It is shown that, for any function $g$ that is weakly increasing on compact convex sets and has the property that if $λ\ge 0$ and $K^\prime$ is a translate of $λK$ then $g(K^\prime) =λg(K)$, then for any covering $\bigcup_i X_i\supseteq X$ of a compact convex set $X$ by finitely many compact convex sets $X_i$, the inequality $g(X) \leq \sum_i g(X_i)$ holds. Among the consequences is an affirmative solution of Bang's Plank Problem.
Covering a convex body by its homothets is a classical notion in discrete geometry that has resulted in a number of interesting and long-standing problems. Swanepoel introduced the covering parameter of a convex body as a means of quantifying its covering properties. In this paper, we introduce two relatives of the covering parameter called covering index and weak covering index, which upper bound well-studied quantities like the illumination number, the illumination parameter and the covering parameter of a convex body. Intuitively, the two indices measure how well a convex body can be covere…
By using elementary yet interesting observations and refining techniques used in a recent work by Fei Xue et al., we present new upper bounds for covering functionals of convex polytopes in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with few vertices. In these estimations, no information other than the number of vertices of the convex polytope is used.
Covering numbers of convex bodies based on homothetical copies and related illumination numbers are well-known in combinatorial geometry and, for example, related to Hadwiger's famous covering problem. Similar numbers can be defined by using proper translates instead of homothets, and even more related concepts make sense. On these lines we introduce some new covering and illumination numbers of convex bodies, present their properties and compare them with each other as well as with already known numbers. Finally, some suggestive examples illustrate that these new illumination numbers are inte…
If the n-dimensional unit sphere is covered by finitely many spherically convex bodies, then the sum of the inradii of these bodies is at least π. This bound is sharp, and the equality case is characterized.
We present a probabilistic model of illuminating a convex body by independently distributed light sources. In addition to recovering C.A. Rogers' upper bounds for the illumination number, we improve previous estimates of J. Januszewski and M. Naszódi for a generalized version of the illumination parameter.
In connection with an unsolved problem of Bang (1951) we give a lower bound for the sum of the base volumes of cylinders covering a d-dimensional convex body in terms of the relevant basic measures of the given convex body. As an application we establish lower bounds on the number of k-dimensional flats (i.e. translates of k-dimensional linear subspaces) needed to cover all the integer points of a given convex body in d-dimensional Euclidean space for 0<k<d.
This paper suveys different variants of the following problem: Given a convex set $K$ and a sequence $\{C_i\}$ of convex bodies in $E^n$, is it possible to pack the sequence of bodies in $K$ or cover $K$ with the bodies? Algorithmic versions of these problems are on-line packing and on-line covering: The bodies of the sequence are given one at a time and the algorithm is to decide on the placement of the arriving body before the next body is revealed; once placed, the body cannot be moved.
For every convex disk $K$ (a convex compact subset of the plane, with non-void interior), the packing density $δ(K)$ and covering density $\vartheta(K)$ form an ordered pair of real numbers, {\em i.e.}, a point in ${\mathbb R}^2$. The set $Ω$ consisting of points assigned this way to all convex disks is the subject of this article. A few known inequalities on $δ(K)$ and $\vartheta(K)$ jointly outline a relatively small convex polygon $P$ that contains $Ω$, while the exact shape of $Ω$ remains a mystery. Here we describe explicitly a leaf-shaped convex region $Λ$ contained in $Ω$ and occupying …
The paper is devoted to coverings by translative homothets and illuminations of convex bodies. For a given positive number $α$ and a convex body $B$, $g_α(B)$ is the infimum of $α$-powers of finitely many homothety coefficients less than 1 such that there is a covering of $B$ by translative homothets with these coefficients. $h_α(B)$ is the minimal number of directions such that the boundary of $B$ can be illuminated by this number of directions except for a subset whose Hausdorff dimension is less than $α$. In this paper, we prove that $g_α(B)\leq h_α(B)$, find upper and lower bounds for both…
We survey results on the problem of covering the space ${\mathbb R}^n$, or a convex body in it, by translates of a convex body. Our main goal is to present a diverse set of methods. A theorem of Rogers is a central result, according to which, for any convex body $K$, the space ${\mathbb R}^n$ can be covered by translates of $K$ with density around $n\ln n$. We outline four approaches to proving this result. Then, we discuss the illumination conjecture, decomposability of multiple coverings, Sudakov's inequality and some problems concerning coverings by sequences of sets.
We define new natural variants of the notions of weighted covering and separation numbers and discuss them in detail. We prove a strong duality relation between weighted covering and separation numbers and prove a few relations between the classical and weighted covering numbers, some of which hold true without convexity assumptions and for general metric spaces. As a consequence, together with some volume bounds that we discuss, we provide a bound for the famous Levi-Hadwiger problem concerning covering a convex body by homothetic slightly smaller copies of itself, in the case of centrally sy…
It is conjectured that for every convex disks K, the translative covering density of K and the lattice covering density of K are identical. It is well known that this conjecture is true for every centrally symmetric convex disks. For the non-symmetric case, we only know that the conjecture is true for triangles. In this paper, we prove the conjecture for a class of convex disks (quarter-convex disks), which includes all triangles and convex quadrilaterals.
Let $K$ be a compact convex set and $m$ be a positive integer. The covering functional of $K$ with respect to $m$ is the smallest $λ\in[0,1]$ such that $K$ can be covered by $m$ translates of $λK$. Estimations of the covering functionals of convex hulls of two or more compact convex sets are presented. It is proved that, if a three-dimensional convex body $K$ is the convex hull of two compact convex sets having no interior points, then the least number $c(K)$ of smaller homothetic copies of $K$ needed to cover $K$ is not greater than $8$ and $c(K)=8$ if and only if $K$ is a parallelepiped.
Let K \subset R^N be a convex body containing the origin. A measurable set G \subset R^N with positive Lebesgue measure is said to be uniformly K-dense if, for any fixed r > 0, the measure of G \cap (x + rK) is constant when x varies on the boundary of G (here, x + rK denotes a translation of a dilation of K). We first prove that G must always be strictly convex and at least C1,1-regular; also, if K is centrally symmetric, K must be strictly convex, C1,1-regular and such that K = G - G up to homotheties; this implies in turn that G must be C2,1- regular. Then for N = 2, we prove that G is unif…
This article gives estimates on covering numbers and diameters of random proportional sections and projections of symmetric quasi-convex bodies in $\mathbb R$. These results were known for the convex case and played an essential role in development of the theory. Because duality relations can not be applied in the quasi-convex setting, new ingredients were introduced that give new understanding for the convex case as well.
It is well known that the lattice packing density and the lattice covering density of a triangle are $\frac{2}{3}$ and $\frac{3}{2}$ respectively. We also know that the lattices that attain these densities both are unique. Let $δ_{L}(K)$ and $\vartheta_{L}(K)$ denote the lattice packing density and the lattice covering density of $K$, respectively. In this paper, I study the lattice packings and coverings for a special class of convex disks, which includes all triangles and convex quadrilaterals. In particular, I determine the densities $δ_{L}(Q)$ and $\vartheta_{L}(Q)$, where $Q$ is an arbitr…
In [BL] in relation to the unsolved Bang's plank problem (1951) we obtained a lower bound for the sum of relevant measures of cylinders covering a given d-dimensional convex body. In this paper we provide the packing counterpart of these estimates. We also extend bounds to the case of r-fold covering and packing and show a packing analog of Falconer's results ([Fa]).
In this paper, the following two theorems are proved: $(1)$ every spherical convex body $W$ of constant width $Δ(W) \geq \fracπ{2}$ may be covered by a disk of radius $Δ(W) + \arcsin \left( \frac{2\sqrt{3}}{3} \cdot \cos \frac{Δ(W)}{2}\right) - \fracπ{2}$; $(2)$ every reduced spherical convex body $R$ of thickness $Δ(R)<\fracπ{2}$ may be covered by a disk of radius $\arctan \left( \sqrt{2} \cdot \tan \frac{Δ(R)}{2}\right)$.
In geometry, there are several challenging problems studying numbers associated to convex bodies. For example, the packing density problem, the kissing number problem, the covering density problem, the packing-covering constant problem, Hadwiger's covering conjecture and Borsuk's partition conjecture. They are fundamental and fascinating problems about the same objects. However, up to now, both the methodology and the technique applied to them are essentially different. Therefore, a common foundation for them has been much expected. By treating problems of these types as functionals defined on…
Let $H_n$ be the minimal number of smaller homothetic copies of an $n$-dimensional convex body required to cover the whole body. Equivalently, $H_n$ can be defined via illumination of the boundary of a convex body by external light sources. The best known upper bound in three-dimensional case is $H_3\le 16$ and is due to Papadoperakis. We use Papadoperakis' approach to show that $H_4\le 96$, $H_5\le 1091$ and $H_6\le 15373$ which significantly improve the previously known upper bounds on $H_n$ in these dimensions.
Let $H_d$ denote the smallest integer $n$ such that for every convex body $K$ in $\Re^d$ there is a $0<λ< 1$ such that $K$ is covered by $n$ translates of $λK$. In the book \emph{Research problems in discrete geometry.} by Brass, Moser and Pach, the following problem was posed: Is there a $0<λ_d<1$ depending on $d$ only with the property that every convex body $K$ in $\Re^d$ is covered by $H_d$ translates of $λ_d K$? We prove the affirmative answer to the question and hence show that the Gohberg--Markus--Boltyanski--Hadwiger Conjecture (according to which $H_d\leq 2^d$) holds if, and only if, …
We present a method to obtain upper bounds on covering numbers. As applications of this method, we reprove and generalize results of Rogers on economically covering Euclidean $n$-space with translates of a convex body, or more generally, any measurable set. We obtain a bound for the density of covering the $n$-sphere by rotated copies of a spherically convex set (or, any measurable set). Using the same method, we sharpen an estimate by Artstein--Avidan and Slomka on covering a bounded set by translates of another. The main novelty of our method is that it is not probabilistic. The key idea, wh…
In every dimension $d\ge1$, we establish the existence of a constant $v_d>0$ and of a subset $\mathcal U_d$ of $\mathbb R^d$ such that the following holds: $\mathcal C+\mathcal U_d=\mathbb R^d$ for every convex set $\mathcal C\subset \mathbb R^d$ of volume at least $v_d$ and $\mathcal U_d$ contains at most $\log(r)^{d-1}r^d$ points at distance at most $r$ from the origin, for every large $r$.
For each i = 1, ..., n constructions are given for convex bodies K and L in n-dimensional Euclidean space such that each rank i orthogonal projection of K can be translated inside the corresponding projection of L, even though K has strictly larger m-th intrinsic volumes (i.e. V_m(K) > V_m(L)) for all m > i. It is then shown that, for each i = 1, ..., n, there is a class of bodies C{n,i}, called i-cylinder bodies of R^n, such that, if the body L with i-dimensional covering shadows is an i-cylinder body, then K will have smaller n-volume than L. The families C{n,i} are shown to form a strictly …
Nearly Sharp Bounds for Lattice Coverings by Convex Bodies
School of Mathematics, Shandong University（山东大学数学学院）；Extremal Combinatorics and Probability Group, Institute for Basic Science（基础科学研究所极值组合与概率组）；School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学数学科学学院）
At a first glance, the problem of illuminating the boundary of a convex body by external light sources and the problem of covering a convex body by its smaller positive homothetic copies appear to be quite different. They are in fact two sides of the same coin and give rise to one of the important longstanding open problems in discrete geometry, namely, the Illumination Conjecture. In this paper, we survey the activity in the areas of discrete geometry, computational geometry and geometric analysis motivated by this conjecture. Special care is taken to include the recent advances that are not …
A system of sets forms an {\em $m$-fold covering} of a set $X$ if every point of $X$ belongs to at least $m$ of its members. A $1$-fold covering is called a {\em covering}. The problem of splitting multiple coverings into several coverings was motivated by classical density estimates for {\em sphere packings} as well as by the {\em planar sensor cover problem}. It has been the prevailing conjecture for 35 years (settled in many special cases) that for every plane convex body $C$, there exists a constant $m=m(C)$ such that every $m$-fold covering of the plane with translates of $C$ splits into …
We consider four problems. Rogers proved that for any convex body $K$, we can cover ${\mathbb R}^d$ by translates of $K$ of density very roughly $d\ln d$. First, we extend this result by showing that, if we are given a family of positive homothets of $K$ of infinite total volume, then we can find appropriate translation vectors for each given homothet to cover ${\mathbb R}^d$ with the same (or, in certain cases, smaller) density. Second, we extend Rogers' result to multiple coverings of space by translates of a convex body: we give a non-trivial upper bound on the density of the most economica…
We prove that for any convex polygon $S$ with at least four sides, or a concave one with no parallel sides, and any $m>0$, there is an $m$-fold covering of the plane with homothetic copies of $S$ that cannot be decomposed into two coverings.
In 1957, Hadwiger made the famous conjecture that any convex body of $n$-dimensional Euclidean space $\mathbb{E}^n$ can be covered by $2^n$ smaller positive homothetic copies. Up to now, this conjecture is still open for all $n\geq 3$. Denote by $γ_{m}(K)$ the smallest positive number $λ$ such that $K$ can be covered by $m$ translations of $λK$. The values of $γ_m(K)$ for some particular $m$ and $K$ have been studied. In this article, we will focus on the situation where $K$ is the unit crosspolytope of the three-dimensional.
Covering large-dimensional Euclidean spaces by random translates of a given convex body
Carnegie Mellon University（卡内基梅隆大学）；Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院数学与系统科学研究院）；University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；University of Warwick（华威大学）
A central problem in discrete geometry, known as Hadwiger's covering problem, asks what the smallest natural number $N\left(n\right)$ is such that every convex body in ${\mathbb R}^{n}$ can be covered by a union of the interiors of at most $N\left(n\right)$ of its translates. Despite continuous efforts, the best general upper bound known for this number remains as it was more than sixty years ago, of the order of ${2n \choose n}n\ln n$. In this note, we improve this bound by a sub-exponential factor. That is, we prove a bound of the order of ${2n \choose n}e^{-c\sqrt{n}}$ for some universal co…
Given a convex disk $K$ and a positive integer $k$, let $\vartheta_T^k(K)$ and $\vartheta_L^k(K)$ denote the $k$-fold translative covering density and the $k$-fold lattice covering density of $K$, respectively. Let $T$ be a triangle. In a very recent paper, K. Sriamorn proved that $\vartheta_L^k(T)=\frac{2k+1}{2}$. In this paper, we will show that $\vartheta_T^k(T)=\vartheta_L^k(T)$.
A closed, convex set $K$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$ with non-empty interior is called lattice-free if the interior of $K$ is disjoint with $\mathbb{Z}^2$. In this paper we study the relation between the area and the lattice width of a planar lattice-free convex set in the general and centrally symmetric case. A correspondence between lattice width on the one hand and covering minima on the other, allows us to reformulate our results in terms of covering minima introduced by Kannan and Lovász. We obtain a sharp upper bound for the area for any given value of the lattice width. The lattice-free convex se…
We consider the Tarski--Bang problem about covering of convex bodies by planks. The results of this kind give a lower bound on the sum of widths of planks (regions between a pair of parallel hyperplanes) covering a given convex body. Previously we have applied some notions of symplectic geometry to study convex bodies, and here we show that the symplectic techniques may be useful in this problem as well. We are able to handle some particular cases with the symplectic techniques, and show that the general cases would follow from a certain ``subadditivity conjecture'' in symplectic geometry, mot…
Let $C\subset {\mathbb R}^n$ be a convex body. We introduce two notions of convexity associated to C. A set $K$ is $C$-ball convex if it is the intersection of translates of $C$, or it is either $\emptyset$, or ${\mathbb R}^n$. The $C$-ball convex hull of two points is called a $C$-spindle. $K$ is $C$-spindle convex if it contains the $C$-spindle of any pair of its points. We investigate how some fundamental properties of conventional convex sets can be adapted to $C$-spindle convex and $C$-ball convex sets. We study separation properties and Carathéodory numbers of these two convexity structu…
On the weighted hard-core model and Rado's covering problem for congruent Euclidean balls
Institute of Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Xidian University（西安电子科技大学数学与交叉科学研究院）；School of Mathematical Sciences, Capital Normal University（首都师范大学数学科学学院）
