Integral geometry of pairs of planes (Q2232149)

The visual angle of a convex set \(K\) from a line \(G\) not intersecting \(K\) is defined as the angle \(\omega\in[0,\pi]\) determined by the half-planes \(E_1,E_2\) through \(G\) which are tangent to \(K\). In the paper under review, the authors study integrals of motion invariant measures in the \(3\)-dimensional Euclidean space, extended to the set of pairs of planes meeting a convex body. These integrals are expressed in terms of functions of the visual angle of the convex set from a line, and the integration is made with respect to an invariant measure in the space of lines. The following theorem is an engaging sample of the type of result which are proved in this paper: if \(K\) is a convex body, \(f:[-1,1]\to{\mathbb R}\) is an even continuous function and \(H\) is the \(C^2\) function on \([-\pi,\pi]\) satisfying that \(H''(x)=f(\cos x)\sin^2x\) for \(x\in[-\pi,\pi]\) with \(H(0)=H'(0)=0\), then \[ \int_{E_i\cap K\neq\emptyset}f(\langle u_1,u_2\rangle)\,dE_1dE_2=\pi H(\pi)F+2\int_{G\cap K=\emptyset}H(\omega)\,dG, \] where \(u_i\) are the unit normal vectors to the planes \(E_i\) and \(F\) is the area of the boundary of \(K\).