A linear equation for Minkowski sums of polytopes relatively in general position

The objective of this paper is to study a special family of Minkowski sums, that is of polytopes relatively in general position. We show that the maximum number of faces in the sum can be attained by this family. We present a new linear equation that is satisfied by f-vectors of the sum and the summands. We study some of the implications of this equation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.