Probability – Calculating Probability for Triangle Sides Inequality

euclidean-geometrygeometryintegrationprobabilityprobability distributions

I am trying to generalize the triangle inequality in probabilistic terms. Assume that the vertices are uniformly distributed around the circumference of a fixed circle. In this question it was proved that if $(a,b,c)$ are the sides of a triangle than the probability that geometric mean of any two sides is greater than the third side i.e. $P\left(\sqrt{ab} > c\right) = \frac{2}{5}$. Since $a+b > 2\sqrt{ab}$, it implies that probability that $P(a+b > 2c) > \frac{2}{5}$. In general, we can ask:

Question: If $(a,b,c)$ are the sides of a triangle and $x \ge 1$, what is the probability that $a+b > cx$?

Equivalence with the Basel's Problem: The series in the accepted answer is actually the Lengendre Chi function $\chi_2\left(\frac1{x}\right)$; hence

$$
P(a+b > cx) = \frac{8}{\pi^2}\chi_2\left(\frac1{x}\right)
$$

Taking $x = 1$ and applying the fact that the sum of the reciprocal of odd squares is $3/4$-th the sum over the reciprocal of the squares of natural numbers we find that the probability that the sum of any two sides of a triangle is greater than than the third side is $\displaystyle \frac{6\zeta(2)}{\pi^2}$. Since this probability must be $1$ and the proof does not require the value of to be known in advance, it unexpectedly implies that:

The triangle inequality equivalent to $$ 1 + \frac{1}{2^2} +
\frac{1}{3^2} + \cdots = \frac{\pi^2}{6} $$

I have changed the title to reflect this remarkable connection.

Related question: If $(a,b,c)$ are the sides of a triangle, is it true that probability that $a+b > c^{\frac{3}{c}}$ is $\zeta(2)-1$?

Best Answer

I have a formula for the probability, which for large $x$ is roughly $$\frac4{\pi^2}(\frac2x+\frac2{9x^3}+\frac2{25x^5}+\cdots)$$ The series continues in the same form up to at least the $x^{-11}$ term. There is an integral form at the end of this answer.

Solution:

The angles in the triangle are all twice the corresponding angles at the centre of the circle. So the trio of angles $(\alpha,\beta,\gamma)$ is equally distributed over the flat region in 3space with vertices $(\pi,0, 0),(0,\pi,0),(0,0,\pi)$.
The area of a triangle with sides $a,b,c$ and angles $\alpha,\beta,\gamma$ is $$\Delta=\frac12ab\sin\gamma=\frac12ca\sin\beta=\frac12bc\sin\alpha$$
So for example $a=\frac{abc}{2\Delta}\sin\alpha$, and the ratio we want is $$\frac{a+b}c=\frac{\sin\alpha+\sin\beta}{\sin\gamma}\\=\frac{2\sin\frac{\alpha+\beta}2\cos\frac{\alpha-\beta}2}{\sin(\alpha+\beta)}\\ =\frac{\cos\frac{\alpha-\beta}2}{\cos\frac{\alpha+\beta}2}$$
The region of interest is $0\le\alpha,0\le \beta,\alpha+\beta\le\pi$. Change variables to $$\theta=\frac{\alpha+\beta}2,\phi=\frac{\alpha-\beta}2$$
The region is now $$0\le\theta\le\pi/2,\\-\theta\le\phi\le\theta$$ with area $\pi^2/4$.
The ratio of interest is greater than $x$ when $$\cos\theta\lt\frac{\cos\phi}x$$
For a given $\phi$, Theta ranges over an interval of length $$\pi/2-\arccos(\frac{\cos\phi}x)\\=\arcsin(\frac{\cos\phi}x)$$
Integrate that over the region to give $$\frac4{\pi^2}\int^{\pi/2}_{-\pi/2}\arcsin(\frac{\cos\phi}x)d\phi$$
I used a series expansion in arcsine $x+\frac{x^3}6+\frac{3x^5}{40}+\cdots$ to get the series at the top.

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