Plane sections of convex bodies of maximal volume (Q1592510)

Let \({\mathcal K}=\{K_0, \dots,K_k\}\) be a family of convex bodies in \(\mathbb{R}^n\), \(1\leq k\leq n-1\). By extending previous results obtained by the first author jointly with \textit{H. Martini} [``On maximal \(k\)-sections and related common transversals of convex bodies'', Can. Math. Bull., to appear] it is proved that there always exists an affine \(k\)-dimensional plane \(A_k\subset \mathbb{R}^n\), called common maximal \(k\)-transversal of \({\mathcal K}\), such that \[ V_k (K_i\cap A_k)\geq V_k\bigl(K_i \cap(A_k+x) \bigr), \] where \(V_k\) denotes the \(k\)-dimensional Lebesgue measure, and \(i=0,\dots,k\). This holds true even when the size of the family \({\mathcal K}\) is \(l+1\), where \(l<k\). In this case the set of all common maximal \(k\)-transversals of \({\mathcal K}\) is not only nonempty, but turns out to be big both from the measure theoretic and topological point of view. This provides an interesting link between integer geometry in homogeneous spaces and cohomological techniques. Examples showing that these results do not extend to compact sets are also given.