Minkowski additive operators under volume constraints (Q1711006)

Let \(\mathcal{K}^n\) denote the space of compact, convex subsets in \(\mathbb{R}^n\), which are also called \textit{convex bodies}. An operator \(\phi:\mathcal{K}^n\to\mathcal{K}^n\) is called \textit{Minkowski additive} if \[ \Phi(K+L)=\Phi(K)+\Phi(L) \] for every \(K,L\in\mathcal{K}^n\), where \(K+L\) denotes the Minkowski sum or vector sum of the convex bodies \(K\) and \(L\). An important example of such a map \(\Phi\) is the so-called \textit{difference body} \(DK\) of a convex body \(K\in\mathcal{K}^n\), which is defined via \[ DK:=K+(-K) \] where \(-K\) is the reflection of \(K\) in the origin. By the Brunn-Minkowski inequality as well as the Rogers-Shephard inequality \[ 2^n V_n(K) \leq V_n(DK) \leq \binom{2n}{n} V_n(K) \] for every \(K\in\mathcal{K}^n\). Motivated by this, an operator \(\Phi:\mathcal{K}^n\to\mathcal{K}^n\) is said to satisfy a \textit{volume constraint} if there are constants \(c_\Phi, C_\Phi >0\) such that \[ c_\Phi V_n(K) \leq V_n(\Phi(K)) \leq C_\Phi V_n(K) \] for every \(K\in\mathcal{K}^n\). The authors proof a representation result for Minkowski additive, continuous (w.r.t the Hausdorff metric) and translation invariant operators \(\Phi:\mathcal{K}^n\to\mathcal{K}^n\) that satisfy \(\Phi(-K)=\Phi(K)=-\Phi(K)\) for every \(K\in\mathcal{K}^n\). As a consequence of this, the authors obtain new interesting characterizations of the difference body. First, they show that for \(n\geq 3\), a map \(\Phi:\mathcal{K}^n\to\mathcal{K}^n\) is a Minkowski additive, continuous and translation invariant operator that satisfies a volume constraint and commutes with rotations if and only if there exist \(a,b\geq 0\) with \(a+b>0\) such that \[ \Phi K = a(K- \text{st}(K))+b(-K+\text{st}(K)) \] for every \(K\in\mathcal{K}^n\), where \(\text{st}(K)\) denotes the Steiner point of \(K\in\mathcal{K}^n\). Furthermore, for \(n\geq 2\), the authors characterize the images of the difference body under general linear transformations as the only Minkowski additive, continuous and translation invariant operators \(\Phi:\mathcal{K}^n\to\mathcal{K}^n\) that satisfy a volume constraint as well as \(\Phi(K)\subseteq \Phi(L)\) whenever \(K,L\in\mathcal{K}^n\) are such that \(K\subseteq L\).