English

Geometry of a Set and its Random covers

Probability 2023-07-06 v2 Differential Geometry

Abstract

Let EE be a bounded open subset of Rn\mathbb{R}^n. We study the following questions: For i.i.d. samples X1,,XNX_1, \dots, X_N drawn uniformly from EE, what is the probability that iB(Xi,δ)\cup_i \mathbf{B}(X_i, \delta), the union of δ\delta-balls centered at XiX_i, covers EE? And how does the probability depend on sample size NN and the radius of balls δ\delta? We present geometric conditions of EE under which we derive lower bounds to this probability. These lower bounds tend to 11 as a function of exp(δnN)\exp{(-\delta^n N)}. The basic tool that we use to derive the lower bounds is a good partition of EE, i.e., one whose partition elements have diameters that are uniformly bounded from above and have volumes that are uniformly bounded from below. We show that if EcE^c, the complement of EE, has positive reach then we can construct a good partition of EE. This partition is motivated by the Whitney decomposition of EE. On the other hand, we identify a class of bounded open subsets of Rn\mathbb{R}^n that do not satisfy this positive reach condition but do have good partitions. In 2D when EcR2E^c\subset \mathbb{R}^2 does not have positive reach, we show that the mutliscale flat norm can be used to approximate EE with a set that has a good partition under certain conditions. In this case, we provide a lower bound on the probability that the union of the balls almost covers EE.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2112.14979,
  title  = {Geometry of a Set and its Random covers},
  author = {Enrique Alvarado and Bala Krishnamoorthy and Kevin R. Vixie},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2112.14979},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Relevant results included from 1702.08068 and 0710.3980 for completeness; presentation improved

R2 v1 2026-06-24T08:35:40.967Z