Invariance principles for energy functionals on spheres (Q1879309)

The author comments on the invariance principles for so-called \(g\)-energy functionals defined by \[ E(g; X_N) = \frac{1}{N^2} \sum_{j\neq k} g(\langle x_j, x_k \rangle) \] where \(X_N = \{x_1, \ldots, x_N \}\) is an \(N\)-point subset of the \(d\)-dimensional unit sphere \(S^d\) in \({\mathbb R}^{d+1}\). The invariance principle expresses \(E(g;X_N)\), or a closely related \(E(g_{\delta};X_N)\), as an integral over spherical cap discrepancies. Such a formula was given first by \textit{K. B. Stolarsky} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 41, 575--582 (1973; Zbl 0274.52012)]. The class of admissible \(g\)-functions extends the ones considered by \textit{S. B. Damelin} and \textit{P. J. Grabner} [J. Complexity 19, 231--246 (2003, Zbl 1043.65049)].