The problem of two sticks (Q765900)

Two directed line segments \([a_0,a_1]\) and \([b_0,b_1]\) in a Minkowski space are said to satisfy the ``two sticks'' condition if \(\|a_0-a_1\|\leq\|a_0-b_1\|\) and \(\|b_0-b_1\|\leq\|b_0-a_1\|\). This concept arises from the theory of eikonal equations. In a strictly convex space, two such sticks with equal length and different initial points (i.e., \(a_0\neq b_0\)) must be disjoint. So, if a family of sticks in such a space satisfies this condition pairwise, then the mapping from the set of all intermediate points of all sticks to the corresponding endpoints is well defined. Its continuity is studied here, in terms of the moduli and smoothness of the space. For an \(\ell_p\) norm, this mapping is Hölder continuous with exponent \(\min\{2/p,p/2\}\). Generalizing the \(\ell_p\) norms, a new geometric property for (smooth, strictly convex) Minkowski spaces is defined: There exist positive constants \(R, K\) such that for all non-zero vectors \(x,y\) with \(\|y\|\leq R\|x\|\), we have \[ \|x+y\|-\|x\|-N(x)(y)\leq K(\|x-y\|-\|x\|-N(x)(-y)). \] Here \(N(x)\) denotes the (norm one) support functional for \(x\). Actually, three equivalent formulations of this property are given. In this generality, a similar but technical conclusion about endpoints of the collection of sticks is drawn, under the assumption that all intermediate points (at fixed distance from the initial points) lie within a fixed small ball.