Minimal simplices inscribed in a convex body (Q2452186)

Let \( {\mathcal K} \subset {\mathbb E}^n\) be a convex body, and \( O \in {\text{ int}} {\mathcal K} \). For \( C \in \partial {\mathcal K}\), let \( \Lambda (C, O) = {d(C,O)}/{d(C^o,O)}\), where \( C^o \in \partial {\mathcal K}\) is the opposite point of \( C \) with respect to \( O \). Let \( \ell (O) = \sup_{C \in \partial {\mathcal K}} \Lambda (C,O)\), \( \ell^* = \inf_{O \in {\text{ int}} {\mathcal K}} \ell (O)\), and \({\mathcal M} (O) = \{C \in \partial {\mathcal K} \mid \Lambda (C,O)= \ell (O) \} \). The \textit{critical set} of a convex body \( {\mathcal K} \) is defined as \( {\mathcal K}^* = \{ O^* \in {\text{ int}} \,{\mathcal K} \mid \ell (O^*)=\ell^*\}\). Given \( O \in {\text{int }} {\mathcal K} \), we call a collection of \( m \) points \( \{C_0 , \ldots C_m \}\) in \(\partial {\mathcal K} \) (with repetition allowed) an \( m \)-\textit{configuration} of \( {\mathcal K} \) (with respect to \( O \)) if their convex hull is an \(m\)-dimensional simplex and contains \( O \) in its interior. Let \[ \sigma_m ({\mathcal K}, O)= \inf \sum^{n}_{i=0} \frac{1}{1+ \Lambda (C_i , O)}, \] where the \( {\text{ inf}} \) is taken for all \( m\)-configurations. An \( n\)-configuration is called \textit{simplicial} if the convex hull of corresponding \( n\) points is a simplex. Let \( \Delta ({\mathcal K}, O)\) be the set of all simplicial configurations. If every sequence of simplicial configuration minimizing \( \sigma_n \) subconverges within \( \Delta ({\mathcal K}, O)\), then the point \( O \) is called regular. A point \( O \in {\text{ int }}{\mathcal K} \) is called singular, if a minimizing sequence at this point degenerates. Let \( {\mathcal R} \subset {\text{ int }}{\mathcal K}\) be the set of regular points, and \( {\mathcal S} \) be the set of singular points. The body \( {\mathcal K}\) is called \textit{simplicial in codimension} \( k \) if it possesses an \( (n-k)\)-dimensional simplicial slice across any its interior point \(O\). The main results of the paper are { Theorem A.} Let \( {\mathcal K} \subset {\mathbb E}^n\) be a convex body. Assume that \( \ell^* > n-1\). Then the critical set \( {\mathcal K}^* \) consists of a single regular point \( O^* \in {\mathcal R}\), and \( \sigma_n ({\mathcal K},O^*) = (n+1)/(1+\ell^*)\). { Theorem B.} Let \( {\mathcal K} \subset {\mathbb E}^n\) be a codimension \( 1 \) convex body. Then \( \ell^* \geq n-1\) and equality holds if and only if \( {\mathcal K}^* \subset {\mathcal S}\). The measure of symmetry \( \sigma_n ({\mathcal K} , \cdot )\) as a function on the interior of \( {\mathcal K}\) is concave. Given \( O \in {\text{ int }}{\mathcal K}\), for any \( O \in {\mathcal M} (O)\), the line segment \( [ O, C^o ) \) intersects \( {\mathcal R}\) and \({\mathcal S} \) in intervals (one of which can be empty). In particular, \({\mathcal S} \cup \partial {\mathcal K} \) is path-connected and \( {\mathcal R}\) is (topologically) \( (n-1)\)-connected. { Theorem C.} Let \( {\mathcal K} \subset {\mathbb E}^n\) be a convex body with all its interior points regular. Assume that one of the following conditions hold: (I) There is a flat point on \( \partial {\mathcal K}\), that is a point \( C \in \partial {\mathcal K}\) with a hyperplane \({\mathcal H} \subset {\mathbb E}^n \) supporting \({\mathcal K} \) such that \( C \) is contained in the (non-empty) interior of \( \partial {\mathcal K} \cap {\mathcal H}\) in \( {\mathcal H}\). (II) Assume that \({\mathcal K} \) has (at least) \( n\) isolated extremal points on its boundary. Then \({\mathcal K} \) is an \( n\)-simplex. The main aim of these results is to measure how far a convex body with a base interior point is from an inscribed simplex in the ``minimal'' position at this point.