Continuous translation invariant valuations on convex bodies (Q760916)

A real-valued function \(\phi\) over the space \({\mathcal K}^ d\) of non-empty compact convex sets in Euclidean d-space is a valuation if \(\phi (K\cup L)+\phi (K\cap L)=\phi (K)+\phi (L)\) whenever K, L, \(K\cup L\) are in \({\mathcal K}^ d\). Examples: Euler characteristic, volume. This paper provides the following characterization of valuations which are translation-invariant, continuous with respect to the Hausdorff metric on \({\mathcal K}^ d\), and homogeneous of degree r, for \(r=1,2,...,d-1:\) there are infinite sequences \(\{L_ n\}\), \(\{M_ n\}\) in \({\mathcal K}^ d\) such that for any \(m>0\), \(\phi\) (K) equals \(\lim_{n\to \infty}[V(L_ n;K,r;B,d-r-1)-V(M_ n;K,r;B,d-r-1)]\) uniformly for all K in \({\mathcal K}^ d\) which contain mB; here B is the unit ball and V(L;K,r;B,d-r-1) is the mixed volume of L taken once, K taken r times, B taken \(d-r-1\) times. From the cases in which \(\phi\) is homogeneous, the general characterization can be deduced.