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Discrete Midpoint Convexity
For a function defined on a convex set in a Euclidean space, midpoint
convexity is the property requiring that the value of the function at the
midpoint of any line segment is not greater than the average of its values at
the endpoints of the line segment. Midpoint convexity is a well-known
characterization of ordinary convexity under very mild assumptions. For a
function defined on the integer lattice, we consider the analogous notion of
discrete midpoint convexity, a discrete version of midpoint convexity where the
value of the function at the (possibly noninteger) midpoint is replaced by the
average of the function values at the integer round-up and round-down of the
midpoint. It is known that discrete midpoint convexity on all line segments
with integer endpoints characterizes L-convexity, and that it
characterizes submodularity if we restrict the endpoints of the line segments
to be at -distance one. By considering discrete midpoint convexity
for all pairs at -distance equal to two or not smaller than two,
we identify new classes of discrete convex functions, called local and global
discrete midpoint convex functions, which are strictly between the classes of
L-convex and integrally convex functions, and are shown to be
stable under scaling and addition. Furthermore, a proximity theorem, with the
same small proximity bound as that for L-convex functions, is
established for discrete midpoint convex functions. Relevant examples of
classes of local and global discrete midpoint convex functions are provided.Comment: 39 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Mathematics of Operations Researc
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