English

Inverse maximal and average distance minimizer problems

Metric Geometry 2023-09-08 v2

Abstract

Consider a compact MRdM \subset \mathbb{R}^d and r>0r > 0. A maximal distance minimizer problem is to find a connected compact set Σ\Sigma of the minimal length, such that maxyMdist(y,Σ)r. \max_{y \in M} dist (y, \Sigma) \leq r. The inverse problem is to determine whether a given compact connected set Σ\Sigma is a minimizer for some compact MM and some positive rr. Let a Steiner tree StSt with nn terminals be unique for its terminal vertices. The first result of the paper is that StSt is a minimizer for a set MM of nn points and a small enough positive rr. It is known that in the planar case a general Steiner tree (on a finite number of terminals) is unique. It is worth noting that a Steiner tree on nn terminal vertices can be not a minimizer for any nn point set MM starting with n=4n = 4; the simplest such example is a Steiner tree for the vertices of a square. It is known that a planar maximal distance minimizer is a finite union of simple curves. The second result is an example of a minimizer with an infinite number of corner points (points with two tangent rays which do not belong to the same line), which means that this minimizer can not be represented as a finite union of smooth curves. Our third result is that every injective C1,1C^{1,1}-curve Σ\Sigma is a minimizer for a small enough r>0r>0 and M=Br(Σ)M = \overline{B_r(\Sigma)}. The proof is based on analogues result by Tilli on average distance minimizers. Finally, we generalize Tilli's result from the plane to dd-dimensional Euclidean space.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2212.01903,
  title  = {Inverse maximal and average distance minimizer problems},
  author = {Mikhail Basok and Danila Cherkashin and Yana Teplitskaya},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2212.01903},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T07:21:39.646Z