English

Random triangles in planar regions containing a fixed point

History and Overview 2018-02-13 v5 Probability

Abstract

In this article we provide several exact formulae to calculate the probability that a random triangle chosen within a planar region (any Lebesgue measurable set of finite measure) contains a given fixed point OO. These formulae are in terms of one integration of an appropriate function, with respect to a density function which depends of the point OO. The formulae provide another way to approach the Sylvester's Four-Point Problem as we show in the last section. A stability result is derived for the probability. We recover the known probability in the case of an equilateral triangle and its center of mass: 227+20ln281\frac{2}{27}+20\frac{\ln 2}{81}. We compute this probability in the case of a regular polygon and its center of mass for the point OO. Other families of regions are studied. For the family of Lima\c{c}ons r=a+costr=a+\cos t, a>1a>1, and OO the origin of the polar coordinates, the probability is 1412a2(4a2+1)(2a2+1)3π2\frac{1}{4}-\frac{12a^2(4a^2+1)}{(2a^2+1)^3\pi^2}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1612.08619,
  title  = {Random triangles in planar regions containing a fixed point},
  author = {Eugen J. Ionascu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1612.08619},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

25 pages, 12 figues

R2 v1 2026-06-22T17:35:08.587Z