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6 votes
1 answer
347 views

Is a ball the hardest body to approximate by polytopes (in the Banach–Mazur metric)?

$\DeclareMathOperator\conv{conv}\DeclareMathOperator\Vol{Vol}$In the paper "An extremal property of the hypersphere" by Macbeath, the following functionals were introduced (here $n$ is fixed,...
0 votes
0 answers
37 views

Constructing a minimum-volume outer approximation polytope with fewer facets

I am tackling the following problem: Given a set of points $D \in \mathbb{R}^d$ and their convex hull, represented with $n$ facets, I want to construct a convex polytope $P$ with at most $m<n$ ...
17 votes
3 answers
2k views

Optimal 8-vertex isoperimetric polyhedron?

I know from Marcel Berger's Geometry Revealed: A Jacob's Ladder to Modern Higher Geometry (p.531) that it is not yet established which polyhedron in $\mathbb{R}^3$ on 8 vertices achieves the optimal ...
6 votes
2 answers
207 views

Volume satisfying inequality constraints (simplex subset)

Is there a way to find the volume of the "feasible region" of a standard simplex satisfying simple range constraints? $x_1+x_2+...+x_n = 1$ $a_1 \le x_1 \le b_1$ $a_2 \le x_2 \le b_2$ $...$ $a_n \le ...
1 vote
0 answers
40 views

Polyhedra inscribed in a sphere with mutually non-congruent, equal area faces

Two constrained versions of the main question given in this post: Polyhedrons with mutually non-congruent faces, all of equal area. An earlier post that could be related: Cutting a spherical surface ...
2 votes
0 answers
51 views

Estimating the Hausdorff distance of parallel facets of convex polytopes

Background Let $\mathcal{K}_P^n$ denote the class of open, convex, $n$-dimensional polytopes in $\mathbb{R}^n$ containing the origin. For each $K\in \mathcal{K}_P^n$, its gauge function $f_*:\mathbb{R}...
4 votes
0 answers
52 views

Quantifying error in the reconstruction of convex polytopes from moments

The problem of reconstructing a geometric object from its moments is of interest in a variety of fields. In the paper The Inverse Moment Problem for Convex Polytopes, the authors show that a convex ...
1 vote
0 answers
61 views

Fitting a convex polytope with 𝑛 facets between two nested spheres

This is related to a research problem that is interested in approximation of spheres by convex polytopes. Let $C_r$ and $C_R$ be two spheres in $\mathbb R^d$ of radius $r$ and $R$, respectively, where ...
5 votes
2 answers
134 views

Is there a non-orthogonal linear deformation of a polytope that preserves edge-lengths and vertex-origin-distances?

Is there a polytope $P\subset\Bbb R^d$ (convex hull of finitely many points, not contained in a proper affine subspace), and a linear, but non-orthogonal transformation $T\in\mathrm{GL}(\Bbb R^d)\...
18 votes
3 answers
2k views

Are the Platonic solids shadows of 4-polytopes?

Say that a 3D shadow of a 4-polytope is a parallel projection to 3-space, not necessarily orthogonal to that 3-space (that would make it an orthogonal projection). I am wondering if each of the five ...
20 votes
0 answers
433 views

Is the dodecahedron flexible (as a polytope with fixed edge-lengths)?

Consider the (regular) dodecahedron $D\subset\Bbb R^3$. I want to continuously deform it so that throughout the deformation it stays a convex polytope, it stays a combinatorial dodecahedron (i.e. its ...
4 votes
0 answers
224 views

Characterization of curves contained in the boundary of convex bodies

Given a continuous closed curve $\gamma$ in $\mathbb R^n$ does there exist a convex body $K$ (convex set with non-empty interior) such that $\gamma\subset \partial K$? I am looking for a reference to ...
4 votes
4 answers
536 views

Vertex-transitive polytopes in any dimension with any number of vertices?

Given positive integers $d$ and $v$ with $v \geq d+1$, does there always exist a (convex) vertex-transitive $d$-polytope with $v$ vertices? It seems that the answer should be "obviously" true, but I ...
2 votes
1 answer
308 views

Intersection of the simplex with a linear subspace of codimension $2$

The sets are defined in $\mathbb{R}_+^n$ $(n\geq 1)$. The relative interior of a convex set $C$ is denoted $\mathring C$. Let $S$ be the $n$-simplex: $$S=\left\{x\in\mathbb{R}_+^n,\,\sum_{i=1}^n x_i=1\...
16 votes
5 answers
1k views

A characterization of convexity

While doing some research on polytopes I came to the following question. Maybe it's already somewhere but anyway I'll post it here. Let $X\subset \mathbb{R}^3$ be such that, for every plane $P$, $P\...
44 votes
11 answers
26k views

Algorithm for finding the volume of a convex polytope

It's easy to find the area of a convex polygon by division into triangles, but what is the optimal way of finding the volume of higher-dimensional convex bodies? I tried a few methods for dividing ...
4 votes
2 answers
3k views

Break polyhedron into tetrahedron

Given a polyhedron consists of a list of vertices (v), a list of edges (e), and a list of surfaces connecting those edges (...
20 votes
4 answers
950 views

The limit of edge-midpoint convex polyhedra

    Starting with a convex polyhedron $P_1 \subset \mathbb{R}^3$, replace that with $P_2$, the convex hull of the midpoints of the edges of $P_1$. Continuing this process, we obtain a ...
0 votes
1 answer
101 views

Estimation via projecting onto a convex body

Assume that $\theta$ is in a convex body $K \in \mathbb{R}^n$ and we observe $y = \theta + z$, where $z$ is a noise term (following, say, the normal distribution). Consider an estimator of $\theta$ by ...
0 votes
4 answers
457 views

Confining a polytope to one side of an affine hyperplane

Judging whether one convex polytope is inside of another when both are expressed as a system of linear inequalities seems not to be an easy problem. This answer on math.stackexchange.com claims the ...
4 votes
0 answers
230 views

How to find the dimension of the polar cone of a convex cone generated by some given vectors

Suppose we have access to a generating set $\{v_1, ..., v_k\}\subseteq\mathbb{R}^n$ of the convex cone $C=cone(v_1, ..., v_k)$, where $cone(\cdot)$ is the conical hull (i.e. nonnegative span) of ...
5 votes
0 answers
93 views

Which polytopes can be deformed while keeping their edge-lengths?

Let $P\subset\Bbb R^d$ be a convex polytope (a convex hull of finitely many points). Lets call it flexible, if it can be continuously deformed while keeping its combinatorial type, and keeping its ...
9 votes
2 answers
321 views

Is a polytope that has in-spheres for faces of all dimensions already regular?

Let $P\subset\Bbb R^d$ be a convex polytope (convex hull of finitely many points). A $k$-in-sphere of $P$ is a sphere centered at the origin to which each $k$-face of $P$ is tangent. So a 0-in-sphere ...
2 votes
0 answers
103 views

Polytopes with large dihedral angles

The regular $d$-simplex has dihedral angle $\arccos(1/d)<90^\circ$, and the $d$-cube has dihedral angle exactly $90^\circ$. The maximal dihedral angle of a prism over a $(d-1)$-simplex is also $90^\...
7 votes
1 answer
318 views

Minimum area of the convex hull of the union of a parallelogram and a triangle

This question is somewhat dual to my previously stated question about Maximum area of the intersection of a parallelogram and a triangle, where the triangle and parallelogram each is assumed to be of ...
3 votes
0 answers
52 views

Deformations that flatten small curvature

I'm trying to show that any 3-dimensional polyhedron with many vertices can be mildly deformed so that its vertices are no longer convexly independent. I suspect it suffices to look at a vertex with ...
7 votes
1 answer
483 views

Furthest distance half the diameter?

Let $S$ be the surface of a convex body, polyhedral or smooth, embedded in $\mathbb{R}^3$. For a point $x \in S$, let $F(x)$ be the set of furthest points from $x$, measured by shortest paths on the ...
2 votes
0 answers
41 views

Describing hull of vertex intersections of two convex bounded polytopes?

We have two convex bounded polytopes $P_1$ and $P_2$ where a. $P_2\subseteq P_1$ b. $\mathcal{V}(P_2)\cap\mathcal{V}(P_1)\neq\emptyset$. Is there a name for the polytope $P=\mbox{Conv}(\mathcal{V}(...
2 votes
1 answer
367 views

Angle between Coordinate Vector and Normal Vector of Facet in a Convex Polytope, Asking for a Counterexample

Definitions Let $\mathcal{C}$ be a convex polytope in $\mathbb{R}^{D}$ with $K$-facets $F_{1},\ldots,F_{K}$. I denote the normal vector of the $k^\mathrm{th}$ facet as $\mathbf{w}\_k=(w_{k1},\ldots,...
6 votes
1 answer
254 views

Triangulations of convex surfaces

Let $M$ be a smooth closed positively curved surface in Euclidean 3-space, $T$ be a geodesic triangulation of $M$, and $E$ be the edge graph of the convex hull of vertices of $T$. It is easy to see ...
1 vote
0 answers
43 views

Quantitative error control in Minkowski-Stein formula

Let $K\subseteq\mathbb R^d$ be a compact convex body with non-empty interior, and $E$ be a $(d-1)$-dimensional linear subspace of $\mathbb R^d$. Let $\theta\in\mathbb R^d$ be the unit vector such that ...
4 votes
1 answer
124 views

Convex caps with prescribed edges and curvature

Let $G$ be the edge graph of a convex subdivision of a convex polygon $P$ in the plane. I would like to construct a convex polyhedral cap $C$ (with zero boundary values) over $P$ whose edges project ...
5 votes
2 answers
294 views

Convex caps with prescribed edges

Let $P$ be a convex polygon in the plane $R^2=R^2\times \{0\}$, and $E$ be the edge graph of some subdivision of $P$ into convex polygons, which is $3$-connected. Does there exist a convex polyhedral ...
14 votes
0 answers
479 views

Does every convex polyhedron have a combinatorially isomorphic counterpart whose angles between edges are rational multiples of $\pi$?

After reading these very interesting questions, I came up with another one: Does every convex polyhedron have a combinatorially isomorphic counterpart whose angles between all pairs of edges meeting ...
9 votes
1 answer
240 views

Cyclic polygons generalized to higher dimensions

Many theorems hold for cyclic polygons—convex polygons inscribed in a circle. Perhaps the most basic is this, from the reference cited below: Theorem. There exists a cyclic polygon of $n \ge ...
21 votes
5 answers
1k views

Is there a midsphere theorem for 4-polytopes?

The (remarkable) midsphere theorem says that each combinatorial type of convex polyhedron may be realized by one all of whose edges are tangent to a sphere (and the realization is unique if the center ...
6 votes
1 answer
544 views

Isometric embedding a convex cap to render its boundary planar

I would like to know if there is a polyhedral analog to this beautiful theorem of Hong: Theorem 11.0.1. Any smooth positive disk $(\bar{D},g)$ with a positive geodesic curvature along $\partial ...
25 votes
4 answers
1k views

Do random projections (approximately) preserve convexity?

The Johnson-Lindenstrauss lemma implies that any set of $k$ points in $\mathbb{R}^d$ can be randomly projected into $d' \approx \log(k)/\epsilon^2$ dimensions such that the distances between each pair ...
13 votes
0 answers
252 views

Does there always exist a self dual polytope that contains a given polytope contained in its dual?

Suppose a polytope $P$ is contained in its dual polytope $\tilde{P}$. Does there always exist a polytope $Q$ that contains $P$ and is self dual $Q=\tilde{Q}$? Is there any bound on the minimal number ...
7 votes
1 answer
274 views

Partitioning a convex object without harming existing convex subsets

$C$ is a convex planar figure and $C_1,\dots,C_n$ are pairwise-disjoint convex subsets of $C$, like this: A convex-preserving partition of $C$ is a partition $C=E_1\cup\dots\cup E_N$, , such that $N\...
7 votes
1 answer
648 views

Maximal volume of a simplex inscribed in a spherical cap

Let $B_n$ be the $n$-dimensional unit ball, and $B_n(\varepsilon)$ be the spherical cap with height $\varepsilon$ I am interested in the quantity $$\Gamma:=\sup_{\Delta:\textrm{ inscribed simplex in }...
1 vote
0 answers
117 views

Inscribed polytopal approximation to a convex body

This question is on the continuation of the post Approximation of convex body by polytopes The central problem I am interested is an explicit construction of inscribed polytope with at most $n$ ...
6 votes
1 answer
347 views

Measurement of "symmetry" of a convex body

I often hear that the regular simplex is "the least" symmetric convex body, and I've heard that there are some measures of symmetry of a body, that the simplex minimizes. Could you please explain or ...
2 votes
0 answers
415 views

Find the intersection between two convex hulls, in this specific case

We work over $\mathbb{R}^K$. Let $V$ be the set of vectors whose coordinates take values $0$ or $1$, or equivalently the corners of the unit cube $[0,1]^K$. Let $d:\{0, \ldots, K\} \to \mathbb{R}_+$ ...
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Extreme points of convex hull of Minkowski sum [closed]

Let $\operatorname{conv}(a_1,\ldots,a_m)$ denote the convex hull of $\{a_1,\ldots,a_n\}$. Let $P = \operatorname{conv}(a_1,\ldots,a_p)$ and $Q = \operatorname{conv}(b_1,\ldots,b_q)$ be two convex sets ...
4 votes
1 answer
256 views

Polar interpretation of convexity

Let $C$ be a convex polygon in the plane containing the origin, and let $r(\theta)$ for $\theta\in[0,2\pi)$ be a parametrization of its boundary. Is there a condition on $r$ that is equivalent to (or ...
1 vote
0 answers
50 views

Projection of a ray onto a random polytope

Suppose $P$ is a polytope formed by $p$ (general) random planes in $\mathbb{R}^n$. We assume $p \asymp n$ and $P$ has a diameter $O(\sqrt{n})$. For any $x \in \mathbb{R}^n$, denote by $\operatorname{...
2 votes
1 answer
141 views

Volume of a polytope with relaxed constraints

Consider a polytope in $n$ dimensions defined by a set of linear constraints: $$P = \{x \in \mathbb{R}^n : Ax \leq b\}$$ where A is some $m \times n$ constraint matrix, and $b = (b_1,\ldots,b_m)$ is ...
13 votes
0 answers
406 views

Surface area of convex hull [duplicate]

Let Q be the convex hull of a non-convex polyhedron P. Is it true that the surface area of Q is not greater than the surface area of P?
3 votes
1 answer
804 views

Approximation of a convex body by a contained polytope

This question deals with approximating a convex body (a compact convex set of $\mathbb{R}^d$ with non-empty interior) by convex polytopes. For a given $\delta$, let $n_\delta$ be the number of faces ...