Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T10:24:39.641Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Volume of a Tetrahedron whose Vertices are Chosen at Random in the Interior of a Parent Tetrahedron

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2016

David Mannion*
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway College
*
* Postal address: Department of Mathematics, Royal Holloway College, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK.

Abstract

We solve a problem proposed by V. Klee (1969). He asked for a calculation of κ, the expected value of V, the volume of a daughter tetrahedron whose vertices are chosen at random (i.e. independently and uniformly) in the interior of a parent tetrahedron of unit volume. We discover:

We also calculate the second, fourth and sixth moments of V.

Type
Stochastic Geometry and Statistical Applications
Copyright
Copyright © Applied Probability Trust 1994 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blaschke, W. (1917) Affine Geometrie XI: Lösung des ‘Vierpunktproblems’ von Sylvester aus der Theorie der geometrischen Wahrscheinlichkeiten. Ber. Verh. Sächs. Ges. Wiss. Leipsig 69, 436653.Google Scholar
Blaschke, W. (1923) Vorlesungen über Differentialgeometrie II. Affine Differentialgeometrie. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
Groemer, H. (1973) On some mean values associated with a randomly selected simplex in a convex set. Pacific J. Math. 45, 525533.Google Scholar
Gruber, P. M. (1983) Approximation of convex bodies. In Convexity and its Applications, ed. Gruber, and Wills, . Birkhäuser, Basel.Google Scholar
Kendall, M. G. and Moran, P. A. P. (1963) Geometric Probability. Griffin, London.Google Scholar
Kingman, J. F. C. (1969) Random secants of a convex body. J. Appl. Prob. 6, 660672.Google Scholar
Klee, V. (1969) What is the expected volume of a simplex whose vertices are chosen at random from a given convex body? Amer. Math. Monthly 76, 286288.Google Scholar
Macbeath, A. M. (1951) An extremal property of the hypersphere. Math. Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 47, 245247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mannion, D. (1988) A Markov chain of triangle shapes. Adv. Appl. Prob. 20, 348370.Google Scholar
Reed, W. J. (1974) Random points in a simplex. Pacific J. Math. 54, 183198.Google Scholar
Sas, S. (1939) über eine Extremaleigenschaft der Ellipsen. Compositio Math. 6, 468470.Google Scholar
Schneider, R. (1988) Random approximation of convex sets. J. Microscopy 151, 211227.Google Scholar