9

The Minkowski sum of two sets $A$ and $B$ in the plane is defined as $$A+B = \{ a + b \mid a \in A, b \in B \}.$$ The Minkowski difference $A-B$ is defined similarly.

For any convex set $A$, is it always true that $$|A-A| \ge |A+A|?$$

For example, if $A$ is a triangle, then $|A - A| = \frac{3}{2} |A + A|$. If $A$ is symmetric about a point, then $|A-A| = |A+A|$.

keej
  • 1,277
  • 9
  • 28
  • I presume in the last paragraph you mean 'symmetric' in the sense that $A=(-A)$, i.e. $a\in A\Longleftrightarrow (-a)\in A$? – Steven Stadnicki Jul 02 '14 at 17:54
  • Correct, edited. – keej Jul 02 '14 at 17:55
  • I asked a question related to this one: http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/855854/does-symmetry-maximize-area-for-given-nonconstant-diameter-of-a-convex-subset-of. I don't know if it will help, but I think if the answer to my question is "yes," then the answer to your question is yes, because the set $\frac12(A-A)$ has equal diameter to $A$ but is symmetric, so it would have greater area than $A$, and we would have $|A-A|=4|\frac12(A-A)|\geq 4|A| =|A+A|$. Unless all of my speculation is wrong, that is. – Jonas Meyer Jul 03 '14 at 22:37

1 Answers1

2

Yes. By the Brunn–Minkowski inequality, $|A-A|^{1/2}\geq|A|^{1/2}+|-A|^{1/2}$, so $|A-A|\geq 4|A|$. The hypotheses of this theorem do not include convexity, although they do include compactness.

On the other hand, under the assumption that $A$ is convex, $A+A = 2A$, and $|A+A|=4|A|$. Therefore $|A-A|\geq |A+A|$.

Jonas Meyer
  • 55,715