Circumscribing constant-width bodies with polytopes
Greg Kuperberg
备注：
6 pages. This version has minor changes suggested by the referee. Note that Makeev, and independently Hausel, Makai, and Szucs, also obtained the main result
Makeev conjectured that every constant-width body is inscribed in the dual difference body of a regular simplex. We prove that homologically, there are an odd number of such circumscribing bodies in dimension 3, and therefore geometrically there is at least one. We show that the homological answer is zero in higher dimensions, a result which is inconclusive for the geometric question. We also give a partial generalization involving affine circumscription of strictly convex bodies.
A polytope $D$ whose vertices belong to a lattice of rank $d$ is Delaunay if there is a circumscribing $d$-dimensional ellipsoid, $E$, with interior free of lattice points so that the vertices of $D$ lie on $E$. If in addition, the ellipsoid $E$ is uniquely determined by $D$, we call $D$ perfect. That is, a perfect Delaunay polytope is a lattice polytope with a circumscribing empty ellipsoid $E$, where the quadratic surface $\partial E$ both contains the vertices of $D$ and is determined by them. We have been able to construct infinite sequences of perfect Delaunay polytopes, one perfect polyt…
We establish estimates for the asymptotic best approximation of the Euclidean unit ball by polytopes under a notion of distance induced by the intrinsic volumes. We also introduce a notion of distance between convex bodies that is induced by the Wills functional, and apply it to derive asymptotically sharp bounds for approximating the ball in high dimensions. Remarkably, it turns out that there is a polytope which is almost optimal with respect to all intrinsic volumes simultaneously, up to absolute constants. Finally, we establish asymptotic formulas for the best approximation of smooth conve…
We study translation invariant, real-valued valuations on the class of convex polytopes in Euclidean space and discuss which continuity properties are sufficient for an extension of such valuations to all convex bodies. For this purpose, we introduce flag support measures of convex bodies via a local Steiner formula and derive some of the properties of these measures.
A complete classification is established of Minkowski valuations on lattice polytopes that intertwine the special linear group over the integers and are translation invariant. In the contravariant case, the only such valuations are multiples of projection bodies. In the equivariant case, the only such valuations are generalized difference bodies combined with multiples of the newly defined discrete Steiner point.
We consider the question how well a floating body can be approximated by the polar of the illumination body of the polar. We establish precise convergence results in the case of centrally symmetric polytopes. This leads to a new affine invariant which is related to the cone measure of the polytope.
Denote by ${\mathcal K}^d$ the family of convex bodies in $E^d$ and by $w(C)$ the minimal width of $C \in {\mathcal K}^d$. We ask for the greatest number $Λ_n ({\mathcal K}^d)$ such that every $C \in {\mathcal K}^d$ contains a polytope $P$ with at most $n$ vertices for which $Λ_n ({\mathcal K}^d) \leq \frac{w(P)}{w(C)}$. We give a lower estimate of $Λ_n ({\mathcal K}^d)$ for $n \geq 2d$ based on estimates of the smallest radius of $\big\lfloor {\frac{n}{2}} \big\rfloor$ antipodal pairs of spherical caps that cover the unit sphere of $E^d$. We show that $Λ_3 ({\mathcal K}^2) \geq {\frac 1 2}(3-…
In this paper we introduce and study a topological abelian group of convex bodies, analogous to the scissors congruence group and McMullen's polytope algebra, with the universal property that continuous valuations on convex bodies correspond to continuous homomorphisms on the group of convex bodies. To study this group, we first obtain a version of McMullen polynomiality for valuations that take values not in fields or vector spaces, but in abelian groups. Using this, we are able to equip the group of convex bodies with a grading that consists of real vector spaces in all positive degrees, mir…
We study approximations of smooth convex bodies by random ball-polytopes. We examine the following probability model: let $K\subset{\bf R}^d$ be a convex body such that $K$ slides freely in a ball of radius $R>0$ and has $C^2$ smooth boundary. Let $x_1,\ldots, x_n$ be i.i.d. uniform random points in $K$. For $r\geq R$, let $K^r_{(n)}$ denote the intersection of all radius $r$ closed balls that contain $x_1,\ldots, x_n$. Then $K^r_{(n)}$ is a (uniform) random ball-polytope (of radius $r$) in $K$. We study the asymptotic properties of the expectation of the number of facets of $K_{(n)}^r$ as $n\…
The deviation of a general convex body with twice differentiable boundary and an arbitrarily positioned polytope with a given number of vertices is studied. The paper considers the case where the deviation is measured in terms of the surface areas of the involved sets, more precisely, by what is called the surface area deviation. The proof uses arguments and constructions from probability, convex and integral geometry. The bound is closely related to $p$-affine surface areas.
Let $K$ be a convex body in $\mathbb{R}^n$ and $f : \partial K \rightarrow \mathbb{R}_+$ a continuous, strictly positive function with $\int\limits_{\partial K} f(x) d μ_{\partial K}(x) = 1$. We give an upper bound for the approximation of $K$ in the symmetric difference metric by an arbitrarily positioned polytope $P_f$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$ having a fixed number of vertices. This generalizes a result by Ludwig, Schütt and Werner $[36]$. The polytope $P_f$ is obtained by a random construction via a probability measure with density $f$. In our result, the dependence on the number of vertices is op…
Short and transparent proofs of central limit theorems for intrinsic volumes of random polytopes in smooth convex bodies are presented. They combine different tools such as estimates for floating bodies with Stein's method from probability theory.
We investigate geometrical properties and inequalities satisfied by the complex difference body, in the sense of studying which of the classical ones for the difference body have an analog in the complex framework. Among others we give an equivalent expression for the support function of the complex difference body and prove that, unlike the classical case, the dimension of the complex difference body depends on the position of the body with respect to the complex structure of the vector space. We use spherical harmonics to characterize the bodies for which the complex difference body is a bal…
We investigate weighted floating bodies of polytopes. We show that the weighted volume depends on the complete flags of the polytope. This connection is obtained by introducing flag simplices, which translate between the metric and combinatorial structure. Our results are applied in spherical and hyperbolic space. This leads to new asymptotic results for polytopes in these spaces. We also provide explicit examples of spherical and hyperbolic convex bodies whose floating bodies behave completely different from any convex body in Euclidean space.
We prove that for any compact set B in R^d and for any epsilon >0 there is a finite subset X of B of |X|=d^{O(1/epsilon^2)} points such that the maximum absolute value of any linear function ell: R^d --> R on X approximates the maximum absolute value of ell on B within a factor of epsilon sqrt{d}. We also discuss approximations of convex bodies by projections of spectrahedra, that is, by projections of sections of the cone of positive semidefinite matrices by affine subspaces.
We prove sharp inequalities for the average number of affine diameters through the points of a convex body $K$ in ${\mathbb R}^n$. These inequalities hold if $K$ is either a polytope or of dimension two. An example shows that the proof given in the latter case does not extend to higher dimensions.
Let $K$ be a $d$ dimensional convex body with a twice continuously differentiable boundary and everywhere positive Gauss-Kronecker curvature. Denote by $K_n$ the convex hull of $n$ points chosen randomly and independently from $K$ according to the uniform distribution. Matching lower and upper bounds are obtained for the orders of magnitude of the variances of the $s$-th intrinsic volumes $V_s(K_n)$ of $K_n$ for $s\in\{1, ..., d\}$. Furthermore, strong laws of large numbers are proved for the intrinsic volumes of $K_n$. The essential tools are the Economic Cap Covering Theorem of Bárány and La…
The isotropic constant $L_K$ is an affine-invariant measure of the spread of a convex body $K$. For a $d$-dimensional convex body $K$, $L_K$ can be defined by $L_K^{2d} = \det(A(K))/(\mathrm{vol}(K))^2$, where $A(K)$ is the covariance matrix of the uniform distribution on $K$. It is an outstanding open problem to find a tight asymptotic upper bound of the isotropic constant as a function of the dimension. It has been conjectured that there is a universal constant upper bound. The conjecture is known to be true for several families of bodies, in particular, highly symmetric bodies such as bodie…
Tensorial curvature measures are tensor-valued generalizations of the curvature measures of convex bodies. We prove a complete set of kinematic formulae for such tensorial curvature measures on convex bodies and for their (nonsmooth) generalizations on convex polytopes. These formulae express the integral mean of the tensorial curvature measure of the intersection of two given convex bodies (resp.~polytopes), one of which is uniformly moved by a proper rigid motion, in terms of linear combinations of tensorial curvature measures of the given convex bodies (resp.~polytopes). We prove these resu…
Given a convex body C in R^d containing the origin in its interior and a real number tau > 1 we seek to construct a polytope P in C with as few vertices as possible such that C in tau P. Our construction is nearly optimal for a wide range of d and tau. In particular, we prove that if C=-C then for any 1>epsilon>0 and tau=1+epsilon one can choose P having roughly epsilon^{-d/2} vertices and for tau=sqrt{epsilon d} one can choose P having roughly d^{1/epsilon} vertices. Similarly, we prove that if C in R^d is a convex body such that -C in mu C for some mu > 1 then one can choose P having roughly…
In this paper we study the fiber body, that is the extension of the notion of fiber polytopes for more general convex bodies. After giving an overview of the properties of the fiber body, we focus on three particular classes of convex bodies. First we describe the strict convexity of the fiber body of the so called puffed polytopes. Then we provide an explicit equation for the support function of the fiber body of some smooth convex bodies. Finally we give a formula that allows to compute the fiber body of a zonoid with a particular focus on the so called discotopes. Throughout the paper we il…
We introduce the flag-approximability of a convex body to measure how easy it is to approximate by polytopes. We show that the flag-approximability is exactly half the volume entropy of the Hilbert geometry on the body, and that both quantities are maximized when the convex body is a Euclidean ball. We also compute explicitly the asymptotic volume of a convex polytope, which allows us to prove that simplices have the least asymptotic volume.
Let $K$ be a convex body in Euclidean space ${\mathbb R}^d$, and let a translation invariant, locally finite Borel measure on the space of hyperplanes in ${\mathbb R}^d$ be given. For $δ\ge 0$, we consider the set of all points $x$ for which the set of hyperplanes separating $K$ and $x$ has measure at most $δ$. This defines the separation body of $K$, with respect to the given measure and the parameter $δ$. Separation bodies are meant as conceptual duals to floating bodies, and they are expected to play a role in the investigation of random polytopes generated as intersections of random halfsp…
We resolve a conjecture of Kalai relating approximation theory of convex bodies by simplicial polytopes to the face numbers and primitive Betti numbers of these polytopes and their toric varieties. The proof uses higher notions of chordality. Further, for C^2-convex bodies, asymptotically tight lower bounds on the g-numbers of the approximating polytopes are given, in terms of their Hausdorff distance from the convex body.
The Alexandrov-Fenchel inequality, a far-reaching generalization of the classical isoperimetric inequality to arbitrary mixed volumes, lies at the heart of convex geometry. The characterization of its extremal bodies is a long-standing open problem that dates back to Alexandrov's original 1937 paper. The known extremals already form a very rich family, and even the fundamental conjectures on their general structure, due to Schneider, are incomplete. In this paper, we completely settle the extremals of the Alexandrov-Fenchel inequality for convex polytopes. In particular, we show that the extre…
A natural model for the approximation of a convex body $K$ in $\mathbb{R}^d$ by random polytopes is obtained as follows. Take a stationary Poisson hyperplane process in the space, and consider the random polytope $Z_K$ defined as the intersection of all closed halfspaces containing $K$ that are bounded by hyperplanes of the process not intersecting $K$. If $f$ is a functional on convex bodies, then for increasing intensities of the process, the expectation of the difference $f(Z_K)-f(K)$ may or may not converge to zero. If it does, then the order of convergence and possible limit relations are…
We discuss how well a given convex body B in a real d-dimensional vector space V can be approximated by a set X for which the membership question: ``given an x in V, does x belong to X?'' can be answered efficiently (in time polynomial in d). We discuss approximations of a convex body by an ellipsoid, by an algebraic hypersurface, by a projection of a polytope with a controlled number of facets, and by a section of the cone of positive semidefinite quadratic forms. We illustrate some of the results on the Traveling Salesman Polytope, an example of a complicated convex body studied in combinato…
A new intrinsic volume metric is introduced for the class of convex bodies in $\mathbb{R}^n$. As an application, an inequality is proved for the asymptotic best approximation of the Euclidean unit ball by arbitrarily positioned polytopes with a restricted number of vertices under this metric. This result improves the best known estimate, and shows that dropping the restriction that the polytope is contained in the ball or vice versa improves the estimate by at least a factor of dimension. The same phenomenon has already been observed in the special cases of volume, surface area and mean width …
In this paper, we give an overview of some results concerning best and random approximation of convex bodies by polytopes. We explain how both are linked and see that random approximation is almost as good as best approximation.
We introduce the vertex index, vein(K), of a given centrally symmetric convex body K, which, in a sense, measures how well K can be inscribed into a convex polytope with small number of vertices. This index is closely connected to the illumination parameter of a body, introduced earlier by the first named author, and, thus, related to the famous conjecture in Convex Geometry about covering of a d-dimensional body by 2^d smaller positively homothetic copies. We provide asymptotically sharp estimates (up to a logarithmic term) of this index in the general case. Also, we provide sharp estimates i…
Suppose that $K \subseteq \RR^d$ is a 0-symmetric convex body which defines the usual norm $$ \Norm{x}_K = \sup\Set{t\ge 0: x \notin tK} $$ on $\RR^d$. Let also $A\subseteq\RR^d$ be a measurable set of positive upper density $ρ$. We show that if the body $K$ is not a polytope, or if it is a polytope with many faces (depending on $ρ$), then the distance set $$ D_K(A) = \Set{\Norm{x-y}_K: x,y\in A} $$ contains all points $t\ge t_0$ for some positive number $t_0$. This was proved by Katznelson and Weiss, by Falconer and Marstrand and by Bourgain in the case where $K$ is the Euclidean ball in any …
We consider the moments of the volume of the symmetric convex hull of independent random points in an $n$-dimensional symmetric convex body. We calculate explicitly the second and fourth moments for $n$ points when the given body is $B_q^n$ (and all of the moments for the case $q = 2$), and derive from these the asymptotic behavior of the expected volume of a random simplex in those bodies.
We construct a hollow lattice polytope (resp. a hollow lattice simplex) of dimension $14$ (resp.$~404$) and of width $15$ (resp.$~408$). They are the first known hollow lattice polytopes of width larger than dimension. We also construct a hollow (non-lattice) tetrahedron of width $2+\sqrt2$ and conjecture that this is the maximum width among $3$-dimensional hollow convex bodies. We show that the maximum lattice width grows (at least) additively with $d$. In particular, the constructions above imply the existence of hollow lattice polytopes (resp. hollow simplices) of arbitrarily large dimensio…
Let $K$ be a convex body in $\Bbb R^{d}$ and $K_{t}$ its floating bodies. There is a polytope with at most $n$ vertices that satisfies $$ K_{t} \subset P_{n} \subset K $$ where $$ n \leq e^{16d} \frac{vol_{d}(K \setminus K_{t})}{t\ vol_{d}(B_{2}^{d})} $$ Let $K^{t}$ be the illumination bodies of $K$ and $Q_{n}$ a polytope that contains $K$ and has at most $n$ $d-1$-dimensional faces. Then $$ vol_{d}(K^{t} \setminus K) \leq cd^{4} vol_{d}(Q_{n} \setminus K) $$ where $$ n \leq \frac{c}{dt} \ vol_{d}(K^{t} \setminus K) $$
Let $K$ be a convex body in $\mathbb{R}^d$ which slides freely in a ball. Let $K^{(n)}$ denote the intersection of $n$ closed half-spaces containing $K$ whose bounding hyperplanes are independent and identically distributed according to a certain prescribed probability distribution. We prove an asymptotic formula for the expectation of the difference of the volumes of $K^{(n)}$ and $K$, and an asymptotic upper bound on the variance of the volume of $K^{(n)}$. We achieve these results by first proving similar statements for weighted mean width approximations of convex bodies that admit a rollin…
We propose strongly consistent algorithms for reconstructing the characteristic function 1_K of an unknown convex body K in R^n from possibly noisy measurements of the modulus of its Fourier transform \hat{1_K}. This represents a complete theoretical solution to the Phase Retrieval Problem for characteristic functions of convex bodies. The approach is via the closely related problem of reconstructing K from noisy measurements of its covariogram, the function giving the volume of the intersection of K with its translates. In the many known situations in which the covariogram determines a convex…
Rotation intertwining maps from the set of convex bodies in Rn into itself that are continuous linear operators with respect to Minkowski and Blaschke addition are investigated. The main focus is on Blaschke-Minkowski homomorphisms. We show that such maps are represented by a spherical convolution operator. An application of this representation is a complete classification of all even Blaschke-Minkowski homomorphisms which shows that these maps behave in many respects similar to the well known projection body operator. Among further applications is the following result: If an even Blaschke-Min…
The approximability of a convex body is a number which measures the difficulty to approximate that body by polytopes. We prove that twice the approximability is equal to the volume entropy for a Hilbert geometry in dimension two end three and that in higher dimension it is a lower bound of the entropy. As a corollary we solve the entropy upper bound conjecture in dimension three and give a new proof in dimension two from the one found in Berck-Bernig-Vernicos (arXiv:0810.1123v2, published).
Let $A \in \{ \mathbb{Z}, \mathbb{R} \}$ and $X \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ be a bounded set. Affine transformations given by an automorphism of $\mathbb{Z}^d$ and a translation in $A^d$ are called (affine) $A$-unimodular transformations. The image of $X$ under such a transformation is called an $A$-unimodular copy of $X$. It was shown in [Averkov, Hofscheier, Nill, 2019] that every convex body whose width is "big enough" contains an $A$-unimodular copy of $X$. The threshold when this happens is called the generalised flatness constant $\mathrm{Flt}_d^A(X)$. It resembles the classical flatness const…
