Matthieu Fradelizi

For a compact set $A \subset \mathbb {R}^d$ and an integer $k\ge 1$ , let us denote by $\begin{equation*} A[k] = \left \{a_1+\cdots +a_k: a_1, \ldots , a_k\in A\right \}=\sum _{i=1}^k A \end{equation*}$ the Minkowski sum of $k$ copies of $A$ . A theorem of Shapley, Folkmann and Starr (1969) states that $\frac {1}{k}A[k]$ converges to the convex hull of $A$ in Hausdorff distance as $k$ tends to infinity. Bobkov, Madiman and Wang [ Concentration, functional inequalities and isoperimetry , Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 2011] conjectured that the volume of $\frac {1}{k}A[k]$ is nondecreasing in $k$ , or in other words, in terms of the volume deficit between the convex hull of $A$ and $\frac {1}{k}A[k]$ , this convergence is monotone. It was proved by Fradelizi, Madiman, Marsiglietti and Zvavitch [C. R. Math. Acad. Sci. Paris 354 (2016), pp. 185–189] that this conjecture holds true if $d=1$ but fails for any $d \geq 12$ . In this paper we show that the conjecture is true for any star-shaped set $A \subset \mathbb {R}^d$ for $d=2$ and $d=3$ and also for arbitrary dimensions $d \ge 4$ under the condition $k \ge (d-1)(d-2)$ . In addition, we investigate the conjecture for connected sets and present a counterexample to a generalization of the conjecture to the Minkowski sum of possibly distinct sets in $\mathbb {R}^d$ , for any $d \geq 7$ .

For a compact set $A \subset {\mathbb R}^d$ and an integer $k\ge 1$, let us denote by $$ A[k] = \left\{a_1+\cdots +a_k: a_1, \ldots, a_k\in A\right\}=\sum_{i=1}^k A$$ the Minkowski sum of $k$ copies of $A$. A theorem of Shapley, Folkmann and Starr (1969) states that $\frac{1}{k}A[k]$ converges to the convex hull of $A$ in Hausdorff distance as $k$ tends to infinity. Bobkov, Madiman and Wang (2011) conjectured that the volume of $\frac{1}{k}A[k]$ is non-decreasing in $k$, or in other words, in terms of the volume deficit between the convex hull of $A$ and $\frac{1}{k}A[k]$, this convergence is monotone. It was proved by Fradelizi, Madiman, Marsiglietti and Zvavitch (2016) that this conjecture holds true if $d=1$ but fails for any $d \geq 12$. In this paper we show that the conjecture is true for any star-shaped set $A \subset {\mathbb R}^d$ for $d=2$ and $d=3$ and also for arbitrary dimensions $d \ge 4$ under the condition $k \ge (d-1)(d-2)$. In addition, we investigate the conjecture for connected sets and present a counterexample to a generalization of the conjecture to the Minkowski sum of possibly distinct sets in ${\mathbb R}^d$, for any $d \geq 7$.

The goal of this paper is to study geometric and extremal properties of the convex body $B_{\mathcal F(M)}$, which is the unit ball of the Lipschitz-free Banach space associated with a finite metric space $M$. We investigate $\ell_1$ and $\ell_\infty$-sums, in particular we characterize the metric spaces such that $B_{\mathcal F(M)}$ is a Hanner polytope. We also characterize the finite metric spaces whose Lipschitz-free spaces are isometric. We discuss the extreme properties of the volume product $\mathcal{P}(M)=|B_{\mathcal F(M)}|\cdot|B_{\mathcal F(M)}^\circ|$, when the number of elements of $M$ is fixed. We show that if $\mathcal P(M)$ is maximal among all the metric spaces with the same number of points, then all triangle inequalities in $M$ are strict and $B_{\mathcal F(M)}$ is simplicial. We also focus on the metric spaces minimizing $\mathcal P(M)$, and in the Mahler's conjecture for this class of convex bodies.

Let us define for a compact set $A \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ the sequence $$ A(k) = \left\{\frac{a_1+\cdots +a_k}{k}: a_1, \ldots, a_k\in A\right\}=\frac{1}{k}\Big(\underset{k\ {\rm times}}{\underbrace{A + \cdots + A}}\Big). $$ It was independently proved by Shapley, Folkman and Starr (1969) and by Emerson and Greenleaf (1969) that $A(k)$ approaches the convex hull of $A$ in the Hausdorff distance induced by the Euclidean norm as $k$ goes to $\infty$. We explore in this survey how exactly $A(k)$ approaches the convex hull of $A$, and more generally, how a Minkowski sum of possibly different compact sets approaches convexity, as measured by various indices of non-convexity. The non-convexity indices considered include the Hausdorff distance induced by any norm on $\mathbb{R}^n$, the volume deficit (the difference of volumes), a non-convexity index introduced by Schneider (1975), and the effective standard deviation or inner radius. After first clarifying the interrelationships between these various indices of non-convexity, which were previously either unknown or scattered in the literature, we show that the volume deficit of $A(k)$ does not monotonically decrease to 0 in dimension 12 or above, thus falsifying a conjecture of Bobkov et al. (2011), even though their conjecture is proved to be true in dimension 1 and for certain sets $A$ with special structure. On the other hand, Schneider's index possesses a strong monotonicity property along the sequence $A(k)$, and both the Hausdorff distance and effective standard deviation are eventually monotone (once $k$ exceeds $n$). Along the way, we obtain new inequalities for the volume of the Minkowski sum of compact sets, falsify a conjecture of Dyn and Farkhi (2004), demonstrate applications of our results to combinatorial discrepancy theory, and suggest some questions worthy of further investigation.

For a convex body $K \subset {\mathbb R}^n$, let $K^z = \{y\in{\mathbb R}^n : \langle y-z, x-z\rangle\le 1, \mbox{\ for all\ } x\in K\}$ be the polar body of $K$ with respect to the center of polarity $z \in {\mathbb R}^n$. The goal of this paper is to study the maximum of the volume product $\mathcal{P}(K)=\min_{z\in {\rm int}(K)}|K||K^z|$, among convex polytopes $K\subset {\mathbb R}^n$ with a number of vertices bounded by some fixed integer $m \ge n+1$. In particular, we prove that the supremum is reached at a simplicial polytope with exactly $m$ vertices and we provide a new proof of a result of Meyer and Reisner showing that, in the plane, the regular polygon has maximal volume product among all polygons with at most $m$ vertices. Finally, we treat the case of polytopes with $n+2$ vertices in ${\mathbb R}^n$.

Let $K$ be a convex body in $\mathbb R^n$. We prove that in small codimensions, the sections of a convex body through the centroid are quite symmetric with respect to volume. As a consequence of our estimates we give a positive answer to a problem posed by M. Meyer and S. Reisner regarding convex intersection bodies.

Let us define, for a compact set $A \subset \mathbb{R}^n$, the Minkowski averages of $A$: $$ A(k) = \left\{\frac{a_1+\cdots +a_k}{k} : a_1, \ldots, a_k\in A\right\}=\frac{1}{k}\Big(\underset{k\ {\rm times}}{\underbrace{A + \cdots + A}}\Big). $$ We study the monotonicity of the convergence of $A(k)$ towards the convex hull of $A$, when considering the Hausdorff distance, the volume deficit and a non-convexity index of Schneider as measures of convergence. For the volume deficit, we show that monotonicity fails in general, thus disproving a conjecture of Bobkov, Madiman and Wang. For Schneider's non-convexity index, we prove that a strong form of monotonicity holds, and for the Hausdorff distance, we establish that the sequence is eventually nonincreasing.

We prove that for $s<0$, $s$-concave measures on ${\mathbb R}^n$ satisfy a thin shell concentration similar to the log-concave one. It leads to a Berry-Esseen type estimate for their one dimensional marginal distributions. We also establish sharp reverse H\"older inequalities for $s$-concave measures.