A random line intersects $\mathbb{S}^2$ in two probabilistically independent locations
Probability
2023-08-07 v2
Abstract
We consider random lines in (random with respect to the kinematic measure) and how they intersect . It is known that the entry point and the exit point behave like \textit{independent} uniformly distributed random variables. We give a new proof using bilinear integral geometry and use this approach to show that this property is extremely rare: if is a bounded, convex domain with smooth boundary with this property (i.e., the intersection points with a random line are independent), then and is a ball.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2307.04314,
title = {A random line intersects $\mathbb{S}^2$ in two probabilistically independent locations},
author = {Dmitriy Bilyk and Alan Chang and Otte Heinävaara and Ryan W. Matzke and Stefan Steinerberger},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.04314},
year = {2023}
}