Width distributions for rectangular boxes

For a rectangular box with edges a₁, a₂, a₃, the width in a uniform random direction u ∈ S² is w = a₁|u₁| + a₂|u₂| + a₃|u₃|. Under a bijective change of parameters this is also the projected area of a rectangular parallelepiped, whose distribution was derived by Walters. We give a direct co-area derivation that recasts the law as one global positive-part formula and integrates it to an elementary closed cumulative distribution function. The density is real-analytic except at the edge lengths, face diagonals and space diagonal. We classify every singularity as a corner, square-root fold, superposition or terminal jump and compute its coefficient. A Gaussian representation gives all moments from one generating function. The degree of the nth cumulant in π⁻¹ is exactly ⌊n/2⌋; at every order the mean-normalised cumulant is a polynomial in two scale-invariant combinations of the intrinsic volumes, with explicit formulas given through fifth order. The first three cumulants determine the box, and we characterise the admissible triples. Beyond boxes, intrinsic volumes determine neither width variance nor brightness variance. The sign-pattern representation extends to bodies whose central symmetral is a zonotope, while the cellwise co-area method applies to every full-dimensional polytope.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-08-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21780025
Primary Topic
Point processes and geometric inequalities
Type
preprint
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preprint

Width distributions for rectangular boxes

Omri Abas
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Point processes and geometric inequalities
preprint

Width distributions for rectangular boxes

Omri Abas
preprint en

Abstract

For a rectangular box with edges a₁, a₂, a₃, the width in a uniform random direction u ∈ S² is w = a₁|u₁| + a₂|u₂| + a₃|u₃|. Under a bijective change of parameters this is also the projected area of a rectangular parallelepiped, whose distribution was derived by Walters. We give a direct co-area derivation that recasts the law as one global positive-part formula and integrates it to an elementary closed cumulative distribution function. The density is real-analytic except at the edge lengths, face diagonals and space diagonal. We classify every singularity as a corner, square-root fold, superposition or terminal jump and compute its coefficient. A Gaussian representation gives all moments from one generating function. The degree of the nth cumulant in π⁻¹ is exactly ⌊n/2⌋; at every order the mean-normalised cumulant is a polynomial in two scale-invariant combinations of the intrinsic volumes, with explicit formulas given through fifth order. The first three cumulants determine the box, and we characterise the admissible triples. Beyond boxes, intrinsic volumes determine neither width variance nor brightness variance. The sign-pattern representation extends to bodies whose central symmetral is a zonotope, while the cellwise co-area method applies to every full-dimensional polytope.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Point processes and geometric inequalities
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Width distributions for rectangular boxes — Omri Abas · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS