Geometric tomography and local stereology. (Q1408262)

The dual Brunn-Minkowski theory created by E. Lutwak deals with starshaped sets and concentric sections, it uses radial functions for a study of dual analogs of mixed volumes and intrinsic volumes. The authors considerably extend the theory of dual volumes by admitting bounded Borel sets, with \(i\)-chord functions (involving \(i\)th powers of radial functions) substituted by so-called point X-rays of order \(i\). Among the various results proved in this generality are Lutwak's theorem on the role of \(i\)-intersection bodies in the Busemann-Petty problem and a general form of the Busemann intersection inequality. A further section discusses the possibilities and limitations of extending the theory of dual mixed volumes in a similar way. A substantial part of the paper relates the generalized version of the dual Brunn-Minkowski theory to local stereology, where measurements in random concurrent sections are used to estimate parameters of a three-dimensional material. Three volume estimators are considered in detail, and models and techniques of local stereology are discussed.