arXiv subjects

E. B. Saff

Publications and source records attributed to E. B. Saff.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Universal polar dual pairs of spherical codes found in $E_8$ and $Λ_{24}$

We identify universal polar dual pairs of spherical codes $C$ and $D$ such that for a large class of potential functions $h$ the minima of the discrete $h$-potential of $C$ on the sphere occur at the points of $D$ and vice versa. Moreover, the minimal values of their normalized potentials are equal. These codes arise from the known sharp codes embedded in the even unimodular extremal lattices $E_8$ and $Λ_{24}$ (Leech lattice). This embedding allows us to use the lattices' properties to find new universal polar dual pairs. In the process we extensively utilize the interplay between the binary Golay codes and the Leech lattice. As a byproduct of our analysis, we identify a new universally optimal (in the sense of energy) code in the projective space $\mathbb{RP}^{21}$ with $1408$ points (lines). Furthermore, we extend the Delsarte-Goethals-Seidel definition of derived codes from their seminal $1977$ paper and generalize their Theorem 8.2 to show that if a $τ$-design is enclosed in $k\leq τ$ parallel hyperplanes, then each of the hyperplane's sub-code is a $(τ+1-k)$-design in the ambient subspace.

math.CO↗

arXiv2018

Condensers with touching plates and constrained minimum Riesz and Green energy problems

We study minimum energy problems relative to the $α$-Riesz kernel $|x-y|^{α-n}$, $α\in(0,2]$, over signed Radon measures $μ$ on $\mathbb R^n$, $n\geqslant3$, associated with a generalized condenser $(A_1,A_2)$, where $A_1$ is a relatively closed subset of a domain $D$ and $A_2=\mathbb R^n\setminus D$. We show that, though $A_2\cap\mathrm{Cl}_{\mathbb R^n}A_1$ may have nonzero capacity, this minimum energy problem is uniquely solvable (even in the presence of an external field) if we restrict ourselves to $μ$ with $μ^+\leqslantξ$, where a constraint $ξ$ is properly chosen. We establish the sharpness of the sufficient conditions on the solvability thus obtained, provide descriptions of the weighted $α$-Riesz potentials of the solutions, single out their characteristic properties, and analyze their supports. The approach developed is mainly based on the establishment of an intimate relationship between the constrained minimum $α$-Riesz energy problem over signed measures associated with $(A_1,A_2)$ and the constrained minimum $α$-Green energy problem over positive measures carried by $A_1$. The results are illustrated by examples.

math.CA↗

arXiv2018

Constrained minimum Riesz energy problems for a condenser with intersecting plates

We study the constrained minimum energy problem with an external field relative to the $α$-Riesz kernel $|x-y|^{α-n}$ of order $α\in(0,n)$ for a generalized condenser $\mathbf A=(A_i)_{i\in I}$ in $\mathbb R^n$, $n\geqslant 3$, whose oppositely charged plates intersect each other over a set of zero capacity. Conditions sufficient for the existence of minimizers are found, and their uniqueness and vague compactness are studied. Conditions obtained are shown to be sharp. We also analyze continuity of the minimizers in the vague and strong topologies when the condenser and the constraint both vary, describe the weighted equilibrium vector potentials, and single out their characteristic properties. Our arguments are based particularly on the simultaneous use of the vague topology and a suitable semimetric structure on a set of vector measures associated with $\mathbf A$, and the establishment of completeness theorems for proper semimetric spaces. The results remain valid for the logarithmic kernel on $\mathbb R^2$ and $\mathbf A$ with compact $A_i$, $i\in I$. The study is illustrated by several examples.

math.CA↗

arXiv2018

On spherical codes with inner products in a prescribed interval

We develop a framework for obtaining linear programming bounds for spherical codes whose inner products belong to a prescribed subinterval $[\ell,s]$ of $[-1,1)$. An intricate relationship between Levenshtein-type upper bounds on cardinality of codes with inner products in $[\ell,s]$ and lower bounds on the potential energy (for absolutely monotone interactions) for codes with inner products in $[\ell,1)$ (when the cardinality of the code is kept fixed) is revealed and explained. Thereby, we obtain a new extension of Levenshtein bounds for such codes. The universality of our bounds is exhibited by a unified derivation and their validity for a wide range of codes and potential functions.

math.MG↗

arXiv2017

Local properties of Riesz minimal energy configurations and equilibrium measures

We investigate separation properties of $N$-point configurations that minimize discrete Riesz $s$-energy on a compact set $A\subset \mathbb{R}^p$. When $A$ is a smooth $(p-1)$-dimensional manifold without boundary and $s\in [p-2, p-1)$, we prove that the order of separation (as $N\to \infty$) is the best possible. The same conclusions hold for the points that are a fixed positive distance from the boundary of $A$ whenever $A$ is any $p$-dimensional set. These estimates extend a result of Dahlberg for certain smooth $(p-1)$-dimensional surfaces when $s=p-2$ (the harmonic case). Furthermore, we obtain the same separation results for `greedy' $s$-energy points. We deduce our results from an upper regularity property of the $s$-equilibrium measure (i.e., the measure that solves the continuous minimal Riesz $s$-energy problem), and we show that this property holds under a local smoothness assumption on the set $A$.

math.CA↗

arXiv2017

Optimal discrete measures for Riesz potentials

For $s\geqslant d$, we obtain the leading term as $N\to \infty$ of the maximal weighted $N$-point Riesz $s$-polarization (or Chebyshev constant) for a certain class of $d$-rectifiable compact subsets of $\mathbb{R}^p$. This class includes compact subsets of $d$-dimensional $C^1$ manifolds whose boundary relative to the manifold has $\mathcal{H}_d$-measure zero, as well as finite unions of such sets when their pairwise intersections have $\mathcal{H}_d$-measure zero. We also explicitly find the weak$^*$ limit distribution of asymptotically optimal $N$-point polarization configurations as $N\to \infty$.

math.CA↗

arXiv2016

A Comparison of Popular Point Configurations on $\mathbb{S}^2$

There are many ways to generate a set of nodes on the sphere for use in a variety of problems in numerical analysis. We present a survey of quickly generated point sets on $\mathbb{S}^2$, examine their equidistribution properties, separation, covering, and mesh ratio constants and present a new point set, equal area icosahedral points, with low mesh ratio. We analyze numerically the leading order asymptotics for the Riesz and logarithmic potential energy for these configurations with total points $N<50,000$ and present some new conjectures.

math.NA↗

arXiv2016

Generating Point Configurations via Hypersingular Riesz Energy With an External Field

For a compact $ d $-dimensional rectifiable subset of $ \mathbb{R}^{p} $ we study asymptotic properties as $ N\to\infty $ of $N$-point configurations minimizing the energy arising from a Riesz $ s $-potential $ 1/r^s $ and an external field in the hypersingular case $ s\geq d$. Formulas for the weak$ ^* $ limit of normalized counting measures of such optimal point sets and the first-order asymptotic values of minimal energy are obtained. As an application, we derive a method for generating configurations whose normalized counting measures converge to a given absolutely continuous measure supported on a rectifiable subset of $ \mathbb{R}^{p} $. Results on separation and covering properties of discrete minimizers are given. Our theorems are illustrated with several numerical examples.

math.CA↗

arXiv2016

A minimum principle for potentials with application to Chebyshev constants

For "Riesz-like" kernels $K(x,y)=f(|x-y|)$ on $A\times A$, where $A$ is a compact $d$-regular set $A\subset \mathbb{R}^p$, we prove a minimum principle for potentials $U_K^μ=\int K(x,y)dμ(x)$, where $μ$ is a Borel measure supported on $A$. Setting $P_K(μ)=\inf_{y\in A}U^μ(y)$, the $K$-polarization of $μ$, the principle is used to show that if $\{ν_N\}$ is a sequence of measures on $A$ that converges in the weak-star sense to the measure $ν$, then $P_K(ν_N)\to P_K(ν)$ as $N\to \infty$. The continuous Chebyshev (polarization) problem concerns maximizing $P_K(μ)$ over all probability measures $μ$ supported on $A$, while the $N$-point discrete Chebyshev problem maximizes $P_K(μ)$ only over normalized counting measures for $N$-point multisets on $A$. We prove for such kernels and sets $A$, that if $\{ν_N\}$ is a sequence of $N$-point measures solving the discrete problem, then every weak-star limit measure of $ν_N$ as $N \to \infty$ is a solution to the continuous problem.

math.CA↗

arXiv2015

Universal upper and lower bounds on energy of spherical designs

Linear programming (polynomial) techniques are used to obtain lower and upper bounds for the potential energy of spherical designs. This approach gives unified bounds that are valid for a large class of potential functions. Our lower bounds are optimal for absolutely monotone potentials in the sense that for the linear programming technique they cannot be improved by using polynomials of the same or lower degree. When additional information about the structure (upper and lower bounds for the inner products) of the designs is known, improvements on the bounds are obtained. Furthermore, we provide `test functions' for determining when the linear programming lower bounds for energy can be improved utilizing higher degree polynomials. We also provide some asymptotic results for these energy bounds.

math.MG↗

arXiv2015

Minimum Riesz energy problems for a condenser with "touching plates"

Minimum Riesz energy problems in the presence of an external field are analyzed for a condenser with touching plates. We obtain sufficient and/or necessary conditions for the solvability of these problems in both the unconstrained and the constrained settings, investigate the properties of minimizers, and prove their uniqueness. Furthermore, characterization theorems in terms of variational inequalities for the weighted potentials are established. The results obtained are illustrated by several examples.

math.CA↗

arXiv2015

The covering radius of randomly distributed points on a manifold

We derive fundamental asymptotic results for the expected covering radius $ρ(X_N)$ for $N$ points that are randomly and independently distributed with respect to surface measure on a sphere as well as on a class of smooth manifolds. For the unit sphere $\mathbb{S}^d \subset \mathbb{R}^{d+1}$, we obtain the precise asymptotic that $\mathbb{E}ρ(X_N)[N/\log N]^{1/d}$ has limit $[(d+1)\upsilon_{d+1}/\upsilon_d]^{1/d}$ as $N \to \infty $, where $\upsilon_d$ is the volume of the $d$-dimensional unit ball. This proves a recent conjecture of Brauchart et al. as well as extends a result previously known only for the circle. Likewise we obtain precise asymptotics for the expected covering radius of $N$ points randomly distributed on a $d$-dimensional ball, a $d$-dimensional cube, as well as on a 3-dimensional polyhedron (where the points are independently distributed with respect to volume measure). More generally, we deduce upper and lower bounds for the expected covering radius of $N$ points that are randomly and independently distributed on a metric measure space, provided the measure satisfies certain regularity assumptions.

math.PR↗

arXiv2015

Universal lower bounds for potential energy of spherical codes

We derive and investigate lower bounds for the potential energy of finite spherical point sets (spherical codes). Our bounds are optimal in the following sense -- they cannot be improved by employing polynomials of the same or lower degrees in the Delsarte-Yudin method. However, improvements are sometimes possible and we provide a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of such better bounds. All our bounds can be obtained in a unified manner that does not depend on the potential function, provided the potential is given by an absolutely monotone function of the inner product between pairs of points, and this is the reason for us to call them universal. We also establish a criterion for a given code of dimension $n$ and cardinality $N$ not to be LP-universally optimal, e.g. we show that two codes conjectured by Ballinger et al to be universally optimal are not LP-universally optimal.

math.MG↗

arXiv2014

Periodic Discrete Energy for Long-Range Potentials

We consider periodic energy problems in Euclidean space with a special emphasis on long-range potentials that cannot be defined through the usual infinite sum. One of our main results builds on more recent developments of Ewald summation to define the periodic energy corresponding to a large class of long-range potentials. Two particularly interesting examples are the logarithmic potential and the Riesz potential when the Riesz parameter is smaller than the dimension of the space. For these examples, we use analytic continuation methods to provide concise formulas for the periodic kernel in terms of the Epstein Hurwitz Zeta function. We apply our energy definition to deduce several properties of the minimal energy including the asymptotic order of growth and the distribution of points in energy minimizing configurations as the number of points becomes large. We conclude with some detailed calculations in the case of one dimension, which shows the utility of this approach.

math-ph↗

arXiv2014

Orthogonal polynomials for area-type measures and image recovery

Let $G$ be a finite union of disjoint and bounded Jordan domains in the complex plane, let $\mathcal{K}$ be a compact subset of $G$ and consider the set $G^\star$ obtained from $G$ by removing $\mathcal{K}$; i.e., $G^\star:=G\setminus \mathcal{K}$. We refer to $G$ as an archipelago and $G^\star$ as an archipelago with lakes. Denote by $\{p_n(G,z)\}_{n=0}^\infty$ and $\{p_n(G^\star,z)\}_{n=0}^\infty$, the sequences of the Bergman polynomials associated with $G$ and $G^\star$, respectively; that is, the orthonormal polynomials with respect to the area measure on $G$ and $G^\star$. The purpose of the paper is to show that $p_n(G,z)$ and $p_n(G^\star,z)$ have comparable asymptotic properties, thereby demonstrating that the asymptotic properties of the Bergman polynomials for $G^\star$ are determined by the boundary of $G$. As a consequence we can analyze certain asymptotic properties of $p_n(G^\star,z)$ by using the corresponding results for $p_n(G,z)$, which were obtained in a recent work by B. Gustafsson, M. Putinar, and two of the present authors. The results lead to a reconstruction algorithm for recovering the shape of an archipelago with lakes from a partial set of its complex moments.

math.NA↗

arXiv2013

Polarization optimality of equally spaced points on the circle for discrete potentials

We prove a conjecture of Ambrus, Ball and Erdélyi that equally spaced points maximize the minimum of discrete potentials on the unit circle whenever the potential is of the form \sum_{k=1}^n f(d(z,z_k)), where $f:[0,π]\to [0,\infty]$ is non-increasing and strictly convex and $d(z,w)$ denotes the geodesic distance between $z$ and $w$ on the circle.

math-ph↗

arXiv2013

Reverse Triangle Inequalities for Riesz Potentials and Connections with Polarization

We study reverse triangle inequalities for Riesz potentials and their connection with polarization. This work generalizes inequalities for sup norms of products of polynomials, and reverse triangle inequalities for logarithmic potentials. The main tool used in the proofs is the representation for a power of the farthest distance function as a Riesz potential of a unit Borel measure.

math.CA↗

arXiv2013

Reverse Triangle Inequalities for Potentials

We study the reverse triangle inequalities for suprema of logarithmic potentials on compact sets of the plane. This research is motivated by the inequalities for products of supremum norms of polynomials. We find sharp additive constants in the inequalities for potentials, and give applications of our results to the generalized polynomials. We also obtain sharp inequalities for products of norms of the weighted polynomials $w^nP_n, deg(P_n)\le n,$ and for sums of suprema of potentials with external fields. An important part of our work in the weighted case is a Riesz decomposition for the weighted farthest-point distance function.

math.CV↗