Graded Ehrhart Theory of Unimodular Zonotopes

Abstract: Graded Ehrhart theory is a new $q$-analogue of Ehrhart theory based on the orbit harmonics method. We study the graded Ehrhart theory of unimodular zonotopes from a matroid-theoretic perspective. Generalizing a result of Stanley (1991), we prove that the graded lattice point count of a unimodular zonotope is a $q$-evaluation of its Tutte polynomial. We conclude that the graded Ehrhart series of a unimodular zonotope is rational and obeys graded Ehrhart--Macdonald reciprocity. In an algebraic direction, we prove that the harmonic algebra of a unimodular zonotope is a coordinate ring of its associated arrangement Schubert variety. Using the geometry of arrangement Schubert varieties, we prove that the harmonic algebra of a unimodular zonotope is finitely generated and Cohen--Macaulay. We also give an explicit presentation of the harmonic algebra of a unimodular zonotope in terms of generators and relations. We conclude by classifying which unimodular zonotopes have Gorenstein harmonic algebras. Our work answers, in the special case of unimodular zonotopes, two conjectures of Reiner and Rhoades (2024).