Hadwiger's theorem

Summary

In integral geometry (otherwise called geometric probability theory), Hadwiger's theorem characterises the valuations on convex bodies in It was proved by Hugo Hadwiger.

Introduction edit

Valuations edit

Let   be the collection of all compact convex sets in   A valuation is a function   such that   and for every   that satisfy  

 

A valuation is called continuous if it is continuous with respect to the Hausdorff metric. A valuation is called invariant under rigid motions if   whenever   and   is either a translation or a rotation of  

Quermassintegrals edit

The quermassintegrals   are defined via Steiner's formula

 
where   is the Euclidean ball. For example,   is the volume,   is proportional to the surface measure,   is proportional to the mean width, and   is the constant  

  is a valuation which is homogeneous of degree   that is,

 

Statement edit

Any continuous valuation   on   that is invariant under rigid motions can be represented as

 

Corollary edit

Any continuous valuation   on   that is invariant under rigid motions and homogeneous of degree   is a multiple of  

See also edit

References edit

An account and a proof of Hadwiger's theorem may be found in

  • Klain, D.A.; Rota, G.-C. (1997). Introduction to geometric probability. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-59362-X. MR 1608265.

An elementary and self-contained proof was given by Beifang Chen in

  • Chen, B. (2004). "A simplified elementary proof of Hadwiger's volume theorem". Geom. Dedicata. 105: 107–120. doi:10.1023/b:geom.0000024665.02286.46. MR 2057247.