Random polytopes in a convex polytope, independence of shape, and concentration of vertices (Q1318141)

Denote by \(E_ n(P)\) the expected number of extreme points of the convex hull of \(n\) random points choosen independently and uniformly from a \(d\)-dimensional polytope \(P\). Let \(T(P)\) be the number of chains \(F_ 0 \subset F_ 1 \subset \cdots \subset F_{d-2} \subset F_{d-1}\) where \(F_ k\) is a \(k\)-dimensional face of \(P\). Then \[ E_ n(P) \sim [(d+1)^{d-1} (d-1)!]^{-1}T(P) \log^{d-1}n \] as \(n\) tends to infinity. This formula was proved for convex polygons by \textit{A. Rényi} and \textit{R. Sulanke} [Z. Wahrscheinlichkeitstheor. Verw. Geb. 2, 75--84 (1963; Zbl 0118.137)], for the tetrahedron by the second author [Ill. J. Math. 30, 653--659 (1986; Zbl 0585.52001)], and for simple polytopes by \textit{F. Affentranger} and \textit{J. A. Wieacker} [Discrete Comput. Geom. 6, No. 4, 291--305 (1991; Zbl 0725.52004)]. Estimates for \(E_ n(P)\) were given in the case that \(P\) is a cube by \textit{J. L. Bentley}, \textit{H. T. Kung}, \textit{M. Schkolnick} and \textit{C. D. Thompson} [J. Assoc. Comput. Mach. 25, 536--543 (1978; Zbl 0388.68056)], and by \textit{L. Devroye} [Inf. Process. Lett. 11, 53--56 (1980; Zbl 0444.68063)]; in the general case by \textit{R. A. Dwyer} and \textit{R. Kannan} [Math. Res. 38, 16--24 (1987; Zbl 0636.52007)], \textit{R. A. Dwyer} [J. Appl. Probab. 25, No. 4, 688--699 (1988; Zbl 0672.60019)], and the first author and \textit{D. G. Larman} [Mathematika 35, No. 2, 274--291 (1988; Zbl 0674.52003)]. The asymptotic formula and not very difficult additional considerations imply that the expected volume of the convex hull of \(n\) random points chosen independently and uniformly from a \(d\)-dimensional convex body \(C\) attains its maximum among all \(d\)-dimensional convex bodies of volume one if \(C\) is a simplex, provided \(n\) is sufficiently large. In the plane, this extremal property of the triangle was proved for \(n=3\) by \textit{W. Blaschke} [Ber. Verh. Sächs. Ges. Wiss. Leipzig, Math.-Phys. Kl. 69, 436--453 (1917)], extended to \(n=4\) by the second author [Elem. Math. 38, 153--156 (1983; Zbl 0521.52005)], and derived for arbitrary \(n\) by \textit{L. Dalla} and \textit{D. G. Larman} [Ser. Discret. Mat. Theor. Comput. Sci. 4, 175--180 (1991; Zbl 0751.52003)].