Sharing pizza in n dimensions

Abstract

We introduce and prove the $n$-dimensional Pizza Theorem: Let $\mathcal{H}$ be a hyperplane arrangement in $\mathbb{R}^{n}$. If $K$ is a measurable set of finite volume, the {pizza quantity} of $K$ is the alternating sum of the volumes of the regions obtained by intersecting $K$ with the arrangement $\mathcal{H}$. We prove that if $\mathcal{H}$ is a Coxeter arrangement different from $A_{1}^{n}$ such that the group of isometries $W$ generated by the reflections in the hyperplanes of $\mathcal{H}$ contains the map $-\mathrm{id}$, and if $K$ is a translate of a convex body that is stable under $W$ and contains the origin, then the pizza quantity of $K$ is equal to zero. Our main tool is an induction formula for the pizza quantity involving a subarrangement of the restricted arrangement on hyperplanes of $\mathcal{H}$ that we call the {even restricted arrangement}. More generally, we prove that for a class of arrangements that we call {even} (this includes the Coxeter arrangements above) and for a {sufficiently symmetric} set $K$, the pizza quantity of $K+a$ is polynomial in $a$ for $a$ small enough, for example if $K$ is convex and $0\in K+a$. We get stronger results in the case of balls, more generally, convex bodies bounded by quadratic hypersurfaces. For example, we prove that the pizza quantity of the ball centered at $a$ having radius $R\geq\|a\|$ vanishes for a Coxeter arrangement $\mathcal{H}$ with $|\mathcal{H}|-n$ an even positive integer. We also prove the Pizza Theorem for the surface volume: When $\mathcal{H}$ is a Coxeter arrangement and $|\mathcal{H}| - n$ is a nonnegative even integer, for an $n$-dimensional ball the alternating sum of the $(n-1)$-dimensional surface volumes of the regions is equal to zero.