On Extensive Subsets of Convex Bodies

A subset S of a d-dimensional convex body K is extensive if S ∂K and for any p, q ∈ S the distance between p and q is at least one-half of the maximum length of chords of K parallel to the segment pq. In this paper we establish the general upper bound |S| ≤ 3 ^d — 1. We also find an upper bound for a certain class of 3-polytopes, which leads to the determination of the maximum cardinalities of extensive subsets and their extremal configurations for tetrahedra, octahedra and some other 3-polytopes. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.