Local characterization of strongly convex sets (Q1941128)

A subset \(\Omega\) of a real Hilbert space \(H\) is called \(r\)-convex if, for any \(x,y \in \Omega\), \(\Omega\) covers the intersection of all closed balls of radius \(r\) that contain \(x\) and \(y\). \(\Omega\) is strongly convex if it is \(r\)-convex for some \(r > 0\). The authors prove several local characterizations of \(r\)-convexity. Particular emphasis is put on the modulus of convexity \[ \delta_\Omega(\varepsilon)= \sup\{\delta \geq 0: \;\text{if}\;x,y \in \Omega \;\text{satisfy} \|x-y\|=\varepsilon, \;\text{then}\;\Omega \;\text{covers the closed ball}\;B((x+y)/2,\delta)\} \] and its new local variant \[ \begin{aligned} \delta_{\Omega,x}^o(\varepsilon)= \sup\{ \delta \geq 0: & \text{ if } y \in \Omega \text{ and } v \in H \text{ satisfy } \|x-y\|=\varepsilon, \|v\|=1 \text{ and } \langle v | x-y \rangle=0,\\& \text{ then }(x+y)/2+\delta v \in \Omega\},\;x \in \Omega.\end{aligned} \] A closed and connected set \(\Omega \subseteq H\) turns out to be \(r\)-convex if \(\lim_{\varepsilon \downarrow 0} \delta_\Omega(\varepsilon)/\varepsilon^2 \geq 1/(8r)\) or, equivalently, if \(\Omega\) is convex and \(\liminf_{\varepsilon \downarrow 0} \delta_{\Omega,x}^o(\varepsilon)/\varepsilon^2 \geq 1/(8r)\) for all \(x \in \Omega\).