Frank Vallentin (University of Cologne)
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Universally optimal point configurations on the unit sphere
How can we distribute N points on the unit sphere to minimize potential energy?
In general, this is a very difficult question. However, in some cases, the answer is surprisingly independent of the specific choice of potential function. That is, there are point configurations on the unit sphere that minimize potential energy for a broad class of potential functions. Such point configurations are called universally optimal.
In this lecture I want to give an introduction to the theory of universally optimal point configurations, developed by Cohn and Kumar in the paper
arXiv:math/0607446 .
This theory draws on the following mathematical concepts: Linear programming bounds, Harmonic analysis on the unit sphere, Hermite interpolation, Spherical designs, Completely monotonic functions.