A characterization of convex sets via visibility (Q1849457)

For a subset \(K\subseteq {\mathbb R^n}\) and \(E:={\mathbb R}^n\setminus K\), a point \(x\in E\) sees some point \(y\in E\) if \(x=y\) or the closed line segment between \(x\) and \(y\) is disjoint from \(K\), but the ray with initial point \(x\) passing through \(y\) intersects \(K\). One can obtain the so called visibility operator \(\sigma _K : {\mathcal P}(E)\rightarrow {\mathcal P}(E)\). If \(A\subseteq E\), \(\sigma _K (A)\) consists of all those points in \(E\) which can be seen from at least some point of \(A\). The authors prove that \(\sigma _K\) is a closure operator if \(K\) is convex. They provide examples which show that the converse of this statement is false. However, they prove that the converse holds if \(K\) is compact and \(E:={\mathbb R}^n\setminus K\) is connected. Moreover, the authors show that for every nonempty convex subset \(K\) of \({\mathbb R}^n\) and every subset \(A\subseteq R^n\setminus K\), the set \(K\cup \sigma _K (A)\) is star-shaped.