Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 0811.3005

The discrepancy of a needle on a checkerboard, II

Alex Iosevich·Mihail N. Kolountzakis
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Consider the plane as a checkerboard, with each unit square colored black or white in an arbitrary manner. In a previous paper we showed that for any such coloring there are straight line segments, of arbitrarily large length, such that the difference of their white length minus their black length, in absolute value, is at least the square root of their length, up to a multiplicative constant. For the corresponding "finite" problem ($N \times N$ checkerboard) we had proved that we can color it in such a way that the above quantity is at most $C \sqrt{N \log N}$, for any placement of the line segment. In this followup we show that it is possible to color the infinite checkerboard with two colors so that for any line segment $I$ the excess of one color over another is bounded above by $C_ε\Abs{I}^{\frac12+ε}$, for any $ε>0$. We also prove lower bounds for the discrepancy of circular arcs. Finally, we make some observations regarding the $L^p$ discrepancies for segments and arcs, $p<2$, for which our $L^2$-based methods fail to give any reasonable estimates.

Explore related subjects

math.CAmath.NT

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Alex Iosevich, Mihail N. Kolountzakis. 2008-11-18. The discrepancy of a needle on a checkerboard, II. https://arxiv.org/abs/0811.3005

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

On the prime field spherical restriction conjecture in four dimensions: breaking the Stein-Tomas exponent and applications

Let $p$ be an odd prime. We prove the extension estimate $R_{S_j}^*(2\to r)\lesssim_r 1$ for every nonzero-radius sphere $S_j\subseteq\mathbb{F}_p^4$ and every $r\geq \, 34/11$, uniformly in $p$ and $j$. This improves the Stein--Tomas exponent $10/3$ established by Iosevich and Koh (2008). We also formulate a localized spherical restriction/extension conjecture that predicts the sharp dependence of the restriction norm on the size of the physical support. This conjecture implies the spherical extension estimates $R_{S_j}^*(2\to r)\lesssim_r 1$ for every $r>3$, and yields almost-every-pin distance estimates at the conjectured Erdős--Falconer exponent in four dimensions, up to an arbitrarily small power loss in the set-size hypothesis. Using the same method, we improve the bounds supplied by Fourier decay and Plancherel at intermediate support scales and derive new almost-every-pin distance estimates in $\mathbb{F}_p^4$.

math.CA↗
arXiv2026

Dimension-free estimates for discrete maximal functions over cubes in $\mathbb Z^d$

In this short note, we establish dimension-free $\ell^p(\mathbb Z^d)$ bounds, for all $p\in(1,\infty]$, for the discrete Hardy--Littlewood maximal functions associated with cubes in $\mathbb Z^d$, answering a question that had been open for a while. The key idea is to prove dimension-free bounds for the $\ell^p(\mathbb Z^d)$ norms of the differences of the corresponding averages. This follows from an ad hoc interpretation of the associated discrete multipliers as a special continuous family of multipliers to which basic fractional integration and complex interpolation can be applied. The same method also yields an elementary proof of Bourgain's dimension-free $L^p(\mathbb R^d)$ bounds for the Hardy--Littlewood maximal function associated with cubes in $\mathbb R^d$.

math.CA↗
arXiv2026

Establishing the Polynomial Wolff Axioms for $δ$-Separated $δ$-Tubes With #o-minimality

We establish the full version of a conjecture of Guth and Zahl, giving a lower bound for the volume of a semialgebraic set that has a large intersection with a collection of $δ$-separated $δ$-tubes. Our proof uses o-minimal methods to simplify the proof of Katz and Rogers, who proved the conjecture up to a small factor. We also establish that the constants depend polynomially on the complexity of the semialgebraic set, and more generally in the #o-minimal setting.

math.CA↗