Supporting hyperplane
In geometry, a supporting hyperplane of a set {\displaystyle S} in Euclidean space {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}} is a hyperplane that has both of the following two properties:[1]
- {\displaystyle S} is entirely contained in one of the two closed half-spaces bounded by the hyperplane,
- {\displaystyle S} has at least one boundary-point on the hyperplane.
Here, a closed half-space is the half-space that includes the points within the hyperplane.
Supporting hyperplane theorem
[edit ]This theorem states that if {\displaystyle S} is a convex set in the topological vector space {\displaystyle X=\mathbb {R} ^{n},} and {\displaystyle x_{0}} is a point on the boundary of {\displaystyle S,} then there exists a supporting hyperplane containing {\displaystyle x_{0}.} If {\displaystyle x^{*}\in X^{*}\backslash \{0\}} ({\displaystyle X^{*}} is the dual space of {\displaystyle X}, {\displaystyle x^{*}} is a nonzero linear functional) such that {\displaystyle x^{*}\left(x_{0}\right)\geq x^{*}(x)} for all {\displaystyle x\in S}, then
- {\displaystyle H=\{x\in X:x^{*}(x)=x^{*}\left(x_{0}\right)\}}
defines a supporting hyperplane.[2]
Conversely, if {\displaystyle S} is a closed set with nonempty interior such that every point on the boundary has a supporting hyperplane, then {\displaystyle S} is a convex set, and is the intersection of all its supporting closed half-spaces.[2]
The hyperplane in the theorem may not be unique, as noticed in the second picture on the right. If the closed set {\displaystyle S} is not convex, the statement of the theorem is not true at all points on the boundary of {\displaystyle S,} as illustrated in the third picture on the right.
The supporting hyperplanes of convex sets are also called tac-planes or tac-hyperplanes.[3]
The forward direction can be proved as a special case of the separating hyperplane theorem (see the page for the proof). For the converse direction,
Define {\displaystyle T} to be the intersection of all its supporting closed half-spaces. Clearly {\displaystyle S\subset T}. Now let {\displaystyle y\not \in S}, show {\displaystyle y\not \in T}.
Let {\displaystyle x\in \mathrm {int} (S)}, and consider the line segment {\displaystyle [x,y]}. Let {\displaystyle t} be the largest number such that {\displaystyle [x,t(y-x)+x]} is contained in {\displaystyle S}. Then {\displaystyle t\in (0,1)}.
Let {\displaystyle b=t(y-x)+x}, then {\displaystyle b\in \partial S}. Draw a supporting hyperplane across {\displaystyle b}. Let it be represented as a nonzero linear functional {\displaystyle f:\mathbb {R} ^{n}\to \mathbb {R} } such that {\displaystyle \forall a\in T,f(a)\geq f(b)}. Then since {\displaystyle x\in \mathrm {int} (S)}, we have {\displaystyle f(x)>f(b)}. Thus by {\displaystyle {\frac {f(y)-f(b)}{1-t}}={\frac {f(b)-f(x)}{t-0}}<0}, we have {\displaystyle f(y)<f(b)}, so {\displaystyle y\not \in T}.
See also
[edit ]- Support function
- Supporting line (supporting hyperplanes in {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{2}})
Notes
[edit ]- ^ Luenberger, David G. (1969). Optimization by Vector Space Methods. New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-471-18117-0.
- ^ a b Boyd, Stephen P.; Vandenberghe, Lieven (2004). Convex Optimization (pdf). Cambridge University Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0-521-83378-3 . Retrieved October 15, 2011.
- ^ Cassels, John W. S. (1997), An Introduction to the Geometry of Numbers, Springer Classics in Mathematics (reprint of 1959[3] and 1971 Springer-Verlag ed.), Springer-Verlag.
References & further reading
[edit ]- Ostaszewski, Adam (1990). Advanced mathematical methods . Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 129. ISBN 0-521-28964-5.
- Giaquinta, Mariano; Hildebrandt, Stefan (1996). Calculus of variations. Berlin; New York: Springer. p. 57. ISBN 3-540-50625-X.
- Goh, C. J.; Yang, X.Q. (2002). Duality in optimization and variational inequalities. London; New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 13. ISBN 0-415-27479-6.
- Soltan, V. (2021). Support and separation properties of convex sets in finite dimension. Extracta Math. Vol. 36, no. 2, 241-278.