Irregularities of continuous distributions (Q1115909)

This paper deals with a continuous analogon to irregularities of point distributions. A typical result of this paper runs as follows: Let x: [0,1]\(\to X\) be a continuous function with arclength s, where X is a compact, convex body \(\subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^ k\) with Lebesgue measure \(\lambda_ K(X)=1\). Then the discrepancy of x with respect to balls \(B\subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^ k\) is bounded by \[ D^{(B)}(x)=\sup_{B}| \int^{1}_{0}1_ B(x(t))dt-\lambda_ K(B\cap X)| \quad \gg \quad s^{-(1/2+1/(K-1))} \] and this estimate is optimal despite of a possible logarithmic factor in s. This and similar results are proved by using J. Beck's Fourier transform method and some technical lemmata. For example the torus \({\mathbb{R}}^ K/{\mathbb{Z}}^ K\), the sphere \(S^ K\), and the unit disc are discussed in detail.