On Hodge-Riemann relations for translation-invariant valuations (Q822710): Difference between revisions

In 2001, \textit{S. Alesker} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 11, No. 2, 244--272 (2001; Zbl 0995.52001)] proved McMullen's conjecture that the space of valuations on convex bodies is the weak completion of the linear space of mixed volumes. It is also the closure of the subspace of smooth valuations, which has much better algebraic properties. In particular, it has a product structure, due to Alesker, which makes it into a (commutative, associative, unital) algebra; this algebra has properties analogous to those given by the hard Lefschetz theorem and the Poincaré duality of algebraic topology. These last are two-thirds of the Kähler package, a powerful set of tools, originally used in the study of Kähler manifolds, that has productively been generalized to other areas of mathematics. The third leg of this tripod are the Hodge-Riemann relations. In this paper, the author conjectures a Hodge-Riemann analogue for smooth valuations, proves it for even valuations and for 1-homogeneous valuations, and explores some implications of this result. He also conjectures mixed versions of the hard Lefschetz theorem and the Hodge-Riemann relations, which if true would have even broader implications for convex geometry.