We establish a Minkowski measurability criterion for a large class of relative fractal drums (or, in short, RFDs), in Euclidean spaces of arbitrary dimension in terms of their complex dimensions, which are defined as the poles of their associated fractal zeta functions. Relative fractal drums represent a far-reaching generalization of bounded subsets of Euclidean spaces as well as of fractal strings studied extensively by the first author and his collaborators. In fact, the Minkowski measurability criterion established here is a generalization of the corresponding one obtained for fractal strings by the first author and M. van Frankenhuijsen. Similarly as in the case of fractal strings, the criterion established here is formulated in terms of the locations of the principal complex dimensions associated with the relative drum under consideration. These complex dimensions are defined as poles or, more generally, singularities of the corresponding distance (or tube) zeta function. We also reflect on the notion of gauge-Minkowski measurability of RFDs and establish several results connecting it to the nature and location of the complex dimensions. (This is especially useful when the underlying scaling does not follow a classic power law.) We illustrate our results and their applications by means of a number of interesting examples.
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