What Are Applications of CONVEX SETS and The Notion of Convexity in Mathematics and Science

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Question Asked 4 years ago
James F Peters
169.95 ·University of Manitoba
What are applications of convex sets and the notion of convexity in mathematics and
science?
In a Euclidean space, an object S is convex, provided the line segment connecting
each pair of points in S is also within S. Examples of convex objects in the attached
image include convex polyhedra and tilings containing convex polygons. Can other
tilings containing convex shapes be found?
Solid cubes (not hollow cubes or cubes with dents in them) are also examples of
convex objects. However, crescent shapes (a partial pointfilled circular disk) are
nonconvex . To test the nonconvexity of a crescent, select a pair of points along
the inner edge of a crescent and draw a line segment between the selected points.
Except for the end points, the remaining points in the line segment will not be within
the crescent. Except for the 3rd and 5th cubes, the cubes in the attached images
are convex objects (all points bounded by walls of each cube are contained in the
cube).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cube
From lefttoright, the cresent shapes are shown in the attached image are non
convex: Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan dome, Taj Mahal, flags of Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey
and Turkmenistan. For more examples of crescent objects, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent
Can you identify other crescent shapes in art or in architecture that are nonconvex?
Going further, can you identify other nonconvex objects in art or in architecture?
The notion of convexity leads to many practical applications such as optimization
http://www.lix.polytechnique.fr/~liberti/phdthesis.pdf
image processing
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Convex sets also appear in solving force closure in robotic grasping, e.g., View
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221105156_Projection_on_Convex_Set_a
of convex sets and convex functions?
nd_Its_Application_in_Testing_Force_Closure_Properties_of_Robotic_Grasping
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Recent work has been done on decomposing 2D and 3D models into their
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Thanks in advance.
J.M. Lien, Approximate convex decomposition and its applications, Ph.D. thesis,
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What is the difference between convex and
http://cs.gmu.edu/~jmlien/research/appcd/liendissertation.pdf nonconvex optimization problems?
There are many other applications of the notion of convexity in Science. Can you Question 76 answers

suggest any? Asked 5 years ago
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convexObjects.jpg · 55.28 KB spaces hold a significant position in Fixed Point
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Daniel Page 4 years ago View
The University of Western Ontario How to explain the meaning of a fixed point
It is always lovely when you can form a convex polyhedron with a discrete of a mapping to nonmathematicians. In other
optimization problem. It gives you properties you can exploit, some that you have words, where can we find reallife examples
pointed out. The application I'd like to point out is Scheduling. Scheduling is pretty of such points?
notorious for exploiting properties of convex polyhedra if the problem as an
Question 27 answers
optimization problem can be formulated as a relaxed LP (of its IP counterpart). Of
course this usually means solving a linear program then rounding can be used (or in Asked a year ago
some realms is avoided, but instead primaldual approaches are found at times). Rqeeb Gubran
For example, when we xerox a document, the
Here is an example of how (the rounding theorem in this paper is the crux of how):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/4355176_Approximation_algorithms_for_s printer takes the A4 page to the same. Are there
cheduling_unrelated_parallel_machines other better examples?
View
The above link is to a very important 2approximation algorithm that showed how Does anyone have theorem for uniqueness
you can tackle heterogeneous computer scheduling (unrelated parallel machines) solution of nonlinear equations system?
with linear programming, and still matches the best approximation factor to this date Question 16 answers
(some others have been proposed with the same approximation factor). New results
still draw from this paper to this date (see the cited in, there are a lot). Asked 4 years ago
Peyman Bolghar
The notion of convexity can be applied to optimization problems and give us a better
I mean is nonlinear equations system with n
understanding of how well or just how we can approximate intractable problems.
equations and n unknowns.
Hope this helps :)! View
Conference Paper Approximation Algorithms for Scheduling Unrelated Paralle
Machines
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Vyacheslav Lyashenko 4 years ago
Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics
Duality and Convex Optimization
Dear James. What I encountered this methods the optimal placement of objects on
Chapter
a plane (for example, for optimal cutting of materials). In image processing some
segmentation techniques. The theory of convex sets is used in the economy (for Jun 2018
example, the optimal allocation of resources). Constantin P. Niculescu · LarsErik
10 Recommendations Persson
Convex optimization is one of the main
Daniel Page 4 years ago applications of the theory of convexity and
The University of Western Ontario
Legendre–Fenchel duality is a basic tool, maki…
View
It is always lovely when you can form a convex polyhedron with a discrete Study on the performance characteristics of
optimization problem. It gives you properties you can exploit, some that you have convex hull algorithms.
pointed out. The application I'd like to point out is Scheduling. Scheduling is pretty
notorious for exploiting properties of convex polyhedra if the problem as an Article
optimization problem can be formulated as a relaxed LP (of its IP counterpart). Of Dec 1999
course this usually means solving a linear program then rounding can be used (or in Khin Maung Aye
some realms is avoided, but instead primaldual approaches are found at times).
In this dissertation, the author has made an
Here is an example of how (the rounding theorem in this paper is the crux of how): attempt to study the performance characteristics
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/4355176_Approximation_algorithms_for_s of various convex hull algorithms currently…
cheduling_unrelated_parallel_machines
View
The above link is to a very important 2approximation algorithm that showed how
you can tackle heterogeneous computer scheduling (unrelated parallel machines) Inscribing a Symmetric Body in an Ellipse.
with linear programming, and still matches the best approximation factor to this date
Article
(some others have been proposed with the same approximation factor). New results
still draw from this paper to this date (see the cited in, there are a lot). Aug 1996
Francisco Santos
The notion of convexity can be applied to optimization problems and give us a better
understanding of how well or just how we can approximate intractable problems. We prove that any bounded, centrally symmetric
object K in the plane can be inscribed in an
Hope this helps :)! ellipse E touching its boundary @K at at least…
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Conference Paper Approximation Algorithms for Scheduling Unrelated Paralle
Machines
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James F Peters 4 years ago
University of Manitoba
Dear Vyacheslav,
Many thanks for your observations. If possible, please post links to optimal
placement and image processing, especially in segmentation. One obvious way to
segment an image using the idea of convexity is to do the following:
superimpose a Voronoi diagram on a image. The Voronoi diagram consists of
convex polygons that cover an image. The sample Voronoi diagrams were
produced using Mathematica (see, e.g., the 2D colour diagram, where convex
polygon is filled with a single colour). In segmenting an image using this idea, it will
be necessary to decide what part of an image each convex polygon would cover.
Do you have any suggestions?
VoronoiDiagramPlots.jpg · 78.44 KB
6 Recommendations
Dear Daniel,
Many thanks for your observations. Do you have any examples of intractable
problems that have been approximated using the notion of convexity? One thing
comes to mind about how one might solve the approximation problem. Try J.M.
Lien's approach where we relax the convex set requirement and allow shapes to be
pp , q p
partially convex. There are many examples showing partial convexity in
http://cs.gmu.edu/~jmlien/research/appcd/liendissertation.pdf
4 Recommendations
Vyacheslav Lyashenko 4 years ago
Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics
Dear James.
First of all, give reference works YG Stoyan and SV Yakovlev, which relate to the
theory of optimal placement of objects on a plane:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02742066#page1
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01130367#page1
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s1055901496264#page1
YG Stoyan and SV Yakovlev are students Rvacheva (founder of the theory of R
functions).
6 Recommendations
Manouchehr Amiri 4 years ago
I remember two recent notions pertained to "convexity" in mathematical physics:
1) convexity theorem of Atiyah in symplectic manifold. 2) recent amplituhedron as
convex polytopes in twistormomentum space that simplifies the calculation of
scattering amplitudes in particle and high energy physics.
4 Recommendations
Dear Vyacheslav,
As a followup to what you observed, I found the following report:
Y.G. Stoyan, N.I. Gil', A. Pankratov, G. Scheithauer, Packing nonconvex polytopes
into a parallelepiped, Technische Universitat Dresden, 2004:
http://www.math.tudresden.de/~scheith/ABSTRACTS/PREPRINTS/04nonconv.pdf
Here the trick is to consider convex subregions in looking for local minima.
1 Recommendation
Dear Manouchehr,
I found the following paper:
W. Schmaltz, The AtiyahGuilleminSternberg convexity theorem, 2010:
http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~may/VIGRE/VIGRE2010/REUPapers/Schmaltz.pdf
The AtiyahGuilleminSternberg convexity theorem is given (with a proof) in Section
8, p. 12. Is this the theorem you mentioned?
2 Recommendations
Manouchehr Amiri 4 years ago
Yes exactly, and a few similar articles where the relation between volume (measure)
of convex polytopes toral varieties, angular momentum and algebraic geometry has
been explored, the reason of my interest is the possible relation between probability
amplitudes explained in the context of amplituhedron and the Koushnirenko theorem
mentioned in an article by Atiah :ANGULAR MOMENTUM,CONVEX POLYHEDRA
AND ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY. These diverse concepts may originate from a
hidden common background.
3 Recommendations
Costas Drossos 4 years ago
University of Patras
Dear Jim,
Your question forms one the kernels of mathematics! It may cove a very large part of
mathematics. As for applications I can think of:
Economics: Optimisation
Algebraic Topology:
[Günter_Ewald]_Combinatorial_Convexity_and_Algebraic_Geometry
[John_R_Stallings]_Lectures_on_polyhedral_topology
Jakob Jonsson, Simplicial Complexes of Graphs, Springer.
Various applications:
Convex Sets and Their Applications (Dover Books on Mathematics) Paperback –
June 5, 2007 by Steven R. Lay
3 Recommendations
Ljubomir Jacić 4 years ago
Technical College Požarevac
Dear @James, seems the application of convex sets is present in so many areas. I
will mention the application of convex sets in the are of system science, dynamical
systems and control. I have attached 3 papers bellow! The formulation of convex
optimization problems as Linear Matrix inequalities in Systems and Control is known
for a long time and it is solved by MATLAB.It seems that the possibility of convex
sets application is inexhaustible!
http://wwwverimag.imag.fr/~maler/Papers/reachinfinity.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022247X87900953
http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/111904/files/KKLECC07.pdf
6 Recommendations
Dear Costas,
Many thanks for your observations and pointers towards applications of convexity.
2 Recommendations
Dear Ljubomir,
Yes, convex sets are omnipresent and very useful in quite a few applications such
as those mentioned by @Costas and by you.
3 Recommendations
Dejenie A. Lakew 4 years ago
Stratford University
Dear James,
Aside from the convex sets in Euclidean spaces either abstract or geometric used in
applications (optimization, control theory, etc) and for the sake of abstract studies
that are closed by segment connectivity, to see that notion of being convex outside
of mathematics, any matter that constantly moves, rotates and have frictions with an
outside physical matter tends to become convex as the edges or corners that
pointed inward, reasons of concavity, forced to disappear over time.
The universe is a convex set in which no dent will exist as it rotates and moves
outward constantly. We also see that things in nature that tend to be stable are
either convex or starshaped as the existence of dents make them loose stability and
eventually disappear from existence or from their original position.
3 Recommendations
Behrouz AhmadiNedushan 4 years ago
Yazd University
Dear James,
I am teaching the course of engineering optimization. One section is devoted to
definition of convexity and convex sets. If the objective function and constraints are
all convex , we will have a convex programming problem. These problems have the
property that any local minimum must be a global minimum.
Real word convex optimizations problems are not very common in civil engineering
and most of problems are nonconvex. I have attached a Ph.D. thesis in topology
optimization in which convex modeling is used:
Zhao, X. (2013). Convex modeling based topology optimization under load
uncertainty (Doctoral dissertation, RUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW
JERSEYNEW BRUNSWICK).
Convex modeling based topology optimization under load u… tainty.pdf · 2.01 MB
5 Recommendations
Dear Behrouz,
Your engineering optimisation course covers some noteworthy topics and the
report by A. BenTal, Convex optimization in engineering: modeling, analysis,
algorithms is interesting.
2011 was a bumper year for doctoral dissertations on convexity and convex
optimisation. Perhaps you will find the following thesis helpful for your course:
Martin Jaggi, Sparse Convex Optimization Methods for Machine Learning, Ph.D.
thesis, 2011:
http://m8j.net/math/thesis.pdf
This thesis presents some interesting aspects of convex functions. See, e.g.,
Section 2.3, starting on page 20, convex optimisation.
A good introduction to convexity and optimisation is given in
C. Vinzant, Real Algebraic Geometry in Convex Optimization, Ph.D thesis, 2011:
http://wwwpersonal.umich.edu/~vinzant/thesisVinzant.pdf
4 Recommendations
Demetris Christopoulos 4 years ago
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Convexity in sets [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convex_set ] silently implies the
notion of closure: The set is closed for every specific linear combination of its
elements with coefficients added to unity, ie
k1 x1+k2 x2 + ... + kn xn belongs to S, for all xi,i=1,2,...,n of S, with k1+k2+...+kn=1
Thus we have a special case of closure, which is fundamental in Mathematics. I
remind that both Algebra & Topology are based on closure.
The problem is that, like Taylor series expansion and linearization processes, there
also exists a false attitude that all problems can be 'convexitable', ie we can find a
convex approximation of them. This practice has led to big fallacies, especially in
optimization algorithms.
1 Recommendation
I may add some references on convexity:
Jan van Tiel Convex Analysis An Introductory Text
Constantin Niculescu, LarsErik Persson Convex Functions and Their
Applications
Ralph Tyrell Rockafellar Convex analysis
The first is an introductory text and the last two advanced.
1 Recommendation
Dear Costas,
The added references are very helpful. I just now found an online copy of
C.P. Niculescu, Convex Functions and Their Applications. A Contemporary
Approach. SPIN Springer, 2004, x + 250pp:
http://carma.newcastle.edu.au/jon/Preprints/Books/CUP/CUPold/npconvex.pdf
This book has 255 references, 10 pages, 236246,
extensive keyword index, 247250,
indexed major theorems, p. 250
helpful list of symbols, 13
5 details appendices, including Appendix A Background on Convex Sets, 197206
The book itself is wellwritten.
2 Recommendations
@Demetris Christopoulos: ...there also exists a false attitude that all problems can
be 'convexitable', ie we can find a convex approximation of them. This practice has
led to big fallacies, especially in optimization algorithms.
If possible, please give examples of falacies found in optimization algorithms. It
would be interesting to see where attempts at convex approximation have failed.
3 Recommendations
Mihai Prunescu 4 years ago
Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy
Dear James, besides applications, convex sets are an object of unbelievable deep
theoretical study. Convex compact sets in Rn build a Baire space, so it makes sense
to speak about their topological majority (where a minority is a subset of first Baire
category, and the majority is ist complement). An intersection of finitely many
topological majorities is again a topological majority, so one can speak about the
typical convex body. Following Victor Klee, most convex bodies are strictly convex,
C1 and not C2. Many other typical properties followed, some of them discovered by
Tudor Zamfirescu. The portrait of the typical convex body looks really weird, and is,
to sum up, a strong existence theorem. It is really hard to imagine how the typical
convex body is, when we try to put all typical properties together...
2 Recommendations
Demetris Christopoulos 4 years ago
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Many models, that are used every day as valid, have been built upon a hidden
convexity issue.Take for example the Markowitz portfolio theory:
http://stephenkinsella.net/WordPress/wpcontent/uploads/2008/02/mark91.pdf
And all utility theory (even Economics as a feild) have as requirement convexity.
A smal example: in Greece we have three oil refiners. Can you define convexity
constraints with such a small number? Maybe no, but all theory is based on
convexity.
2 Recommendations
Deleted profile
Dear James,
I should add to the above list, another stillinteresting application of convexity in
mathematical finance, namely "measures of risk". A good introduction to the subject
are Delbaen' s papers (just google the name), starting with 1999, and then a vast
literature that followed, concerning coherence, convexity, relevance etc. associated
with those measures of risk.
Sincerely,
George
3 Recommendations
Dear @George and @Demetris,
Yes, many thanks for the suggestions about mathematical finance and
econometrics. See, for example,
E. Hazan, Efficient Algorithms for Online Convex Optimization and Their
Applications, Ph.D. thesis, Princeton University, 2006:
http://ie.technion.ac.il/~ehazan/papers/thesis.pdf
See Chapter 3, starting on page 39, experiments with portfolio management.
2 Recommendations
Dear Mihai,
Many thanks for your observations about convex compact sets and convex bodies.
In terms of convex bodies, I just now found a remarkable Ph.D. thesis:
S. Taschuk, Some Inequalities in Convex Geometry, Ph.D. thesis, University of
Alberta, 2013:
http://www.ualberta.ca/~staschuk/taschukphdthesis.pdf
This thesis gives an upper bound for the BanachMazur distance between an origin
symmetric convex body and the ndimensional cube (See chapter 2, starting on
page 13).
Rafael Frongillo 4 years ago
University of Colorado Boulder
Hi James,
The design of prediction markets involves much convex analysis
<http://www.jennwv.com/papers/marketslong.pdf>, for similar reasons to risk
measures which George mentioned. Convexity also underlies much of mechanism
design / auction theory the "consumer surplus" function is always convex
<http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.3043>. Notably, although I generally agree with Demetris'
comment, in mechanism design convexity seems to come as a consequence rather
than an assumption. Lastly, there are two major appearances of convexity in
statistics that I'm aware of (and surely there are many others): the cumulant function
for exponential families (see Ch.3 of <http://www.rtvz.qjps.com/media/Journal
ArticlePDFs/2200000001.pdf>, and Fig.3.5), and relatedly, in scoring rules used to
evaluate statistical forecasts. The latter I find best summarized by McCarthy in his
wonderful yet short 1956 paper "Measures of the value of information":
y p p ,
The intuitive content of the convexity restriction is that it is always a good idea to
look at the outcome of an experiment if it is free. For suppose that the experiment
has two outcomes, A and A*, which would give one probabilities p and p* for the
event in question. Let t be the probability that A is the outcome. If we decide not to
look, our expectation is f(tp + (1t)p*), while if we decide to look, our expectation is
tf(p) + (1t)f(p*).
It is hard not to encounter convexity everywhere once you start thinking about it!
Raf
2 Recommendations
Á. G. Horváth 4 years ago
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Dear James,
One of the most interesting problem on the space of convex bodies the following:
How can we construct a measure which is a geometric measure in the sense that
invariant under rigid motions, the convex polytopes have measure zero and the
smooth bodies have positive measure? Since with respect to the Hausdorff measure
this space is locally compact there are many possibility to give a Borel measure on
it, unfortunatelly this is not so. You can find some further information on this problem
in the papers:
Gruber, P.M.: {\em Convex and Discrete Geometry} SpringerVerlag Berlin
Heidelberg 2007.
Hoffmann, L. M.: Measures on the space of convex bodies. {\em Adv. Geom. } {\bf
10} (2010), 477486.
Horváth, Ákos G.: Normally distributed probability measure on the metric space of
norms. {\em Acta Mathematica Scientia} {\bf 33/5} (2013) 12311242.
Ákos
1 Recommendation
Dear Á. G. Horváth,
Many thanks for your observations and the list of papers on convex bodies and your
own paper on the metric space of norms.
In your Acta Math. Sci. paper, I am especially interested in how you define the new
system of bodies (p. 1240), starting with changing a body to a smooth body defined
by the convex hull of the ball around the origin (nice idea!).
Ilka Agricola 4 years ago
Philipps University of Marburg
Dear James,
of course, there is the huge area of convex sets in differential geometry (the notion
of `egg surfaces' for example, `Eiflaechen' in German) that one should not forget,
with beautiful contributions by Brunn, Minkowski, ChernLashof, Blaschke, Santaló,
Hadamard, CohnVossen, Pogorelow, Herglotz...; many books on the (differential)
geometry of convex sets by Kurt Leichtweiss, Wilhelm Blaschke etc. convex sets
are not in the main focus of research anymore, although there are still contributions.
Sometimes, they still make it into textbooks (for older textbooks, this was standard
material), for example, Spivak's treatise on Differential Geometry covers some of the
classical material (I recall giving a talk on the ChernLashof theorem as a student
based on his material).
1 Recommendation
Dear Ilka,
Perhaps you will find the introduction to lightlike convexity (Theorem 9.2) in the
following paper interesting:
S. Izumiya, Total lightcone curvatures of spacelike submanifolds in Lorentz
Minkowski space, arXiv, 2014:
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1403.2853.pdf
2 Recommendations
Erkki J. Brändas 4 years ago
Uppsala University
Dear James,
Let me also mention the use of convex sets in statistical mechanics. In particular the
density matrix (and its reduced variants) belong to a convex set with the limit point
corresponding to the homogeneous ensemble. Within this theory one formulates the
fundamental restrictions of Nrepresentability in manybody quantum mechanics as
well as in Liouville dynamics and associated thermalization.
See e.g. my article in Lippert Macomber "Dynamics during spectroscopic
Transitions" http://lib.ugent.be/catalog/rug01:000403795?
i=121&q=%22OPTICAL+PROPERTIES%22
Best erkki
3 Recommendations
Octav Olteanu 4 years ago
Polytechnic University of Bucharest
A first application is HahnBanach theorem and its generalizations (analytic and
geometric forms). A second application, related to the first one, deals with Krein
Milman theorem and its finite dimensional form, Caratheodory's theorem. These last
results have been used by Gustave Choquet in his theory of integral representation
involving the extreme points of a compact convex set in a locally convex space.
Finally, another application of the extreme points of a convex set (with some
additional properties), is the maximum principle for convex functions: a continuous
convex function on such a convex set attains its maximum at an extreme point of the
set. Applications in optimization theory, moment problems and other domains have
been pointed out by many authors: R.B. Holmes, "Geometric Functional Analysis
and its Applications" Springer, 1975, W. Rudin, "Real and complex analysis",
McGrawHill, Inc., 1966, R.R. Phelps, "Lectures on Choquet's theorem", D. Van
Nostrand Company, Inc., Princeton, 1966, recently Mihai Putinar and many others.
3 Recommendations
Dear Erkki,
Definitely, the use of convex sets in statistical mechanics is important, particularly in
terms of what you pointed out about the formulation of the fundamental restrictions
of Nrepresentability in many body quantum mechanics. See, for example, defining
and energy cost on the convex hull of a set of particles in
F. Bavaud, Statistical mechanics of convex bodies, J of Statistical Physics 57(5),
1989, 10591068:
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/227230552_Statistical_mechanics_of_conv
ex_bodies
Perhaps, you will find the following article interesting:
R.B. Israel, R.R. Phelphs, Some convexity questions arising in statistical mechanics,
Math. Scand. 54, 1984, 133156:
http://www.mscand.dk/article/viewFile/12048/10064
Perhaps others who follow this thread can suggest other applications of convexity in
statistical mechanics.
Article Statistical mechanics of convex bodies
3 Recommendations
Uppsala University
Thanks James for the references enclosed in your answer. Although they display
advanced math portraits in terms of definitions beyond my actual working practice I
will study them carefully.
In passing it is interesting to note that simplexes have also been used in connection
with elusive Wigner solids, i.e. in associating ordered configurations of fermions in
higher dimensional spaces as well as interpreting their lower dimensional projections
of the fractional quantum Hall effect.
3 Recommendations
Dear @Errki and @James, wonderful book about the issue which was
raised! Spectral Theory and Quantum Mechanics: With an Introduction to the
Algebraic Formulation! Wonderful contents!
http://books.google.rs/books?
id=cbJGAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
6 Recommendations
Dear Octav,
I just now found a copy of
Robert R. Phelps, Lectures on Choquet's Theorem, 2nd Ed., Lecture Notes in
Mathematics 1757, Springer, 1966.
Strict convexity starts appearing in chapter (section) 3, Choquet's Theorem, p. 15
(Phelps has a chapter on infinite dimensional convexity in W.B. Johnson and J.
Lindenstrauss, Eds., North Holland Handbook on the Geometry of Banach Spaces).
Many thanks for pointing to this book.
5 Recommendations
Uppsala University
Dear All,
Since I have often mentioned the work of my scientific father PerOlov Löwdin, I
should also recommend his book "Linear Algebra for Quantum Theory" (1998) Wiley.
POL's teachings and the organization of about 70 summer and winter schools in
Quantum Chemistry, Solid State Physics and Quantum Biology in Florida and
Sweden was finally adapted (with respect the basic mathematical introduction) to the
Wiley book mentioned above, at the end of his life. The book is a pedagogical
master piece and in addition there are some interesting sections on convex
functions, inequalities, and convex set of system operators etc.
Best
erkki
4 Recommendations
Ricardo Strausz 4 years ago
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Abstract convexity allow to create a bridge from Geometry and pure Combinatorics
(e.g., Graph Theory) embracing new cross development in those, and other areas of
research. See for examples
http://dml.cz/dmlcz/107984
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195669807002181
3 Recommendations
In the paper by J. Nesetril and R. Strausz,
Universality of separoids, Archivum Mathematicum 42(1), 2006, 85101
with the URL helpfully given by @Ricardo Strausz. The following example (p. 86)
is given:
In Example 2, J. Nesetril and R. Strausz introduce a family of convex sets F
(instead of points) in a ddimensional (normed) linear space $E^d$. Let S be a finite
set endowed with a symmetric relation define on its family of subsets (in other
words, S is a separoid). Let S(F) denote a separoid defined relative to S and F.
That is, a pair of disjoint subsets are separated, provided the disjoint subsets are not
a Radon partition. In particular, two subsets A,B of the family of convex sets F are
separated, provided there exists a hyperplane so that all members of A are one side
of the hyperplane and all members of B are on the other side the hyperplane. That
is, S(F) is a collection of separated subsets in F. This leads to the following
reasonable theorem:
Theorem Given a separoid S in $E^d$, there exists a family of convex sets in F such
that S is isomorphic to S(F).
Perhaps one of the followers of this thread will offer a proof of this Theorem.
3 Recommendations
Ismat Beg 4 years ago
Lahore School of Economics
Another good example is Pakistan's flag. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Pakistan
1 Recommendation
Dear @Ismat Beg,
Another place to look for convex sets is in a Delaunay mesh, a triangulation of a set
of points called sites. Several examples of meshes containing many convex
polygons are attached to this post.
The first example shows the surface of a hand (itself not convex) covered with
triangles that are convex.
The second example shows a Delaunay mesh covering a convex surface.
The third example shows the sites (selected points) used to construct the Delaunay
triangulation of a square. This example also includes a circumcircle that touches
(passes through) the vertices of the inner and outer triangles along perimeter of the
circle. It would be interesting to "lift" this triangulation (from the centre) to exhibit a
3D view of the convex shapes surrounding the centre.
mesh2.jpg · 41.82 KB
7 Recommendations
Bin Jiang 4 years ago
University of Gävle
HI, herewith an application. Given an architectural plan, e.g, the Alhambra plan
http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ma/htm/dj_islam/ma_dj_image_alh_plan01.htm
Is it possible to automatically partition the indoor space into many convex spaces?
the set of convex spaces must contain the least number of fattest convex spaces.
In this recent paper, http://arxiv.org/abs/1502.03554
we manually identify all convex spaces. The manual process goes like this, start with
the first fattest space, proceed with the second fattest space, and so on until the
indoor space is fully covered by the least number of fattest spaces. However, we are
seeking an automatic solution. Any advice is highly anticipated.
Cheers.
Bin
4 Recommendations
@Bin Jiang : Is it possible to automatically partition the indoor space into many
convex spaces?
Yes, provided that a scale model of the indoor space. The scale model can be
either in 2D or 3D. One way to solve the partition problem is to separate the parts
of space into polygon regions. Assuming that each polygonal region can be drawn
in the plane, then a number of choices can be made to obtain the partition of each
polygonal region. Here is one of the choices:
Voronoi mesh: Select a set S of sites (points used to construct a mesh). Let p be
a site in S. Let $\mathbb{R}^2$ denote a 2D plane. Let ||x p|| denote the
Euclidean distance between points p and x, The construct a Voronoi region $V_p$
defined by
\[
V_p = \left\{ x \n \mathbb{R}^2: ||x p|| \leq ||x q||, \forall q\in S \right\}
\]
Each point in the 2D plane has a least one nearest point in S. Hence, x lies in at
least one Voronoi region $V_p$. This means that the voronoi regions cover the
entire plane. And each Voronoi region is a convex polygon. A sample Voronoi
mesh is shown in the attached image.
VoronoiMesh.jpg · 28.05 KB
7 Recommendations
Hi, the solution sounds excellent if the indoor space is fully empty. However, the
indoor space has many barriers such as walls and pillars; see the example of the
Alhambra:
http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ma/htm/dj_islam/ma_dj_image_alh_plan01.htm
By the way, how to insert a picture into this editor tool? copy and paste seems does
not work. Thanks.
Bin
4 Recommendations
An interesting application of convexity is on Exponential families by Ole Barndorff
Nielsen:
Ole BarndorffNielsen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_BarndorffNielsen
Exponential family
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_family
4 Recommendations
@Costas Drossos: An interesting application of convexity is on Exponential families
by Ole BarndorffNielsen.
Many thanks for pointing to the work by Ole BarndorffNielsen, who introduces a
natural (vector) parameter $\nu$ in a probability density function that models a
singleparameter family that is a set of probability distributions. It is mentioned that
the set of values of $\nu$ for which the function $f_X(x;\theta)$ is finite is called the
natural paramter space. And that it can be shown that the natural parameter space
is always convex. Do you know of a proof of this assertion?
I played with the idea of functions with vector parameters independent of PDFs. I
found the following Mathematica 10 script that may be of interest to followers of this
thread:
Plot3D[Sqrt[1 x^2 y^2], {x, 1, 1}, {y, 1, 1},
MeshShading > {{Yellow, Green}, {Pink, Red}}, Mesh > 8]
Each cell in the mesh produced by this script is a 3D convex quadrilateral (see the
attached image).
meshCellColours.jpg · 120.20 KB
6 Recommendations
@Bin Jiang: Hi, the solution sounds excellent if the indoor space is fully empty.
However, the indoor space has many barriers such as walls and pillars….
Many thanks for pointing this out. There is a solution to the problem of partitioning
an indoor space (with barriers such as walls and pillars) with convex spaces. The
basic approach hinges on judiciously sectioning an indoor space with barriers so that
each barrier is a section boundary. For simplicity, assume that a barrier such as a
wall has the thickness of a line segment in geometry. The a wall provides an ideal
boundary of a section of an indoor space. Then a Voronoi mesh can be
superimposed on each wallbounded section, i.e., each wallbounded space is
tessellated with a Voronoi mesh, provided a set of special points called sites is
selected. A common choice of sites is the set of centroids of the segments of a
section of indoor space.
In the case of pillars in an indoor space, assume that the diameter of each pillar has
the diameter of a point in geometry, i.e., a zerolength diameter. Then use the
pillars as a source of corner sites (instead of centroid sites).
@Bin Jiang: By the way, how to insert a picture into this editor tool? To insert a
picture, do the following:
1. click on the file button in the menu bar at the bottom of a message.
2. select the picture file in one of your local directories.
3. let the editor upload your picture after you have selected a picture file name by
highlighting it with your cursor.
Then the uploaded picture will appear at the bottom of a message.
3 Recommendations
The suggestion sounds very promising, so thanks a lot...
The following picture shows convex spaces we manually identified for part of the
Alhambra plan: barriers in gray, convex spaces in white, and their centroids in red.
The dot sizes show the degrees of life for individual convex spaces as developed in
this paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/1502.03554
This is also to test how to insert a picture into the editor tool.
Alhambra.jpg · 58.40 KB
Alhambra2.jpg · 144.77 KB
3 Recommendations
@Bin Jiang: The following picture shows convex spaces we manually identified for
part of the Alhambra plan: barriers in gray ...
I just now experimented with your floorplan image and did the following things:
1. found the corners in each part of the floorplan.
2. constructed Voronoi mesh, using the corners as generating points (sites). The
resulting Voronoi mesh consists of different polygons.
3. superimposed the Voronoi mesh on the floorplan.
4, constructed a Delaunay mesh, using the corners again as generating points. The
resulting Delaunay mesh consists entirely of triangles with varying area, depending
the distance between pairs of generating points.
5. superimposed the Delaunay mesh on the floorplan.
See the attached image for the result. You may want to consider separate meshes
not superimposed on each other.
floorplanMesh.jpg · 587.79 KB
5 Recommendations
Ahmad Shirzadi 4 years ago
Persian Gulf University
Another interesting application of convex sets is in the approximation theory. If the
approximation set or the norm are strictly convex, then the best approximation is
unique.See the second chapter of the book "Approximation theory and methods" by
M.J.D.POWELRegards.
5 Recommendations
@Ahmad Shirzadi: Another interesting application of convex sets is in the
approximation theory.
Excellent!
As a followup in terms of convexity in solving computer vision problems, consider
C. Olsson, Global optimization in computer vision: Convexity, cuts and
approximation algorithms, Lund University, 2009:
http://www2.maths.lth.se/vision/publdb/reports/pdf/olssonphd09.pdf
The basic idea is to define a transformation so that the mapping of the measurement
points comes as close as possible to their corresponding convex sets.
See Corollary 7.3.3, page 150: The set of all of all subgradients of an $\theta$ at
$\sigma_0$ is a convex set, which is also a superset of a convex hull. A geometric
interpretation of sub gradients is given in Fig. 7.1, page 149. There are 342
instances where convexity is considered in this thesis.
7 Recommendations
Omar Bouattane 4 years ago
University of Hassan II of Casablanca
Dear James.
I found the following applications of convexity:
convex optimization in multicriteria problems.
optimizing the energy flow in the smart grids to solve the problem of balance and
stability of the electrical networks.
Surgical operations to cut the tumor tissues in the brain.
Tumors in the treatment area by microwave
in the field of robotics for searching optimal path to avoid cavities that reflect the
nonconvexity of the obstacle.
4 Recommendations
Dear Omar,
The applications that you have listed are excellent. Please consider giving a URL
for each application so that we can follow up on what you have found.
5 Recommendations
Robert E Skelton 4 years ago
University of California, San Diego
a book on convex sets applied to dynamic systems and control theory:
Skelton, Iwasaki, Grigoriadis "A Unified Algebraic Approach to Control Design"
Taylor and Francis, 1998
2 Recommendations
@Robert E Skelton: a book on convex sets applied to dynamic systems and control
theory...
This is quite a surprising and very promising path to take in terms of applications of
convexity and convex sets.
Another example to consider is the reduction of system and control theory to a
handful of convex and quasi convex optimization problems, introduced in
S. Boyd, L.E. Ghaovi, E. Feron, V. Aladrishnan, Linear Matrix Inequalities in System
and Control Theory, SIAM (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics),
Philadelphia, 1994:
https://web.stanford.edu/~boyd/lmibook/lmibook.pdf
There are a 161 instances where convexity is considered in this book. See Section
1.1, starting on page 1, for an overview of convex and quasi convex optimization
problems involving linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). As it turns out, the LMIs in
system and control theory can be formulated as convex optimization problems that
are amenable to computer solution.
Linear matrix inequalities or LMIs are the focus of Chapter 2, starting on page 7.
See Section 2.2.4, starting on page 11 for a convex problem.
5 Recommendations
Dr Bhavanari Satyanarayana 4 years ago
Acharya Nagarjuna University
IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH WE USE THE CONCEPT "CONVEX SET".
THE FEASIBLE REGION OF ANY LINEAR PROGRAMMING PROBLEM IS A
CONVEX SET AND AS AN APPLICATION WE PROVE SEVERAL RESULTS AND
THESE RESULTS WILL BE APPLIED IN SIMPLEX METHOD, AS WELL AS IN
REVISED SIMPLEX METHOD
1 Recommendation
I do not remember if we cite inequalities. Anyway convexity has nice applications in
proving various inequalities. For example see:
Jensen's inequality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jensen%27s_inequality
ChungLie Wang Convexity and Inequalities,
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022247X79902944
3 Recommendations
Dear James.
I found the following links for the applications of convexity I proposed above:
For convex optimization in multicriteria problems, there is some interesting links
https://people.kth.se/~andersf/doc/paretofront.pdf
http://ttic.uchicago.edu/~mahdavi/publications/multiobjective_nips_2013.pdf
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.46.6672
For optimizing the energy flow in the smart grids to solve the problem of balance and
stability of the electrical networks.see
http://www.divaportal.org/smash/get/diva2:602608/FULLTEXT02
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=6558479
http://www.ee.columbia.edu/~lavaei/Generalized_Net_Flow_Conf.pdf
For Convex Surgical operations to cut the tumor tissues in the brain:
www.google.com/patents/US20090124975
http://neurosurgery.stanford.edu/patient_care/brain_tumor.html
http://braintumor.org/BTC_Meningioma.aspx
ftp://ftp.esat.kuleuven.be/sista/adevos/thesis_lukas/phd.pdf
http://www robomechjournal com/content/pdf/s40648 014 0006 7 pdf

http://www.robomechjournal.com/content/pdf/s40648 014 0006 7.pdf
Tumors in the treatment area by microwave
http://www.rfablation.engr.wisc.edu/papers/Yang_TissueTemp_MWA.pdf
http://www.cancertreatmentwatch.org/reports/holt1.pdf
I'm looking forward to find other references.
3 Recommendations
Thanks for fine references dear @Omar. Here are some more results on
application of convex sets in risk management!
http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc091102.htm
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature1296.html
3 Recommendations
Behrouz AhmadiNedushan 4 years ago
Yazd University
One application of convex sets in structural engineering
The attached investigates the reliability assessment of structures exhibiting both
stochastic and bounded uncertainties by using a probability and convex set mixed
model. The safety measure of a structure is quantified by a reliability index defined
by a nested minimization problem. An iterative procedure is developed for seeking
the worstcase point and the most probable failure point in the standard uncertainty
space. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the applicability of the
probability and convex set mixed model representation in the structural reliability
assessment, as well as to illustrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed
numerical method.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045794909001709
3 Recommendations
Thanks for all;
Additional applications in :
Equilibrium theroy and Economics
http://www.wiwi.unibonn.de/john/Publikationen/UsesGCGM.pdf
dynalic systems and interacting Gases
http://www.math.toronto.edu/mccann/papers/short.pdf
The list is not limited, we can discover evry day many applications, so that we can
say: the good life is the convex one !!!
1 Recommendation
Dear Omar, Behrouz AhmadiNedushan, Robert E Skelton, Bhavanari
Satyanarayana, Costas Drossos, and Ljubomir Jacić,
Many thanks for the excellent links you have given for applications of convex sets.
It is surprising that such a simple idea (convexity) can have such a profound impact
and have so many diverse applications.
In addition to the applications already mentioned, there are also convex hulls
(smallest convex set containing a nonempty set) and their approximation to consider.
For example, consider the gesture recognition system in
M.A. Buautista, A.H.Vela, S. Escalera, L. Igual, O. Pujol, J. Moya, V Violant, M.T.
Aguera, A gesture recognition system for detecting behavioural patterns of ADHD,
arXiv 1410, 2014, no. 4485v2,:
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1410.4485.pdf
Another important application of convexity is in digital geometry (also called
Compuational Geometry):
R. Klette, A. Rosenfeld, Digital Geometry. Geometric Methods for Digital Picture
Analysis, 2005:
http://www.citr.auckland.ac.nz/~rklette/Books/MK2004/References.pdf
Yet another interesting application of convexity is in the use of convex hulls in digital
image analysis. Consider, for example,
R. Rubinstein, Analysis and synthesis modelling methods in image processing,
Ph.D. thesis Technion, 2012:
http://www.cs.technion.ac.il/users/wwwb/cgibin/trget.cgi/2012/PHD/PHD2012
03.pdf
See the MAPsynthesis defining polytope introduced on page 40 (see, especially,
page 60). This leads to dictionaries for sparse representation modelling.
2 Recommendations
Lambert Zijp 4 years ago
Netherlands Cancer Institute
Hi James,
An application that is widely used, is mapping the earth. Because the earth is
convex, we can map that 3D object on a 2D plane, the Mercator projection for
example.
Being convex is not necessary, but it surely helps. Such a 2D projection can be
made whenever the polyhedron is 'star shaped', that is, if at least one point in the
interior can be found, from which the whole surface can be 'seen'. A convex
polyhedron has the advantage that any point in the interior can be chosen as the
origin to create the map. Usually the center of mass is chosen.
I have used this many times when giving a Power Point talk featuring prostates and
bladders. Those 3D organs can not be shown in 3D when giving a presentation, so I
resorted to a Mercator projection of them. The same holds for scientific papers: they
still want them to be readable in 2D. (I wonder when that will change...)
Cheers, Lambert
2 Recommendations
U i it f M it b
Hi Lambert,
Until you wrote, I had not thought of the earth as convex. I am guessing that you
mean the idealization of the earth without bumps and viewed as a perfect
sphere. Is this what you meant?
And what you observed about mapping the earth based on the assumption that the
earth is convex, is great!
Cheers, Jim
Miodrag Mateljević 3 years ago
University of Belgrade
Dear James and followers,
The question and discussion are very interesting. The notion of convexity is
fundamental in mathematics and you mention important applications. I will try to
give a few modest examples from my experience.
We observed the following in communication with M. Albijanic. Suppose that $f$ is
continuous function on closed interval $[a, b]$ and differentiable on open interval (a,
b). Then f is strictly convex iff for every points y, z in [a, b] there is an unique c such
that $f (z) f (y) = f' (c) (zy)$. This statement has visual geometric interpretation.
Perhaps, anyone knows the right reference for this statement. For elementary
properties of convex functions see for example: Miodrag Mateljevic, Marek Svetlik,
Miloljub Albijanic, Nebojsa Savic, generalizations of the Lagrange mean value
theorem and applications, Filomat 27: 2 (2013). In this paper we also outline
applications in economy.
We can give a similar characterization of strictly convex surfaces using curvature
and the Gauss map.
Really, a twice differentiable function of one variable is convex on an interval if and
only if its second derivative is nonnegative there; this gives a practical test for
convexity. Visually, a twice differentiable convex function "curves up", without any
bends the other way (inflection points). If its second derivative is positive at all points
then the function is strictly convex, but the converse does not hold.
For example, it seems that we can prove
Theorem 1. Let $z=f(x,y)$ be a realvalued function defined on a
domain $D$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$. Then it defines a surface $W$ in $\mathbb{R}^3$. If
its
Gauss map $N$ is injective, then
$W$ is convex.
Tere is a version of this result for Equipotential surfaces in electrostatics and fluid
mechanics.
$N(p)$ is a unit vector orthogonal to $W$ at $p$, namely the normal vector to $W$
at $p$.
If $p=(p_1,p_2,p_3)$, $X(p)= (f'_x, f'_y,1)$ and $N(p)=X(p)/|X(p)|$.
Since we compute $f'_x, f'_y$ at ($p_1,p_2)$, here we can consider
that Gauss map is defined on $D$.
Theorem 2. If $z= f(x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_n)$ defined a hyper surface
$W$ in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ and Gauss map is injective, then $W$ is convex.
Do you think that we can apply this?
The Gauss map (named after Carl F. Gauss) maps a surface in Euclidean
space $\mathbb{R}^3$ to the unit sphere $\mathbb{S}^2$. Namely, given a surface
$X$ lying in $\mathbb{R}^3$, the
Gauss map is a continuous map $N: X \rightarrow \rightarrow \mathbb{S}^2$ such
that $N(p)$ is a unit vector
orthogonal to $X$ at $p$, namely the normal vector to $X$ at $p$.
The Gauss map can be defined (globally) if and only if the surface is
orientable, in which case its degree is half the Euler characteristic.
best,
Miodrag
1 Recommendation
@Miodrag Mateljević: Theorem 2. If $z= f(x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_n)$ defined a hyper
surface
$W$ in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ and Gauss map is injective, then $W$ is convex.
A beautiful result! In fact, both results in your post are both beautiful and important.
Yes, it should be possible to apply your result (in Theorem 2) in a number of different
ways. For example, if $W$ is defined in a finite topological space equipped with a
proximity, it would be possible to detect hyper surfaces that are either close to or
remote (far from) each other. In effect, this approach would lead to (1) clusters of
proximal hypersurfaces, (2) classification of hypersurfaces in terms of the clusters
they belong to.
2 Recommendations
Dear James and followers,
I will add another example. In the paper
THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS
2011, Vol. XIII, 1, pp. 15–29
A PROBLEM FROM THE PISA ASSESSMENT
RELEVANT TO CALCULUS by
Miodrag Mateljevic, Aleksandra Rosic and Marek Svetlik,
which is continuation of our previous papers (see M. Mateljevic, M. Svetlik, A
contribution to the development of functional thinking related
to convexity, The Teaching of Mathematics, XIII, 1 (2010), 1–16.), we discuss one of
the PISA problems where students are assumed to understand the given functional
dependence as well as to select the intervals of convexity and concavity of the
drawn graph. In particular, we give a geometric lively characterization of convexity.
2 Recommendations
I will add another example related to geometry of planar curves and a mechanical
interpretation.
Theorem1. If for a planar curve Gauss map is injective, them the curve is stricly
convex.
We have a mechanical interpretation of Theorem 1.
If v=v(t) is velocity at a moment t, where t is time, then unit velocity vector is defined
as V*(t)= v(t)/ |v(t)|.
Theorem2. If an object (a point) makes planar motion and if the unit velocity
vector as function
of time is injective on some time interval I, then the trajectory is strictly convex
curve on I..
To James Peters,
Thank s for suggestion:
''In effect, this approach would lead to (1) clusters of proximal hypersurfaces, (2)
classification of hypersurfaces in terms of the clusters they belong to.''
Do you know some references ?
2 Recommendations
To Miodrag Mateljević,
The idea of clusters of proximal hypersurfaces has its roots in a number of my recent
papers and my book on the Topology of Digital Images, Springer, 2014.
Think of a hyper surface $f(x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_n)$ as a set of points. Let $f$ and $g$
be a pair of hyper surfaces on finite topological space X endowed with a proximity
$\delta$. Assume $\delta$ is a Wallman proximity. Then $f \delta g$ ($f$ is near
$g$), provided
\[
\mbox{cl} f \cap \mbox{cl} g \neq \emptyset.
\]
Continuing this in this manner, using hyper surface $f$ as a template or hub in a
cluster of hyper surfaces, then find all hyper surfaces $h$ such that $f \delta h$.
This forms a cluster of proximal hyper surfaces.
For another reference, see my paper (coauthored with C. Guadagni) on strong
proximity on smooth manifolds.
2 Recommendations
Mohamed amine Bahayou 3 years ago
Université Kasdi Merbah Ouargla
Dear James, this is an interesting question!
Are you interested in symplectic geometry: the AtiyahGuilleminSternberg convexity
theorem (the convexity of the image of the moment map)?
http://www.math.cornell.edu/~apires/convexitytalk.pdf
1 Recommendation
@Mohamed amine Bahayou: Are you interested in symplectic geometry…?
Yes, definitely, I am very interested in symplectic geometry. Recently, I have been
working with manifolds with boundaries, manifolds with corners, pullback maps (p.
59). See, for example,
J. Watts, Diffeologies, Differential Spaces, and Symplectic Geometry, Ph.D. thesis,
University of Toronto, 2012:
http://www.math.toronto.edu/jwatts/storage/utthesis.pdf
In terms of the AtiyahGuilleminSternberg convexity theorem (very interesting!), see
A.R.P. Pires, Origami manifolds, MIT, Ph.D. thesis, 2010:
http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/60200/681966912MIT.pdf?
sequence=2
Start on page 11, last paragraph about the moment image being convex and,
especially, Section 3.1, starting on page 31.
2 Recommendations
I will give a few inequalities related to convexity.
1. Karamata's inequality: Let I be an interval of the real line and let f denote a
realvalued, convex function defined on I. If x1, . . . , xn and y1, .
. . , yn are numbers in I such that (x1, . . . , xn) majorizes (y1, . .
. , yn), then
f(x_1)+\cdots+f(x_n) \ge f(y_1)+\cdots+f(y_n).
2. Petrovic's inequality: Let f : [0,\infty) \rightarrow R be a convex function, and
(x_i)_{i=1}^n, be a sequence of positive numbers. Then the
inequality f(x_1) + ... + f(x_n) \leq f(x_1 + ... + x_n) + (n
1)f(0) holds.
3. A function f : (a, b) \rightarrow R is convex (strictly
convex) if and only if its divided difference \Delta_f (x, y) is
increasing (strictly increasing) in both variables. An analogous
assertion is valid for concave (strictly concave) functions.
As an application of Karamata's inequality we can prove.
4. Prove that for arbitrary positive numbers a, b and c the
inequality \frac{1}{a + b} + \frac{1}{c + b}+ \frac{1}{c + a}\leq
\frac{1}{2a} + \frac{1}{2b} + \frac{1}{2c} holds.
5.For x,y,z \geq 0,
x^3 + y^3 + z^3 + 3xyz \geq x^2y + xy^2 +
y^2z + yz^2 + z^2x + zx^2.
2 Recommendations
Helly's theorem is a nice theorem related to convex sets.
Helly's theorem is a basic result in discrete geometry describing the ways that
convex sets may intersect each other.
Let X1, ..., Xn be a finite collection of convex subsets of $R^d$, with $n > d$. If the
intersection of every $d+1$ of these sets is nonempty, then the whole collection has
a nonempty intersection; that is,
$\bigcap_{j=1}^n X_j\ne\varnothing$.
For example in planar case $d=2$, if we have four convex subsets such that the
intersection of every $3$ of these sets is nonempty, then these sets have common
point.
For infinite collections one has to assume compactness.
2 Recommendations
Abd ElMonem Abd Elhameed Megahed 3 years ago
Suez Canal University
The convexity concept is applied on mathematical programming for obtaining the
optimal solution , for example , a local solution of a convex function is global
solution and a global solution is unique if a function is strictly convex
1 Recommendation
The following results named as Lucas Teorem (related to convex hull of zeros of a
complex polynomial) has interesting applications:
Lucas Teorem.
Let $P$ be a complex polynomial. The smallest convex polygon
that contains the zeros of $P$ also contains the zeros of $P'$.
In particular, if zeros of $P$ are in the unit disc, then also
zeros of $P'$ are in the unit disc.
Let $P$ be a polynomial of dgree $n$ and $a_1,\cdots,a_n$ be zeros of $P$. Then
\begin{equation}
\frac{P'(z)}{P(z)}=\frac{1}{za_1}+\dots +\frac{1}{za_n}
\end{equation}
and therefore
\begin{equation}
\frac{\overline{P'(z)}}{\overline{P(z)}}=\frac{za_1}{|za_1|^2}+\dots
+\frac{za_n}{|za_n|^2}\,.
\end{equation}
Let $P'(a)=0$.
Set $\lambda_k= \frac{1}{|aa_k|^2} $ and $A=\sum \lambda_k = \frac{1}{|a
a_1|^2}+\dots
+\frac{1}{|aa_n|^2}$. Then
$$a = A^{1}\frac{a_1}{|aa_1|^2}+\dots +\frac{a_n}{|aa_n|^2}\,.$$
Hence $a$ belongs to convex hull of $a_1,\dots,a_n$.
1 Recommendation
@Abd Elmonem Abd dElhamee Megahed: a local solution of a convex function is
global solution and a global solution is unique if a function is strictly convex.
Your observation packs a whollop, i.e., says a lot and to a very important aspect of
convexity. To bring others into this, permit me to add E.W. Weisstein's definition of
a convex function, which is a very interest "animal": A convex function is a
continuous function whose value at the midpoint of every interval in its
domain does not exceed the arithmetic mean of its values at the ends of the
interval. from
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ConvexFunction.html
Sixteen examples of convex functions are given in
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convex_function
Perhaps the followers of this thread can suggest other examples of convex
functions.
Octav Olteanu 3 years ago
Polytechnic University of Bucharest
Let K be a compact subset in R^n and f a real continuous function on K. Let C be
the convex hull of the graph of f and p(x):=inf {t; (x t) is in C} q(x)=sup{t; (x t) is in C}
the convex hull of the graph of f and p(x): inf {t; (x,t) is in C}, q(x) sup{t; (x,t) is in C}.
Then p is convex on the the convex hull co(K) of K, q is concave on the same subset
and min{p(x); x is in co(K)} = min{f(y); y is in K), max{q(x); x is in co(K)} = max{f(y); y
is in K}. Proceeding in this fashion, one reduced optimization problems for
continuous functions defined on (non convex) compact subsets to convex
minimization (respectively concave maximization) problems. It is very probable that
such methods work in a more general setting.
3 Recommendations
a convex function is very important for obtaining the optimal solution of
mathematical programming
1 Recommendation
Yoshinori Shiozawa 3 years ago
Osaka City University
A New Type of Application of Convex Polytope Theory in Economics
Vyacheslav Lyashenko 1 (the number after the name indicates the post number in
this question box) and Costas Drossos 10 mention applications of theory of convex
sets in economy. They are thinking of optimization problems. Demetris Christopoulos
22 and George Stoica 23 mention financial engineering (or mathematical finance),
Rafael Frongillo 26 the design of market predictions, Omar Bouattane 61 the
equilibrium theory in economics.
However, there is one (perhaps more important and interesting) application of the
theory of convex sets in economics. It is the international trade theory. Ricardian
trade theory (including RicardoSraffa trade theory) is in fact a theory of special type
of convex polytopes: world production possibility set and it maximal frontier. In
particular, the theory of Ricardian trade economy (which excludes trade of input
goods) has a beautiful theory as an application of subtropical convex sets. Thus it is
a theory combined of classical convex polytopes and tropical convex polytopes.
The theory may also give a good example for the theory of convex optimization,
which Omar Bouattane 52 and 58 mentioned.
See the paper below. The field is still young and I think it will develop rapidly if some
specialists in convex polytope theory participate in it.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280646264_International_trade_theory_an
d_exotic_algebra
Article International trade theory and exotic algebra
Dear Miodrag Mateljević,
I love Helly theorem very much. It is so beautiful, simple, and subtle. I was very
happy when I found an application of the theorem in my trade theory. See
Proposition 7.4 (p.72).
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236020268_Subtropical_Convex_Geometr
y_as_the_Ricardian_Theory_of_International_Trade_Contents
Article Subtropical Convex Geometry as the Ricardian Theory of Inter...
2 Recommendations
@Yoshinori Shiozawa: I love Helly theorem very much. It is so beautiful, simple, and
subtle.
Yes, I definitely agree with you about the beauty, simplicity and subtlety of Helly's
theorem for families of convex bodies in R^d. Helly's theorem and its application is
covered in Chapter 11 in my new book:
J.F. Peters, Computational Proximity. Excursions in the Topology of Digital Images.
Springer, 2015 [now in press].
There are also a number of important studies of Helly's theorem on RG. See, e.g.,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242648091_Helly's_theorem_and_its_relati
ves
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266970982_A_Fractional_Helly_Theorem_
for_Boxes
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38334457_Hellys_theorem_and_minima_o
f_convex_functions
Article Hellys Theorem and its relatives
Article A Fractional Helly Theorem for Boxes
Article Helly’s theorem and minima of convex functions
3 Recommendations
Dear James Peters,
thank you for your comment and information on literature. This is the first time that I
know the personal life of Edward Helly.
As for my paper Subtropical Convex Geometry as the Ricardian Theory of
International Trade Contents, I am planning to publish it in a form of thin book, but I
have to add one or two more sections.
A short version (that I referred in the last post of the previous page) of the above
paper was published in Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review 12(1): 172
212.
I want to know if Jones theorem (the proposition 7.4 of Subtropical Convex paper
and the theorem 6 of International Trade paper) is known previously. Jones himself
did not gaive the proof of existence.
Yoshinori Shiozawa
1 Recommendation
Mani A. 3 years ago
International Rough Set Society; University of Calcutta ; etc
There is a lot of literature on generalized convexity in metric, semimetric and
pseudometric spaces with applications to fixed point theory.
The definition of general convexity in such spaces usually assume:
A. Intersection of genl convex sets are genl convex sets.
B. Closed sets of some form are genl convex
But weaker forms are also useful.
1 Recommendation
Prof Peters posted a very interesting question.
The number of answers submitted to the question and the number of useful votes
that those answers receive are significant.
We would like to note an interesting phenomenon : if a function f defined on an
segment [a,b] is convex and the derivative f' exists on (a,b), then f' is continuous
on (a, b).
Any convex function $f(x)$ on [a, b] is continuous on (a, b) and
has a finite right derivative $f_{+}(x)$ and a left derivative
$f_{}(x)$ at each point $x \in (a; b)$. Moreover, for all $x
\in (a; b)$, $f_{}'(x)\leq f'_{+}(x)$, the equality occurring and
yielding the derivative $f'(x)$ everywhere, except possibly a
countable number of points inside $(a, b)$. Wherever it exists,
$f'(x)$ is a nondecreasing function of $x$.
Proposition A. Let $f(x)$ be a continuous function on a closed interval $[a,b]$
and differential on the open interval $(a,b)$. In addition, if
$f$ is convex or concave, then $f'$ is
continuous . This result may exist
in some forms in the literature, but we did not find it.
Dear followers, do you know the origin of this result?
best,
MM
2 Recommendations
@Miodrag Mateljević: if $f$ is convex or concave, then $f'$ is continuous.
A good place to look for this result is
Steven Taschuk, Some Inequalities in Convex Geometry, Ph.D. thesis, 2013:
https://www.ualberta.ca/~staschuk/taschukphdthesis.pdf
See Section 4.3 (Continuity), starting on page 36.
Roumen Nedev 3 years ago
Universidad Politécnica de Baja California
Compactness of bounded functions.
1 Recommendation
The pare LAGRANGE'S THEOREM, CONVEX FUNCTIONS AND GAUSS MAP
which is related to the question, is enclosed.
As one of the main results
we prove that if $f$ has Lagrange unique
property then f is strictly convex or concave (we do not assume
continuity of the derivative), Theorem 2.1. We give two
different proofs of Theorem 2.1 (one
mainly using Lagrange theorem and the other using Darboux
theorem). In addition, we give a few characterizations of
strictly convex curves, in Theorem 3.1.
As an
application of it, we give
characterization of strictly convex planar curves, which have
only tangents at every point,
by injective of the Gauss map. Also without the
differentiability hypothesis we get the characterization of
strictly convex or concave functions by two points property,
Theorem 4.1.
MatAlb_15_02_2015V2.pdf · 294.26 KB
1 Recommendation
By the convexity we can prove that the local minimum is global minimum.
and if the function is strictly convex , then the global minimum is unique.
1 Recommendation
It is interesting that there is
Kachurovskii's theorem, whicih is a theorem relating the convexity of a function on
a Banach space to the monotonicity of
its Fréchet derivative

its Fréchet derivative.
Statement of the theorem:
Let K be a convex subset of a Banach space V and let f maps K into the extended
realline, that is Fréchet differentiable at each point x in K. (In fact, df(x) is an
element of the continuous dual space V*.) Then the following are equivalent:
f is a convex function;
(i) for all x and y in K,
\mathrm{d} f(x) (y x) \leq f(y) f(x);
(ii) df is an (increasing) monotone operator, i.e., for all x and y in K,
\big( \mathrm{d} f(x) \mathrm{d} f(y) \big) (x y) \geq 0.
If f is a function of real variable on some interval that is differntiable then (i) f'(x) (y
x)\leq f(y)f(x),
(ii) f'(x)f'(y) (yx)\geq 0.
Thus (ii) means that f' is not decreasing.
Do you know some applications of Kachurovskii's theorem?
References
Kachurovskii, I. R. (1960). "On monotone operators and convex functionals".
Uspekhi Mat. Nauk 15 (4): 213–215
Showalter, Ralph E. (1997). Monotone operators in Banach space and nonlinear
partial differential equations.
Mathematical Surveys and Monographs 49. Providence, RI: American Mathematical
Society. p. 80. ISBN 0821805002.
MR 1422252 (Proposition 7.4)
1 Recommendation
Deleted profile
Dear James,
I wanted to mention another nice result concerning convex functions:
Let I be an open interval in R. A real function f is convex on I if and only if f is
differentiable to the left and to the right on I and, for all x,y in I with x<y, one has: f`
(x) ≤ f`+ (x) ≤ f` (y) ≤ f`+ (y).
Sincerely, George
2 Recommendations
Dear George,
Many thanks for the very nice result.
Please consider putting together an example to illustrate a real function that satisfies
the theorem.
2 Recommendations
Dear George and James,
On a first glance, the function f(x)=|x| is convex, but there is no derivative at 0.
More intriguing is the following example:
Let $(r_k)$ be sequence of all rational numbers. Function
f(x)= \sum_1^\infty |xr_k|/2^k is convex, but there is no derivative at rational points.
3 Recommendations
Deleted profile
Dear Peter,
Rather trivial example: f(x)=∫ [x] dx (convex and differentiable at all but countably
many points, where [x] denotes the integer part of x). I would think that nontrivial
examples can be constructed based on the fact that finite valued convex functions
on an open interval are locally Lipschitz continuous, hence Lebesguealmost
everywhere differentiable.
Sincerely, George
1 Recommendation
Miodrag Mateljević
University of Belgrade 3 years ago
There is the Integral representation for convex functions.
Convex functions on the real line are expressible as integrals of onesided
derivatives.
The ration $k(x,y)=\frac{f(y)f(x)}{yx}$ is increasing in $y$ on $[x,b]$.
Hence, the righthand derivative $D_+f(x)$ exists for all $x\in [a,b]$.
In a similar way we conclude that the lefthand derivative $D_f(x)$ exists for all
$x\in[a,b]$, and that $D_f(x)\leq D_+f(x)$.
Hence the set of points for which is $D_f(x)< D_+f(x)$ is countable.
If $f$ is convex on $[a,b]$, then then both
$D_+f(x)$ and $D_f(x)$
are integrable with respect to Lebesgue
measure on
$[a,b]$, and $f(x)=f(a)+ \int_a^x D_+f(t) dt=f(a)+ \int_a^x D_f(t) dt$.
More generally, suppose D is an increasing, realvalued function defined (at least)
on $[a,b)$. Define $g(x) := \int^x_a D(t)dt$, for $a \leq x \leq b$. (Possibly $g(b)
=\infty$.) Then $g$ is convex.
3 Recommendations
Dear @James, as your question is about both application and notion of convex sets,
let me bring a new book which was published by the end of 2015.
Geometry of Convex Sets by I. E. Leonard and J. E. Lewis.
"Geometry of Convex Sets begins with basic definitions of the concepts of vector
addition and scalar multiplication and then defines the notion of convexity for
subsets of ndimensional space. Many properties of convex sets can be discovered
using just the linear structure. However, for more interesting results, it is necessary
to introduce the notion of distance in order to discuss open sets, closed sets,
bounded sets, and compact sets. The book illustrates the interplay between these
linear and topological concepts, which makes the notion of convexity so interesting.
Thoroughly classtested, the book discusses topology and convexity in the context of
normed linear spaces, specifically with a norm topology on an ndimensional
space..."
http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd1119022665.html
geometry of convex sets.jpg · 25.82 KB
2 Recommendations
Dear @Ljubomir Jacić,
Many thanks for posting the announcement for the book by I.E. Leonard and J.E.
Lewis on the geometry of convex sets. This is a very interesting book and perfectly
in keeping with the main thrust of this thread. And the fact thAT Leonard and Lewis
provide a topological space setting for the study of convexity is tremendously
important (and useful).
1 Recommendation
Thanks Ljubomir Jacić for posting the announcement for the book and James F
Peters. Really notion of convexity is fascinating.
I believe that there are people (like , Miroslav Pavlovic,George Stoica Josip Pecaric,
Gradimir Milovanovic, Zoran Kadelburg, etc) interested in inequalities related to
convex functions and therefore I give a few inequalities .
In one of my previous answers I mentioned Karamata's inequality (KI)
for convex function. It is interesting that I came to (KI) via
Arslanagic's inequality: If $x + y +z =1, x,y,z \geq 0$, prove that
$\frac{x^3}{x^2 +y +z} + \frac{y^3}{y^2 +x +z} + \frac{z^3}{z^2 +y +x} \geq \frac{1}
{7}$.
During Arslanagic communication I get an idea to generalize this result:
Let $X_0=\{ (x,y,z) : x + y +z =1, x,y,z \geq 0 \}$,
$R(x,y,z)=g(x) +g(y)+ g(z)$, and let $g$ be convex function on $[0,1]$. Then
(a) min $R$ on $X_0$ equals $3 g(1/3) $.
Hint: use the supporting line at the point $1/3$.
This a special case of Karamata's inequality (what I did not know at that time).
Using supporting lines one can give a simplification of the standard proof. A similar
approach has also been given by M. Pavlovic.
3 Recommendations
We discussed on the seminar the result obtained in
[MMMA] Miodrag Mateljevic and Miroljub Albijanic, Lagrange's Theorem, Convex
Functions And Gauss Map, ResearchGate.
Marek Svetlik is taking notes.
In particular, on Belgrade seminar MM presented the content of paper [MMMA] and
suggested some generalizations of the results obtained in [MMMA] to several
dimensions. Here are some possibilities:
(S1) If a surface in R^n is differentiable at every point and the Gauss map is
injective, then the Gauss map is continuous (see [MMMA] for the corresponding
result in plane) .
(S2) Let domain $G$ be homemorphic to 3dim ball and let $S$ be the boundary of
$G$ which is homemorphic to 2dim sphere $S^2$.
$S$ is a strictly convex surface iff intersection with every plane is empty, a point or a
strictly convex closed curve.
What are appropriate generalization of Theorem 4.1 [MMMA] in several variables?
We give a possibility.
(S 3) Let $f$ be a continuous function defined on a (connected) subdomain $D$ of

(S 3) Let $f$ be a continuous function defined on a (connected) subdomain $D$ of
$R^n$. Then the
function is either strictly convex or strictly concave if and only if every straight line
intersects
its graph in at most two points.
For $n=1$, this is Theorem 4.1 [MMMA].
M. Pavlovic also gave a hint for a proof of (S3) on RG.
See MM, Note on Convexity and related topics (In preparation), Sec 2, on RG.
1 Recommendation
@Miodrag Mateljević: Marek Svetlik is taking notes.
Many thanks for your very interesting and helpful postings on convex functions. You
mentioned that Marek Svetlik is taking notes for the seminar on convex functions
and related topics. I hope that it will be possible for you or Marek to post a copy of
those notes.
You write: (S2) Let domain $G$ be homemorphic to 3dim ball and let $S$ be the
boundary of $G$ which is homemorphic to 2dim sphere $S^2$.
Do you mean "homeomorphic"?
1 2
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its Fréchet derivative

(S 3) Let $f$ be a continuous function defined on a (connected) subdomain $D$ of

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