3),\mathrm{},(n2,n1),(n1,0)\}.$$

We prove the following well-know result to illustrate our constructions in this paper.

###### Lemma 10.2

The affine quiver variety $`Y(C_n,0)`$ is isomorphic to $`^2/\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$ and for any generic vector $`\theta ^{n1}`$, the smooth quiver variety $`Y(C_n,\theta )`$ is isomorphic to the ALE space $`^2//\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$.

Proof:  The boundary map of the $`n`$-cycle $`C_n`$ has the format $`^n^{n1}`$ and looks like

$$A=\left(\begin{array}{cccccc}1& 1& 0& 0& \mathrm{}& 0\\ 0& 1& 1& 0& \mathrm{}& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& \mathrm{}& 0\\ \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}\\ 0& 0& 0& \mathrm{}& 1& 1\end{array}\right).$$

and its Gale dual is the $`1\times n`$-matrix with all entries equal to one:

$$B^T=\left(\begin{array}{ccccc}1& 1& 1& \mathrm{}& 1\end{array}\right).$$
(49)
The torus $`𝕋_{}^{n1}`$ acts via $`A^\pm `$ on the polynomial ring $`T=[z_{i,i+1},w_{i,i+1}:i=0,\mathrm{},n1]`$. The affine Lawrence toric variety $`X(C_n^\pm ,0)=^{2n}//_0𝕋_{}^{n1}`$ is the spectrum of the invariant ring

$$T_0=[z_{01}w_{01},z_{12}w_{12},\mathrm{},z_{n1,0}w_{n1,0},z_{01}z_{12}\mathrm{}z_{n1,0},w_{01}w_{12}\mathrm{}w_{n1,0}].$$

The common defining ideal of all the quiver varieties $`Y(C_n,\theta )`$ is the following ideal in $`T`$:

$$\mathrm{Circ}()=z_{i1,i}w_{i1,i}z_{i,i+1}w_{i,i+1}:i=1,2,\mathrm{},n.$$

All indices are considered modulo $`n`$. The quiver variety $`Y(C_n,0)`$ is the spectrum of $`T_0/(T_0\mathrm{Circ}())`$. Dividing $`T_0`$ by $`T_0\mathrm{Circ}()`$ means erasing the double indices of all variables:

$$T_0/(T_0\mathrm{Circ}())[zw,z^n,w^n].$$

Passing to the spectra of these rings proves our first assertion: $`Y(C_n,0)^2/\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$.

For the second assertion, we first note that $`\theta =(\theta _1,\mathrm{},\theta _{n1})`$ is generic for $`𝒜^\pm `$ if and only if all consecutive coordinate sums $`\theta _i+\theta _{i+1}+\mathrm{}+\theta _j`$ are non-zero. The associated hyperplane arrangement $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒜)`$ is linearly isomorphic to the braid arrangement $`\{u_i=u_j\}`$. It has $`n!`$ chambers, and the symmetric group acts transitively on the chambers. Hence it suffices to prove our claim $`Y(C_n,\theta )^2//\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$ for only one vector $`\theta `$ which lies in the interior of any chamber.

We fix the generic vector $`\theta =(1,1,\mathrm{},1)`$. There are $`n`$ monomials of degree $`\theta `$ in $`T`$, namely,

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{i1}{}}z_{j1,j}^{ij}\underset{k=i+1}{\overset{n}{}}w_{k1,k}^{ki}\text{for}i=1,2,\mathrm{},n.$$
(50)
The images of these monomials are minimal generators of the $`T_0/(T_0\mathrm{Circ}())`$-algebra

$$\underset{r=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}T_{r\theta }/(T_{r\theta }\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)()).$$

By definition, $`Y(C_n,\theta )`$ is the projective spectrum of this $``$-graded algebra. Applying our isomorphism “erasing double indices”, the images of our $`n`$ monomials in (50) translate into

$$z^{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{i}{2}\right)}w^{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{ni+1}{2}\right)}\text{for}i=1,2,\mathrm{},n.$$
(51)
Hence $`Y(C_n,\theta )`$ is the projective spectrum of the $`[zw,z^n,w^n]`$-algebra generated by (51). It is straightforward to see that this is the toric surface with fan $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n`$, i.e. the ALE space $`^2//\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

It is instructive to write down our presentations for the cohomology ring of the ALE space $`Y(C_n,\theta )=^2//\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$. The circuit ideal of the $`n`$-cycle is the principal ideal

$$\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)=_{01}+_{12}+_{23}+\mathrm{}+_{n1,0}.$$

The matroid ideal $`M()`$ is generated by all quadratic squarefree monomials in $`[]`$. It follows that $`[]/(\mathrm{Circ}(𝒜)+M())`$ is isomorphic to a polynomial ring in $`n1`$ variables modulo the square of the maximal ideal generated by the variables, and hence

$$H^{}(Y(C_n,\theta );)=H^0(Y(C_n,\theta );)H^2(Y(C_n,\theta );)^1^{n1}.$$

On our way towards proving Theorem 10.1, let us now fix an epimorphism $`A:^n^d`$ and a generic vector $`\theta ^d`$. We assume that $`𝒜`$ is not a cone, i.e. the zero vector is not in $``$. We do not assume that $`A`$ is unimodular. By a binomial we mean a polynomial with two terms.

###### Proposition 10.3

The following three statements are equivalent:

* The hyperkähler toric variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is a toric subvariety of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$.
* The ideal $`\mathrm{Circ}()`$ is generated by binomials.
* The configuration $``$ lies on $`nd`$ linearly independent lines through the origin in $`^{nd}`$.

Proof:  The condition (b) holds if and only if the matrix $`A`$ can be chosen to have two nonzero entries in each row. This defines a graph $`𝒢`$ on $`\{1,2,\mathrm{},n\}`$, namely, $`j`$ and $`k`$ are connected by an edge if there exists $`i\{1,\mathrm{},d\}`$ such that $`a_{ij}0`$ and $`a_{ik}0`$. The graph $`𝒢`$ is a disjoint union of $`nd`$ trees. Two indices $`j`$ and $`k`$ lie in the same connected component of $`𝒢`$ if and only if the vectors $`b_j`$ and $`b_k`$ are linearly dependent. This shows that (b) is equivalent to (c).

Suppose that (b) holds. Then the prime ideal $`\mathrm{Circ}()`$ is generated by the quadratic binomials $`a_{ij}z_jw_j+a_{ik}z_kw_k`$ indexed by the edges $`(j,k)`$ of $`𝒢`$. The corresponding coefficient-free equations

$$z_jw_j=z_kw_k\mathrm{for}(j,k)𝒢.$$

define a subtorus $`𝕋`$ of the dense torus of the Lawrence toric variety $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$, and the equations

$$a_{ij}z_jw_j+a_{ik}z_kw_k=0\mathrm{for}(j,k)𝒢.$$

define an orbit of $`𝕋`$ in the dense torus of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$. The solution set of the same equations in $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$ has the closure of that $`𝕋`$-orbit as one of its irreducible components. But that solution set is our hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$. Since $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is irreducible, we can conclude that it coincides with the closure of the $`𝕋`$-orbit. Hence $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is a toric variety, i.e. (a) holds.

For the converse, suppose that (a) holds. The irreducible subvariety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is defined by a homogeneous prime ideal $`J`$ in the homogeneous coordinate ring $`T`$ of $`X(A^\pm ,\theta )`$. Since $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is a torus orbit closure, the ideal $`J`$ is generated by binomials. The ideal $`\mathrm{Circ}()`$ has the same zero set as $`J`$ does, and therefore, by the Nullstellensatz and results of Cox, $`\mathrm{rad}(\mathrm{Circ}():B_\theta ^{\mathrm{}})=J`$. Our hypothesis $`0`$ ensures that $`\mathrm{Circ}()`$ itself is a prime ideal, and therefore we conclude $`\mathrm{Circ}()=J`$. In particular, this ideal is generated by binomials, i.e. (b) holds. $`\mathrm{}`$

Proof of Theorem 10.1: Suppose that $`Q`$ is a quiver with connected components $`Q_1,\mathrm{},Q_r`$. Then its boundary map is given by a matrix with block decomposition

$$A=A_1A_2\mathrm{}A_r,$$
(52)
where $`A_i`$ is the boundary map of $`Q_i`$. There is a corresponding decomposition of the Gale dual

$$B=B_1B_2\mathrm{}B_r.$$
(53)
In this situation, the toric hyperkähler variety $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is the direct product of the toric hyperkähler varieties $`Y(A_i,\theta )`$ for $`i=1,\mathrm{},r`$. For our quiver $`Q`$ this means

$$Y(Q,\theta )=Y(Q_1,\theta )\times Y(Q_2,\theta )\times \mathrm{}\times Y(Q_r,\theta ).$$

Using Lemma 10.2, we conclude that a manifold is a product of ALE spaces of type $`A_n`$ if and only if it is a toric quiver variety $`Y(Q,\theta )`$ where $`Q`$ is a disjoint union of cycles $`C_{n_i}`$.

The matrix $`A`$ in (52) is unimodular if and only if the matrices $`A_1,\mathrm{},A_r`$ are unimodular. Hence a product of toric hyperkähler manifolds is a toric hyperkähler manifold. In particular, a product of ALE spaces $`^2/\mathrm{\Gamma }_{n_i}`$ is a toric hyperkähler manifold which is also a toric variety.

For the converse, suppose that $`Y(A,\theta )`$ is a toric hyperkähler manifold which is also a toric variety, so that statement (a) in Proposition 10.3 holds. Statement (c) in Proposition 10.3 says that the matrix $`B`$ has a decomposition (53) where $`r=nd`$ and each $`B_i`$ is a matrix with exactly one column. We may assume that none of the entries in $`B_i`$ is zero. The Gale dual $`A_i`$ of $`B_i`$ is a unimodular matrix, and hence $`B_i`$ is unimodular. For a matrix with one column this means that all entries in $`B_i`$ are either $`+1`$ or $`1`$. After trivial sign changes, this means $`B_i^T=(\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1\hspace{0.17em}1}\mathrm{}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1})`$. Now we are in the situation of (49), which means that $`Y(A_i,\theta )`$ is an ALE space $`^2/\mathrm{\Gamma }_{n_i}`$. $`\mathrm{}`$