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Posting this question in MO since it is unanswered in MSE

Let $(a,b,c)$ be the side of a triangle. In its most general linear form, the triangle inequality can be expressed as: Does $ax + by \ge c$ for fixed $x,y \ge 0$ hold? Trivially the inequality holds if both $x$ and $y$ are $\ge 1$; however if one of or both of $x$ and $y$ is non-negative and $\le 1$ then $ax+y \ge c$ is not necessarily true. Assuming that vertices of a triangle are uniformly random on a circle we can ask the probability $P(ax+by \ge c)$. In this question we found a closed form for the probability $P(a+b \ge cx)$, $x \ge 1$. This question is an attempt at generalization of this result.

Experimental data show that if $0 \le x,y \le 1$ then, $$ P(ax + by \ge c) = \frac{4}{\pi^2}\chi_2(x) + \frac{4}{\pi^2}\chi_2(y) \tag 1 $$ and if $0 \le x \le 1 \le y$ then, $$ P(ax + by \ge c) = 1 + \frac{4}{\pi^2}\chi_2\left(\frac{x}{y}\right) - \frac{4}{\pi^2}\chi_2\left(\frac{1}{y}\right) \tag 2 $$

where $\displaystyle \chi_2(x) = \sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \frac{x^{2k+1}}{(2k+1)^2}, |x| \le 1$ is the Legendre Chi function.

Question 1: Is $(1)$ true?

Question 2: Is $(2)$ true?

Related question: Generalization of the triangle inequality to exponents of the sides

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    $\begingroup$ I am surprised that this beautiful question received so few votes. I answered the question below. $\endgroup$
    – GH from MO
    Commented May 4 at 1:01
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    $\begingroup$ I simplified fedja's method, and added full details to make the calculation self-contained. $\endgroup$
    – GH from MO
    Commented May 5 at 22:56

1 Answer 1

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Both conjectures are true. The proof below uses fedja's method in a simplified form, and also a nice observation by Zacky (see the comments below this post).

Since $ax+by\geq c$ is equivalent to $b\geq (1/y)c-(x/y)a$, it suffices to prove the following

Theorem. Assume that the pair $(x,y)\in\mathbb{R}^2$ satisfies $x,y\leq 1$ and $x+y\geq 0$. Then $$P(ax + by \ge c) = \frac{4}{\pi^2}\chi_2(x) + \frac{4}{\pi^2}\chi_2(y).\tag 1$$ Proof. We shall calculate the conditional probability $$F(x,y):=P(ax + by \ge c\mid b\ge a)$$ in terms of the dilogarithm function. The symmetry $a\leftrightarrow b$ and $x\leftrightarrow y$ reveals that $$P(ax + by \ge c\mid a\ge b)=F(y,x),$$ hence in fact $$P(ax + by \ge c)=\frac{F(x,y)+F(y,x)}{2}.\tag 2$$ Without loss of generality, the vertices opposite the sides $a$, $b$, $c$ are $e^{2i\beta}$, $e^{-2i\alpha}$, $1$, where $(\alpha,\beta)\in\mathbb{R}^2$ is uniformly distributed in the region $$\alpha,\beta>0\qquad\text{and}\qquad \alpha+\beta<\pi.$$ Then the triangle has angles $\alpha$, $\beta$, $\pi-\alpha-\beta$, and $$a=2\sin\alpha,\qquad b=2\sin\beta,\qquad c=2\sin(\alpha+\beta).$$ Let us consider $$s:=\frac{b}{a}=\frac{\sin\beta}{\sin\alpha},\qquad t:=\frac{c}{a}=\frac{\sin(\alpha+\beta)}{\sin\alpha}.$$ The mapping $(\alpha,\beta)\mapsto(s,t)$ is bijective onto the set of pairs $(s,t)\in\mathbb{R}^2$ satisfying $$s,t>0\qquad\text{and}\qquad s+t>1>|s-t|.$$ Moreover, the Jacobian of the mapping is $st$, whence $$d\alpha\,d\beta=\frac{ds\,dt}{st}.$$ We note for later reference that the set of all pairs $(\alpha,\beta)$ has Lebesgue measure $\pi^2/2$, hence the subset corresponding to the event $b\geq a$ has Lebesgue measure $\pi^2/4$.

Using the change of variables $(\alpha,\beta)\mapsto(s,t)$, we see that $$F(x,y)=\frac{4}{\pi^2}\int_{\Omega(x,y)}\frac{ds\,dt}{st},$$ where $$\Omega(x,y):=\left\{(s,t)\in\mathbb{R}^2:x+sy\geq t>s-1\ge 0\right\}.$$ We note that the inequality $x+sy\geq t>s-1$ is void unless $\frac{1+x}{1-y}>s$; we interpret the fraction as $\infty$ when $y=1$. Furthermore, $\frac{1+x}{1-y}\geq 1$ holds by the initial conditions on $x$ and $y$. Now an application of Fubini's theorem shows that $$F(x,y) =\frac{4}{\pi^2}\int_1^{\frac{1+x}{1-y}}\left(\int_{s-1}^{x+sy}\frac{dt}{t}\right)\frac{ds}{s} =\frac{4}{\pi^2}\int_1^{\frac{1+x}{1-y}}\log\left(\frac{x+sy}{s-1}\right)\frac{ds}{s}.$$ We rewrite the last integral in terms of the new variable $$u:=\frac{s-1}{x+sy}.$$ The result is that $$F(x,y)=\frac{4}{\pi^2}\int_0^1 -(\log u)\left(\frac{x}{1+ux}+\frac{y}{1-uy}\right)du.$$ However, for any $z\in[-1,1]$ we have that $$ \int_0^1-(\log u)\frac{z}{1-uz}\,du =-z\int_0^1(\log u)\sum_{n=0}^\infty(uz)^n =\sum_{n=0}^\infty\frac{z^{n+1}}{(n+1)^2}=\operatorname{Li}_2(z), $$ hence in fact $$F(x,y) =\frac{4}{\pi^2}\operatorname{Li}_2(y)-\frac{4}{\pi^2}\operatorname{Li}_2(-x).$$ Finally, $(1)$ follows from $(2)$.

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    $\begingroup$ I think you forgot a factor of $\frac{2}{\pi^2}$ for $G(x,y)$. In any case, a shorter approach continuing from $(3)$ can be derived as follows: $$G(x,y)=\int_1^{\frac{1+y}{1-x}}\log\left(\frac{sx+y}{s-1}\right)\frac{ds}{s}\overset{\large \frac{s-1}{sx+y}\to s}=\int_0^1 \ln s\left(\frac{1}{s-1/x}-\frac{1}{s+1/y}\right)ds$$$$=\operatorname{Li}_2(x)-\operatorname{Li}_2(-y)\Rightarrow F(x,y)=2\chi_2(x)+2\chi_2(y)$$ Which will give the announced closed form if multiplied by $\frac{2}{\pi^2}$. $\endgroup$
    – Zacky
    Commented May 4 at 22:24
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    $\begingroup$ @Zacky I agree. All the credit goes to fedja. $\endgroup$
    – GH from MO
    Commented May 4 at 23:22
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    $\begingroup$ @GHfromMO IMO this linear form of the triangle inequality + my other conjecture on the exponential form triangle inequality is worth a short paper. I am also planning to add the asymptotic series of $a+b-c$ which I conjectured and was proven in MSE math.stackexchange.com/questions/4700151/… . All of these are improvements on the regular triangle inequality. Let me know if you would be interested in co-authoring. I would like to ask Fedja too as his Jacobian is the key ingredient in proving these conjectures. $\endgroup$ Commented May 6 at 7:35
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    $\begingroup$ @GHfromMO And the motivation for the above proposal comes form the applications of the key triangle inequality in my field of machine learning where I believe new insights about the triangle inequality would lead to new developments in machine learning and AI. math.stackexchange.com/questions/4911659/… $\endgroup$ Commented May 6 at 7:39
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    $\begingroup$ @NilotpalKantiSinha I sent you an email. You can delete your address here (if you want to keep it private). Thanks! $\endgroup$
    – GH from MO
    Commented May 6 at 7:52

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