Characterizing circles by a convex combinatorial property

Abstract

Let $K_0$ be a compact convex subset of the plane $\mathbb R^2$, and assume that $K_1\subseteq \mathbb R^2$ is similar to $K_0$, that is, $K_1$ is the image of $K_0$ with respect to a similarity transformation $\mathbb R^2\to\mathbb R^2$. Kira Adaricheva and Madina Bolat have recently proved that if $K_0$ is a disk and both $K_0$ and $K_1$ are included in a triangle with vertices $A_0$, $A_1$, and $A_2$, then there exist a $j\in \{0,1,2\}$ and a $k\in\{0,1\}$ such that $K_{1-k}$ is included in the convex hull of $K_k\cup(\{A_0,A_1, A_2\}\setminus\{A_j\})$. Here we prove that this property characterizes disks among compact convex subsets of the plane. Actually, we prove even more since we replace "similar" by "isometric" (also called "congruent"). Circles are the boundaries of disks, so our result also gives a characterization of circles.