Intersection of maximal orthogonally starshaped polygons (Q5945004)

The convex kernel of a starshaped set \(S\) is the intersection of all maximal convex subsets of \textit{S. W. R. Hare} and \textit{J. W. Kenelly} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 19, 1299-1302 (1968; Zbl 0174.25301)] investigatgd the analogous problem of describing the intersection \(P(S)\) of all maximal starshaped subsets of a set and showed that for a compact simply connected set \(S\) in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) \(P(S)\) is starshaped or empty. Here Topală investigates the staircase analogues of starshaped sets in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) [\textit{M. Breen}, Geom. Dedicata 49, 323-333 (1994; Zbl 0841.52006)]. An orthogonal polygon is the connected union of (possibly degenerate) rectangles whose edges are parallel to the coordinate axes. A staircase path is a polygonal path such that the direction of the (directed) edges alternates between two orthogonal directions parallel to the coordinate axes. A set \(S\) is starshaped via staircase paths if there is a point \(x\in S\) that can be connected to any other point of \(S\) by a staircase path. The set of all such points \(x\) is the staircase kernel \(\text{ker }S\) of \(S\). Theorem: Let \(S\) be a simply connected orthogonal polygon in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) and let \(P(S)\) be the intersection of all maximal starshaped via staircase paths orthogonal polygons in \(S\). If \(P(S)\neq 0\), then there exists a maximal starshaped via staircase paths orthogonal polygon \(T\subseteq S\) such that \(\text{ker} T\subset\text{ker } P(S)\). As a corollary Topală obtains a staircase analogue of Hare-Kenelly's theorem: \(P(S)\) is either starshaped or empty. An example shows that the condition that \(S\) be simply connected cannot be dropped.