A Markoff-type chain for the view-obstruction problem for spheres in \(\mathbb{R}^ 4\) (Q1345294)

In the view obstruction problem, congruent convex bodies, centered at \(({1 \over 2}, \dots, {1 \over 2}) + \mathbb{Z}^ n\) in \(\mathbb{R}^ n\), are expanded uniformly until they block all rays from the origin into the open positive cone. The main problem is to determine the minimal blocking size. In the case of the cube this is a problem of simultaneous diophantine approximation; and in fact this was the starting point for view obstructions. The authors consider spheres of diameter 1. Its critical values \(\nu (n)\) are known for \(n = 2,3\), and the authors show \(\nu (4) = \sqrt {11/15}\). They further obtain a Markoff-type chain of isolated extreme values.