Random points and lattice points in convex bodies

Abstract

1 Assume K ⊂ Rd is a convex body and X is a (large) finite subset of K. How many convex polytopes are there whose vertices belong to X? Is there a typical shape of such polytopes? How well does the maximal such polytope (which is actually the convex hull of X) approximate K? We are interested in these questions mainly in two cases. The first is when X is a random sample of n uniform, independent points from K. In this case motivation comes from Sylvester's famous four-point problem and from the theory of random polytopes. The second case is when X = K ∩ Zd where Zd is the lattice of integer points in Rd and the questions come from integer programming and geometry of numbers. Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly), the answers in the two cases are rather similar. ©2008 American Mathematical Society.