The volume of an isocanted cube is a determinant*

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In any dimension d ≥ 2 , we give exact volume formulas of two mutually polar dual convex d-polytopes. The primal body is called isocanted cube of dimension d, depending on two real parameters 0 < a < ℓ . The limit case a = 0 yields a d-cube of edge-length ℓ. We prove that the volume of such a body is the determinant of the matrix of order d having diagonal entries equal to ℓ and a elsewhere. We also compute the volume of the polar dual body, getting a rational expression in ℓ , a , homogeneous of degree − d with rational coefficients. Isocanted cubes are origin-symmetric zonotopes. Zonoids (defined as the limits of families of zonotopes) satisfy the Mahler conjecture; in particular, zonotopes do. Nonetheless, we confirm (by elementary methods) that the Mahler conjecture holds for isocanted cubes.