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Gorenstein polytopes and their stringy E-functions

Inspired by ideas from algebraic geometry, Batyrev and the first named author have introduced the stringy E-function of a Gorenstein polytope. We prove that this a priori rational function is actually a polynomial, which is part of a conjecture of Batyrev and the first named author. The proof relies on a comparison result for the lattice point structure of a Gorenstein polytope P, a face F of P and the face of the dual Gorenstein polytope corresponding to F. In addition, we study joins of Gorenstein polytopes and introduce the notion of an irreducible Gorenstein polytope. We show how these concepts relate to the decomposition of nef-partitions.