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316 views

Sandwiching ellipses between planar convex bodies

Let $K$ and $L$ be planar convex bodies which are not ellipses. Does there exist an affine image $K'$ of $K$ such that $K' \subset L$ No ellipse $E$ satisfies $K' \subset E \subset L$ I am also ...
Guillaume Aubrun's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
413 views

How many unit cubes are needed to 'hide' a unit cube fully in 3D?

Question: What is the smallest number of nonoverlapping unit cubes that can hide a unit cube C - in the sense that every ray emanating from the boundary of C meets the interior or the boundary of one ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
2 votes
1 answer
302 views

Are two convex solids with all corresponding shadows equal in area congruent?

By shadow we mean the orthogonal projection of a convex 3D body P onto a 2D plane, for example, the shadow on the xy-plane, with P above (z>0) that plane and the light at L=(0,0,+∞). P an be freely ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
136 views

If all max area planar sections of a solid are centrally symmetric, will the solid as whole be centrally symmetric?

It is known that every planar section of an ellipsoid is an ellipse - a centrally symmetric planar figure. Are there convex solids other than ellipsoids with the property that all its planar sections ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
63 views

Convex planar regions such that every boundary point has a 'fair bisector' passing thru it

We add a little to On 'fair bisectors' of planar convex regions and A claim on the concurrency of area bisectors of planar convex regions . A fair bisector of a planar convex region is a line ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
0 votes
0 answers
82 views

On 'Bisecting sections' of 3D convex bodies

Following shadows and planar sections, we ask about bisecting sections. This post also continues Convex planar regions with all area bisectors having equal length and A claim on the concurrency of ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
59 views

What can be said about 2 convex solids with corresponding maximal planar sections having equal area?

This post follows Are two convex solids with all corresponding shadows equal in area congruent? Every convex 3D body has planar sections with normals in any given direction. We consider the maximum ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
208 views

Reference request: Carathéodory-type theorem for convex hulls of closed sets

I'm looking for a reference for the following theorem. Theorem Let $X$ be a closed subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$, and let $a$ be a point of its convex hull $\operatorname{conv}(X)$. Then there exist ...
Tom Leinster's user avatar
  • 27.7k
1 vote
0 answers
42 views

On a pair of solids with both corresponding maximal planar sections and shadows having equal area

This post pulls together Are two convex solids with all corresponding shadows equal in area congruent? and What can be said about 2 convex solids with corresponding maximal planar sections having ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
1 vote
1 answer
98 views

To place copies of a planar convex region such that number of 'contacts' among them is maximized

A contact between two planar convex regions obviously happens either along a line segment or at a single point. Question: Given a planar convex region $C$ and a number $n$, we need to lay out $n$ ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
44 views

On area bisectors and perimeter bisectors of planar convex regions

We try to proceed from A claim on the concurrency of area bisectors of planar convex regions Definitions: Given a planar convex region C, an area bisector of C is any line segment that partitions C ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
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 ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
2 votes
1 answer
107 views

To find the convex planar region minimizing diameter when area and perimeter are given

The basic question is to find that planar convex region for which diameter is a minimum when area and perimeter are specified. A partial answer is given here: http://nandacumar.blogspot.com/2012/11/...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
4 votes
1 answer
303 views

On maximum perimeter triangles inscribed in convex regions with one vertex fixed

Ref: Convex curves with many inscribed triangles maximizing perimeter Given a planar convex region C. Let P be a variable point on its boundary. Observations: When C is an ellipse, the variation in ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
2 votes
1 answer
132 views

Planar convex region maximizing the difference in 'orientation' between its smallest containing rectangle and largest contained rectangle

We say a rectangle has orientation $\theta$ if the vector from its center to the middle of its shortest side (parallel to the longest side) has some angle $\theta$ with X axis. Consider a planar ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
2 votes
0 answers
114 views

More on shadows of 3D convex bodies

Ref: Shadows and planar sections of polyhedra By shadow we mean the orthogonal projection of a convex 3D body C onto a 2D plane, for example, the shadow on the xy-plane, with C above (z>0) that ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
1 vote
1 answer
75 views

When do the centers of mass of a uniform convex planar region as a whole and of its boundary alone coincide?

Given a uniform planar convex region C, let us consider 2 centers of mass - the center of mass of the region as a whole and the center of mass of its boundary alone (assuming its boundary to have ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
3 votes
0 answers
76 views

A claim on planar sections of 3D convex bodies

Ref: More on shadows of 3D convex bodies, Shadows and planar sections of polyhedra Given a 3D convex body C, we define a maximal area (perimeter) section of C with respect to any specified direction $...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
1 vote
0 answers
52 views

On families of lines that cut the boundary of a planar convex region in a specified ratio

We proceed from A claim on the concurrency of area bisectors of planar convex regions This question is somewhat broad. Background: 'Mathematical Omnibus' by Fuchs and Tabachnikov, Lecture 11 describes ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
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 ...
M. Winter's user avatar
  • 13.6k
0 votes
0 answers
49 views

Which planar convex region with specified area and perimeter maximizes/minimizes Moment of Inertia?

By moment of inertia of a planar convex region C, here we mean its moment of inertia about an axis passing through the center of mass of C and perpendicular to the plane of C. Question: For specified ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
88 votes
2 answers
7k views

Light reflecting off Christmas-tree balls

...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
38 votes
7 answers
5k views

Shortest path connecting two opposite points on a cube

Is it true, that a path connecting two opposite points (i.e. such that the segment joining them passes through the centre of mass of the cube) on the surface of the $d$-dimensional unit cube (with $d&...
Arseniy Akopyan's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
84 views

'Constrained morphing' of planar convex regions

Morphing may be defined as a continuous transition of one shape to another. This post is about modifying planar regions continuously from one form to another under some constraints. Qn: If $C_1$ and $...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
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\...
G. Panel's user avatar
  • 449
0 votes
0 answers
74 views

The closest ellipse and circle to a given triangle - 2

We add a little more to The closest ellipse to a given triangle. The above linked discussion used the Hausdorff distance to quantify how close two planar convex regions are. In an earlier post - ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
6 votes
2 answers
444 views

On planar sections of 3D convex bodies

Consider the space of planar sections of any given convex 3D body. Basic Question: What is the lower bound for the ratio $$\frac{\text{area of section of greatest perimeter}} {\text{area of section of ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
2 votes
1 answer
209 views

Cutting convex regions into equal diameter and equal least width pieces

The diameter of a convex region is the greatest distance between any pair of points in the region. The least width of a 2D convex region can be defined as the least distance between any pair of ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
1 vote
0 answers
111 views

Maximizing the minimum curvature of a convex shape with a given volume in higher dimensions

Given any $d$-dimensional convex shape $S$ in the Euclidean space with $d\gg 1$, let $K_{\min}(S)$ be the minimum value of the Gaussian curvature of its boundary. Question: What is the maximum value $...
Penelope Benenati's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
85 views

More on triangles inscribed in convex regions with one vertex fixed

We add a bit to On maximum perimeter triangles inscribed in convex regions with one vertex fixed. Let C be a convex planar region and P a point on its boundary. Are there convex shapes C other than (...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
0 votes
1 answer
55 views

On 'axiality' of planar convex regions

Axiality has been studied under a definition given here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiality_(geometry) Consider an alternative definition of axiality as follows: For a convex region C, consider a ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
5 votes
2 answers
241 views

On intersections of several convex regions

Question: Given n convex planar regions. Required to place them (in suitable position and orientation) so that that part of the plane lying under all the regions (their common intersection) is of ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
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)\...
M. Winter's user avatar
  • 13.6k
2 votes
2 answers
164 views

Angle between a point in a convex polytope and the nearest point of a face

Let $P \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ be a convex polytope, and let $F$ be a face of $P$ (of co-dimension 1, let's say). Now let $x \in P \setminus F$ and let $y \in F$ be the nearest point of $F$ to $x$. Then ...
paul's user avatar
  • 153
2 votes
1 answer
66 views

Optimal unions of planar convex regions

This post continues Optimal intersections between planar convex regions. Question: Given two planar convex polygonal regions $C_1$ and $C_2$, how does one algorithmically find how to place and orient ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
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 ...
M. Winter's user avatar
  • 13.6k
1 vote
0 answers
153 views

Is there a polynomial expression for the volume of the following set?

Denote the unit $\ell_2$ ball in $\mathbb{R}^n$ as $\mathcal{B}_n$. It is widely kown that for a convex body $\mathcal{K}\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n$, the $n$-dimensional volume of the parallel body $\...
RyanChan's user avatar
  • 550
3 votes
0 answers
321 views

Polyhedrons and their centers of mass

Given a convex polyhedron, one considers 3 possibilities: wireframe - only the edges of the polyhedron have mass which is uniformly distributed. surface - only the surface is massive with uniform ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
2 votes
1 answer
426 views

Minkowski sum, zonotopes, convex hull

For any set $P,Q$ in the Euclid space, define Minkowski sum '+' as follows: $P+Q=\{p+q|p\in P, q\in Q\}$. And define 'zonotope': a zonotope is the Minkowski sum of some (finite) segments (for example, ...
Yachy's user avatar
  • 29
1 vote
0 answers
76 views

Convex planar regions with optimal average 'centralness' and 'depth'

For a planar convex region $C$ and an interior point $P$ we define: the centralness ratio at $P$ is $$\min\left(\frac{\text{shorter portion of }\chi}{\text{longer portion of }\chi}:\chi\text{ is a ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
1 vote
1 answer
144 views

On convex polygons contained in convex polygons

In what follows '$n$-gon' stands for '$n$-vertex polygonal region'. Question: Given a convex $n$-gon $C$, find the smallest convex region $R$ such that $C$ is the smallest $n$-gon that contains it. ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
2 votes
0 answers
71 views

On cutting convex regions with average values of quantities minimized

This post continues from Cutting convex regions into equal diameter and equal least width pieces - 2 and Cutting convex regions into equal diameter and equal least width pieces - 3 A basic (and to my ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
4 votes
0 answers
54 views

On ways to measure the difference between two planar convex regions

This earlier post attempted to quantify the difference between a pair of planar convex regions of equal area and perimeter using Hausdorff distance: On comparing planar convex regions of equal ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
1 vote
0 answers
38 views

Possible extensions of the perpendicular axes theorem for moment of inertia

This post continues on Moment of inertia from Bisectors and partitioning lines for convex regions defined with respect to the moment of inertia. The perpendicular axis theorem states that the moment ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
14 votes
4 answers
453 views

Smallest containing simplex

Let $V_n$ be the least real number such that for every convex subset of $\mathbb{R}^n$ with hypervolume $1$ there is a containing simplex with hypervolume $V_n$. What is known about $V_n$? Is there a ...
Vladimir Reshetnikov's user avatar
13 votes
0 answers
573 views

What are the known convex polyhedra with congruent faces?

Note: I originally asked this question on math.SE here, where I posted a bounty on the question but received no answers after a week despite apparent interest in the problem. I'm hoping MathOverflow ...
RavenclawPrefect's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
190 views

On some centers of convex regions based on partitions

These questions are inspired by Yaglom and Boltyanskii's 'Convex figures'. Winternitz Theorem: If a 2D convex figure is divided into 2 parts by a line $l$ that passes through its center of gravity, ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
1 vote
0 answers
124 views

Number of lattice points in a structural symmetric convex body

Let $f$ is a convex symmetric function on the interval $[-a,a]$, i.e., $f(-x)=f(x)$ for $\forall \, x\in [-a,a]$. Then we consider a $n$-dimensional convex body in Euclidean space \begin{equation} \...
RyanChan's user avatar
  • 550
1 vote
0 answers
57 views

Shadows and planar sections of polyhedra – 2

This post continues Shadows and planar sections of polyhedra and On planar sections of 3D convex bodies Shadows and planar sections of polyhedra gives an example demonstrating that shadows (orthogonal ...
Nandakumar R's user avatar
  • 5,979
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 ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar