grandes-ecoles 2025 QII.2
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Let $x$ be an arbitrary point of $Q^N$. Let $P^N$ be the set of vertices of the hypercube $[0,1]^N$, that is the set of linear combinations of the $e_i$ for $i \in \{1, \ldots, N\}$ with coefficients 0 or 1. If $A$ is a non-empty subset of $Q^N$, we define the subsets $P_A(x)$ and $R_A(x)$ of $P^N$ as follows: let $H_i$ be the hyperplane orthogonal to $e_i$, generated by the $e_j$ for $j \neq i$. Then $z \in P_A(x)$ if there exists $a \in A$ such that $$\forall i \in \{1, \ldots, N\}, z \in H_i \Longrightarrow a - x \in H_i$$ while $z \in R_A(x)$ if there exists $a \in A$ such that $$\forall i \in \{1, \ldots, N\}, z \in H_i \Longleftrightarrow a - x \in H_i.$$
Given $A \subset Q^N$ non-empty and $x \in Q^N$, we also define the quantity $$q(x, A) := \inf\left\{|z|; z \in \Gamma(P_A(x))\right\}.$$ We moreover adopt the following convention: if $A$ is the empty set, we set $q(x, A) = 2N$.
II.2.a) If $z, z' \in P^N$, we denote by $z \leq z'$ when $\langle z, e_i \rangle \leq \langle z', e_i \rangle$ for all $i \in \{1, \ldots, N\}$. Prove that $$P_A(x) = \left\{z' \in P^N; \exists z \in R_A(x), z \leq z'\right\}$$
II.2.b) Let $x \in \mathbb{R}^N$. Justify the equivalences $$x \in A \Longleftrightarrow 0 \in P_A(x) \Longleftrightarrow P_A(x) = P^N$$
II.2.c) In dimension $N = 3$, give an example of a set $A$ for which $e_3 \notin P_A(0)$ and describe precisely the sets $R_A(0)$ and $P_A(0)$ corresponding.
II.2.d) Let $B$ be a non-empty subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$. We denote by $\Gamma_0(B)$ the set of convex combinations of at most $N+1$ elements of $B$: $$\Gamma_0(B) := \left\{\sum_{j=1}^{N+1} \theta_j z_j; \theta_j \in [0,1], z_j \in B, \sum_{j=1}^{N+1} \theta_j = 1\right\}.$$ Prove that $\Gamma(B) = \Gamma_0(B)$.
Hint: you may prove that any convex combination of $m+1$ elements of $B$ with $m > N$ can be rewritten as a convex combination of at most $m$ elements of $B$.
II.2.e) Let $B$ be a non-empty subset of $\mathbb{R}^N$. Prove that $\Gamma(B)$ is a convex set, and that it is compact if $B$ is.
II.2.f) Draw and name (as a geometric object) the convex hull $\Gamma(B)$ in dimension $N = 3$, in the three following cases: $$B = \{e_1, e_2, e_1 + e_2\}, \quad B = \{e_1, e_2, e_1 + e_2, e_2 + e_3\}, \quad B = P^3.$$ For each of these examples, say whether $B$ can correspond to a set $P_A(x)$.
II.2.g) Let $A \subset Q^N$ non-empty and $x \in Q^N$. Justify that the infimum in (48) is attained.
II.2.h) Let $A \subset Q^N$ non-empty and $x \in Q^N$. Justify that $q(x, A) \leq \sqrt{N}$. Under what condition do we have $q(x, A) = 0$?
II.2.i) Let $x \in Q^N$ and $A \subset Q^N$ non-empty. Justify that $$q(x, A) = \inf\left\{|z|; z \in \Gamma(R_A(x))\right\}$$
II.2.j) Let $x \in Q^N$ and $A \subset Q^N$ with $A$ convex. Prove that $$d(x, A) \leq 2K\, q(x, A).$$
II.2.k) Let $\gamma \geq 0$ be a numerical constant. Prove that the property: ``for every convex set $A \subset Q^N$, we have $\mathbb{P}(X \in A)\mathbb{E}\left[\exp\left(\gamma\, q(X,A)^2\right)\right] \leq 1$'' implies $$\mathbb{P}(X \in A)\mathbb{E}\left[\exp\left(\gamma \frac{d(X,A)^2}{4K^2}\right)\right] \leq 1.$$