On smooth lattice polytopes with small degree

Abstract: Toric geometry provides a bridge between the theory of polytopes and algebraic geometry: one can associate to each lattice polytope a polarized toric variety. In this paper we explore this correspondence to classify smooth lattice polytopes having small degree, extending a classification provided by Dickenstein, Di Rocco and Piene. Our approach consists in interpreting the degree of a polytope as a geometric invariant of the corresponding polarized variety, and then applying techniques from Adjunction Theory and Mori Theory.