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.     

On the Sobolev distance of convex bodies

Summary LetK ^d denote the cone of all convex bodies in the Euclidean spaceK ^d . The mappingK h _K of each bodyK K ^d onto its support function induces a metric _w onK ^d by" _w (K, L)h _L –h _{K w} where _w is the Sobolev I-norm on the unit sphere . We call _w (K, L) the Sobolev distance ofK andL. The goal of our paper is to develop some fundamental properties of the Sobolev distance.     

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.     

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 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.     

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.     

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     

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     

Support functions of general convex sets

No Abstract. .In Memory of Gian-Carlo Rota     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Approximation of convex bodies by simplices

This paper deals with the following kind of approximation of a convex bodyQ in Euclidean space E ⁿ by simplices: which is the smallest positive numberh _S(Q) such thatS ₁ Q S ₂ for a simplexS ₁ and its homothetic copyS ₂ of ratioh _S(Q). It is shown that ifS ₀ is a simplex of maximal volume contained inQ, then a homothetic copy ofS ₀ of ratio 13/3 containsQ.     

Hessian measures of semi-convex functions and applications to support measures of convex bodies

This paper originates from the investigation of support measures of convex bodies (sets of positive reach), which form a central subject in convex geometry and also represent an important tool in related fields. We show that these measures are absolutely continuous with respect to Hausdorff measures of appropriate dimensions, and we determine the Radon-Nikodym derivatives explicitly on sets of σ-finite Hausdorff measure. The results which we obtain in the setting of the theory of convex bodies (sets of positive reach) are achieved as applications of various new results on Hessian measures of convex (semi-convex) functions. Among these are a Crofton formula, results on the absolute continuity of Hessian measures, and a duality theorem which relates the Hessian measures of a convex function to those of the conjugate function. In particular, it turns out that curvature and surface area measures of a convex body K are the Hessian measures of special functions, namely the distance function and the support function of K. Received: 15 July 1999     

The image of a closed convex set under a Fredholm operator

The purpose of this article is two-fold. In the first place, we prove that a set is the image of a non empty closed convex subset of a real Banach space under an onto Fredholm operator of positive index if and only if it can be written as the union of {_Dn:n∈N}$\{D_n:n\in \mathbb{N}\}$, a non-decreasing family of non empty, closed, convex and bounded sets such that _Dn+_Dn+2⊆2_Dn+1$D_n+D_{n+2}\subseteq 2D_{n+1}$ for every n∈N$n\in \mathbb{N}$.     

New affine measures of symmetry for convex bodies

Grünbaum introduced measures of symmetry for convex bodies that measure how far a given convex body is from a centrally symmetric one. Here, we introduce new measures of symmetry that measure how far a given convex body is from one with “enough symmetries”.To define these new measures of symmetry, we use affine covariant points. We give examples of convex bodies whose affine covariant points are “far apart”. In particular, we give an example of a convex body whose centroid and Santaló point are “far apart”.