# Entropy and set projections

Let ${A\subset {\mathbb Z}^3}$ be a finite set, and let ${A_{xy}, A_{yz}, A_{xz} }$ be its projections to the corresponding two-planes. Denoting by ${\# S}$ the cardinality of a set ${S}$, we have the following inequality:

$\displaystyle \left(\# A\right)^2 \leq \left(\# A_{xy}\right)\left(\# A_{yz}\right) \left(\# A_{xy}\right)$

This generalizes to sets in higher dimensions and projections to subspaces of possibly different dimensions. As long as each coordinate appears at least ${n}$ times on the right, the size of ${\left(\# A\right)^n}$ is bounded by the product of the projections.

One proof of the above inequality is via a mixed version of Cauchy-Schwartz or Holder-type inequalities. For ${f,g,h}$ functions of two variables, we have

$\displaystyle \begin{array}{rcl} \left(\int \int \int f\left(x,y\right) g\left(y,z\right) h\left(x,z\right) dx\, dy\, dz\right)^2 \leq\\ \leq\left(\int \int f\left(x,y\right)dx\, dy\right) \cdot \left(\int \int g\left(y,z\right)dy\, dz\right) \left(\int \int h\left(x,z\right)dx \, dz\right) \end{array}$

Taking ${f,g,h}$ to be indicators of projections of ${A}$ to the ${2}$-planes, the bound follows. However, proving the inequality for ${f,g,h}$ requires some work.

There is a different inequality, involving entropy of random variables, whose proof (and generalizations) are much more conceptual. Namely, if ${X,Y,Z}$ are random variables and ${H\left(-\right)}$ denotes entropy, we have

$\displaystyle 2H\left(X,Y,Z\right) \leq H\left(X,Y\right) + H\left(Y,Z\right) + H\left(X,Z\right)$

Below the fold are the definitions, a proof, and an application. Continue reading

# Root systems

In this post, I will record some properties of reduced root systems, following Bourbaki. The reference is their “Lie groups and algebras, Ch. 4-6”. There will be no proofs, just a summary of the main properties. The post consists mainly of definitions and lists their properties. Continue reading