A smaller sleeping bag for a baby snake (Q5939545): Difference between revisions

A ``sleeping bag for a baby snake'' in \(\mathbb R^d\) is a universal cover, that is, a subset of \(\mathbb R^d\) that can cover, by rotation and translation, every curve of unit length in \(\mathbb R^d\). The target is to find a universal cover with minimal volume. For history see \textit{R. Norwood}, \textit{G. Poole} and \textit{M. Laidacker} [Discrete Comput. Geom. 7, No. 2, 153--162 (1992; Zbl 0751.52001)]. In the paper under review a universal cover in \(\mathbb R^3\), of volume 0.075803 is constructed, and a universal cover in \(\mathbb R^d\), of volume \(((c \sqrt {\log d})/(d-3)^{3d/2})^d\) when \(d>3\). For the latter construction it is shown that any curve of unit length in \(\mathbb R^d\) lies between two parallel hyperplanes that are distance \((1.5\sqrt {\log d} +1)/(d-3)^{3/2}\) apart.