On neighborly families of convex bodies

A family of convex bodies in E^d is called neighborly if the intersection of every two of them is (d-1)-dimensional. In the present paper we prove that there is an infinite neighborly family of centrally symmetric convex bodies in E^d, d 3, such that every two of them are affinely equivalent (i.e., there is an affine transformation mapping one of them onto another), the bodies have large groups of affine automorphisms, and the volumes of the bodies are prescribed. We also prove that there is an infinite neighborly family of centrally symmetric convex bodies in E^d such that the bodies have large groups of symmetries. These two results are answers to a problem of B. Grünbaum (1963). We prove also that there exist arbitrarily large neighborly families of similar convex d-polytopes in E^d with prescribed diameters and with arbitrarily large groups of symmetries of the polytopes.     

Minimal and reduced pairs of convex bodies

We give a new proof for the existence and uniqueness (up to translation) of plane minimal pairs of convex bodies in a given equivalence class of the Hörmander-R»dström lattice, as well as a complete characterization of plane minimal pairs using surface area measures. Moreover, we introduce the so-called reduced pairs, which are special minimal pairs. For the plane case, we characterize reduced pairs as those pairs of convex bodies whose surface area measures are mutually singular. For higher dimensions, we give two sufficient conditions for the minimality of a pair of convex polytopes, as well as a necessary and sufficient criterion for a pair of convex polytopes to be reduced. We conclude by showing that a typical pair of convex bodies, in the sense of Baire category, is reduced, and hence the unique minimal pair in its equivalence class.     

On the equipartition of plane convex bodies and convex polygons

In this paper we consider the problem of partitioning a plane compact convex body into equal-area parts, i.e., an equipartition, by means of chords. We prove two basic results that hold with some specific exceptions: (a) When chords are pairwise non-crossing, the dual tree of the partition has to be a path, (b) A convex n-gon admits no equipartition produced by more than n chords having a common interior point.     

On convex bodies of constant width

We present an alternative proof of the following fact: the hyperspace of compact closed subsets of constant width in Rn is a contractible Hilbert cube manifold. The proof also works for certain subspaces of compact convex sets of constant width as well as for the pairs of compact convex sets of constant relative width. Besides, it is proved that the projection map of compact closed subsets of constant width is not 0-soft in the sense of Shchepin, in particular, is not open.     

Section and projection means of convex bodies

This paper is concerned with various geometric averages of sections or projections of convex bodies. In particular, we consider Minkowski and Blaschke sums of sections as well as Minkowski sums of projections. The main result is a Crofton-type formula for Blaschke sums of sections. This is used to establish connections between the different averages mentioned above. As a consequence, we obtain results which show that, in some circumstances, a convex body is determined by the averages of its sections or projections.The research of the first author was supported in part by NSF grants DMS-9504249 and INT-9123373     

The cross-section body, plane sections of convex bodies and approximation of convex bodies, I

For a convex body K ^d we investigate three associated bodies, its intersection body IK (for 0int K), cross-section body CK, and projection body IIK, which satisfy IKCKIIK. Conversely we prove CKconst₁(d)I(K–x) for some xint K, and IIKconst₂ (d)CK, for certain constants, the first constant being sharp. We estimate the maximal k-volume of sections of 1/2(K+(-K)) with k-planes parallel to a fixed k-plane by the analogous quantity for K; our inequality is, if only k is fixed, sharp. For L ^d a convex body, we take n random segments in L, and consider their Minkowski average D. We prove that, for V(L) fixed, the supremum of V(D) (with also nN arbitrary) is minimal for L an ellipsoid. This result implies the Petty projection inequality about max V((IIM)*), for M ^d a convex body, with V(M) fixed. We compare the volumes of projections of convex bodies and the volumes of the projections of their sections, and, dually, the volumes of sections of convex bodies and the volumes of sections of their circumscribed cylinders. For fixed n, the pth moments of V(D) (1p<) also are minimized, for V(L) fixed, by the ellipsoids. For k=2, the supremum (nN arbitrary) and the pth moment (n fixed) of V(D) are maximized for example by triangles, and, for L centrally symmetric, for example by parallelograms. Last we discuss some examples for cross-section bodies.Research (partially) supported by Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Research, Grant No. 41.     

Duality of convex bodies

The paper presents a category theoretical approach to the notion of duality of convex bodies. Using results of I. Barany (Acta Sci. Math. (Szeged)52 (1988), 93–100), we define and study metric duality , whose advantage is that congruent convex bodies have congruent duals.Dedicated to Professor Helmut Salzmann on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Sections and projections of homothetic convex bodies

For a pair of convex bodies K₁ and K₂ in Euclidean space , n ≥ 3, possibly unbounded, we show that K₁ is a translate of K₂ if either of the following conditions holds: (i) the orthogonal projections of K₁ on 2-dimensional planes are translates of the respective orthogonal projections of K₂, (ii) there are points p₁ ∈K₁ and p₂ ∈K₂ such that for every pair of parallel 2-dimensional planesL₁and L₂ through p₁ and p₂, respectively, the section K₁ ∩ L₁is a translate of K₂ ∩ L₂.     

The determination of convex bodies from derivatives of section functions

It is known that non-symmetric convex bodies generally cannot be characterized by the volumes of hyperplane sections through one interior point. Falconer and Gardner, however, independently proved that volumes of hyperplane sections through two different interior points determine the body uniquely. We prove that if −1 < q < n − 1 is not an integer, then the derivatives of the order q at zero of parallel section functions at one interior point completely characterize convex bodies in . If 0 ≤ q < n − 1 is an integer then one needs the derivatives of order q at two different interior points (except for the case where q = n − 2, q odd), generalizing the results of Falconer and Gardner. The first named author was partially supported by the NSF grant DMS 0455696. Received: 31 January 2006     

Translative integral formulae for convex bodies

Translative versions of the principal kinematic formula for quermassintegrals of convex bodies are studied. The translation integral is shown to be a sum of Crofton type integrals of mixed volumes. As corollaries new integral formulas for mixed volumes are obtained. For smooth centrally symmetric bodies the functionals occurring in the principal translative formula are expressed by measures on Grassmannians which are related to the generating measures of the bodies.Dedicated to Professor Otto Haupt with best wishes on his 100th birthday     

On the volume of convex hulls of sets on spheres

We prove that for a measurable subset of S ^n–1 with fixed Haar measure, the volume of its convex hull is minimized for a cap (i.e. a ball with respect to the geodesic measure). We solve a similar problem for symmetric sets and n=2, 3. As a consequence, we deduce a result concerning Gaussian measures of dilatations of convex, symmetric sets in R ² and R ³.Partially supported by KBN (Poland), Grant No. 2 1094 91 01.     

Asymptotic formulas for the diameter of sections of symmetric convex bodies

Sharpening work of the first two authors, for every proportion λ∈(0,1) we provide exact quantitative relations between global parameters of n-dimensional symmetric convex bodies and the diameter of their random ⌊λn⌋-dimensional sections. Using recent results of Gromov and Vershynin, we obtain an “asymptotic formula” for the diameter of random proportional sections.     

Positions of convex bodies associated to extremal problems and isotropic measures

We show that there are close relations between extremal problems in dual Brunn-Minkowski theory and isotropic-type properties for some Borel measures on the sphere. The methods we use allow us to obtain similar results in the context of Firey-Brunn-Minkowski theory. We also study reverse inequalities for dual mixed volumes which are related with classical positions, such as ?-position or isotropic position.     

On the smallest disk containing a planar reduced convex body

A convex body R of Euclidean space E ^d is said to be reduced if every convex body $ P \subset R $ different from R has thickness smaller than the thickness $ \Delta(R) $ of R. We prove that every planar reduced body R is contained in a disk of radius $ {1\over 2}\sqrt 2 \cdot \Delta(R) $. For $ d \geq 3 $, an analogous property is not true because we can construct reduced bodies of thickness 1 and of arbitrarily large diameter.     

On closed convex sets without boundary rays and asymptotes

We study in finite-dimensional spaces the class of closed convex sets without boundary rays and asymptotes, denoted by and introduced by D. Gale and V. Klee. These sets, not necessarily bounded, enjoy many properties satisfied by compacts sets. New properties of this class are given and convergence analysis of this class is investigated. We also introduce the class of closed convex proper functions which have an epigraph in and we give some properties of these functions.     

On relatively short and long sides of convex pentagons

By the relative distance of pointsa andb of a convex bodyC we mean the ratio of the Euclidean distance ofa andb to the half of the Euclidean distance ofa, b C such thatab is a longest chord ofC parallel to the segmentab. We say that a sideab of a convexn-gon is relatively short (respectively: relatively long) if the relative distance ofa andb is at most (respectively: at least) the relative distance of two consecutive vertices of the regularn-gon. We show that every convexn-gon, wheren 5, has a relatively short side and a relatively long side, and that it is affine-regular if and only if all its sides are of equal relative lengths.Research supported in part by Komitet Bada Naukowych (Committee of Scientific Research), grant number 2 2005 92 03.     

On the relative distances of seven points in a plane convex body

Let C be a convex body in the Euclidean plane. The relative distance of points p and q is twice the Euclidean distance of p and q divided by the Euclidean length of a longest chord in C with the direction, say, from p to q. We prove that, among any seven points of a plane convex body, there are two points at relative distance at most one, and one cannot be replaced by a smaller value. We apply our result to determine the diameter of point sets in normed planes. Zsolt Lángi: Partially supported by the Hung. Nat. Sci. Found. (OTKA), grant no. T043556 and T037752 and by the Alberta Ingenuity Fund.