Geometric discrepancy. An illustrated guide (Q5902169): Difference between revisions

This is the second edition of a book which appeared ten years ago (1999); see the review in Zbl 0930.11060. Only some new references are included and some minor corrections are made. The book gives a very useful introduction to geometric discrepancy theory. The style is quite informal and lively which makes the book easily readable. However, important theorems are proved rigorously. Furthermore, the combinatorial background is presented quite extensively. The connection to dynamical systems and to very recent progress in real analysis (orthogonal series) are indicated but not presented in detail [\textit{D. Bilyk} and \textit{M. T. Lacey}, Duke Math. J. 143, No. 1, 81--115 (2008; Zbl 1202.42007) and \textit{D. Bilyk, M. T. Lacy} and \textit{A. Vagharshakyan}, J. Funct. Anal. 254, No. 9, 2470--2502 (2008; Zbl 1214.42024)]. After an informative introduction, several constructions of low-discrepancy sequences are presented. This involves polynomials over finite fields with a focus on ``scrambled digital nets''. Then upper bounds for several types of ``geometric discrepancy'' are discussed: in particular probabilistic arguments and ideas from convex geometry are used. Further chapters are devoted to the entropy method and to the Vapnik-Chernovenkis dimension. The final chapters deal with to lower bounds, the results of Schmidt and Roth are presented following the method of Halasz. Furthermore, Beck's Fourier-transform approach is discussed in a very lively way, illustrative pictures are included. This revised second edition contains a number of interesting exercises as well as several hints on new developments (1999--2009) in the field.