Geometric Applications Of Fourier Series And Spherical Harmonics

A full exposition of the classical theory of spherical harmonics and their use in proving stability results.

This is the first comprehensive exposition of the application of spherical harmonics to prove geometric results. The author presents all the necessary tools from classical theory of spherical harmonics with full proofs. Groemer uses these tools to prove geometric inequalities, uniqueness results for projections and intersection by planes or half-spaces, stability results, and characterizations of convex bodies of a particular type, such as rotors in convex polytopes. Results arising from these analytical techniques have proved useful in many applications, particularly those related to stereology. To make the treatment as self-contained as possible the book begins with background material in analysis and the geometry of convex sets.

This book provides a comprehensive presentation of geometric results, primarily from the theory of convex sets, that have been proved by the use of Fourier series or spherical harmonics. An important feature of the book is that all necessary tools from the classical theory of spherical harmonics are presented with full proofs. These tools are used to prove geometric inequalities, stability results, uniqueness results for projections and intersections by hyperplanes or half-spaces and characterisations of rotors in convex polytopes. Again, full proofs are given. To make the treatment as self-contained as possible the book begins with background material in analysis and the geometry of convex sets. This treatise will be welcomed both as an introduction to the subject and as a reference book for pure and applied mathematics.

Handbook of Convex Geometry, Volume B offers a survey of convex geometry and its many ramifications and connections with other fields of mathematics, including convexity, lattices, crystallography, and convex functions. The selection first offers information on the geometry of numbers, lattice points, and packing and covering with convex sets. Discussions focus on packing in non-Euclidean spaces, problems in the Euclidean plane, general convex bodies, computational complexity of lattice point problem, centrally symmetric convex bodies, reduction theory, and lattices and the space of lattices. The text then examines finite packing and covering and tilings, including plane tilings, monohedral tilings, bin packing, and sausage problems. The manuscript takes a look at valuations and dissections, geometric crystallography, convexity and differential geometry, and convex functions. Topics include differentiability, inequalities, uniqueness theorems for convex hypersurfaces, mixed discriminants and mixed volumes, differential geometric characterization of convexity, reduction of quadratic forms, and finite groups of symmetry operations. The selection is a dependable source of data for mathematicians and researchers interested in convex geometry.

The study of the geometry of convex bodies based on information about sections and projections of these bodies has important applications in many areas of mathematics and science. In this book, a new Fourier analysis approach is discussed. The idea is to express certain geometric properties of bodies in terms of Fourier analysis and to use harmonic analysis methods to solve geometric problems. One of the results discussed in the book is Ball's theorem, establishing the exact upper bound for the -dimensional volume of hyperplane sections of the -dimensional unit cube (it is for each ). Another is the Busemann-Petty problem: if and are two convex origin-symmetric -dimensional bodies and the -dimensional volume of each central hyperplane section of is less than the -dimensional volume of the corresponding section of , is it true that the -dimensional volume of is less than the volume of ? (The answer is positive for and negative for .) The book is suitable for graduate students and researchers interested in geometry, harmonic and functional analysis, and probability. Prerequisites for reading this book include basic real, complex, and functional analysis.

A complete presentation of a central part of convex geometry, from basics for beginners, to the exposition of current research.