English

A Closed Form for the Chord-Power Integral I_2 of a Triangle

Metric Geometry 2026-05-27 v2 Classical Analysis and ODEs Probability

Abstract

The chord-power integrals IkI_k are classical integral-geometric functionals of a planar convex body, obtained by integrating powers of the chord length against the kinematic measure on the space of lines meeting the body. We establish a single-expression closed form for I2I_2 on an arbitrary triangle, involving logarithms symmetric in the sides, and derive two analytic consequences: a power-sum series representation, and a sharp isoperimetric-type inequality with explicit constant involving ln3\ln 3, attained uniquely by the equilateral triangle. The set {I0,I1,I2}\{I_0, I_1, I_2\} identifies a triangle up to congruence, complementing J. Gates's algebraic recognition via {I0,I1,I5}\{I_0, I_1, I_5\} with the minimal index set {0,1,2}\{0, 1, 2\}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.24616,
  title  = {A Closed Form for the Chord-Power Integral I_2 of a Triangle},
  author = {Mher Martirosyan and Ruben Sargsyan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.24616},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Sections 2 and 3 of this paper (the closed-form expression for I_2, of a triangle, the power-sum series representation, and the sharp inequality) were obtained earlier by Lothar Heinrich, "On Lower Bounds of Second-Order Chord Power Integrals of Convex Discs," Preprint 27/2009, Universit\"at Augsburg. Section 4 (the recognition theorem for triangles from {I_0, I_1, I_2}) is not in Heinrich