Counting the \(n\)-chromos of I. J. Schoenberg (Q1364235)

\textit{I. J. Schoenberg} [Nederl. Akad. Wet., Proc., Ser. A 79, 66-75 and 263-279 (1976; Zbl 0331.65008 and Zbl 0357.90077); Stud. Sci. Math. Hung. 13, 53-78 (1978; Zbl 0469.05040)] in his study of particle motions inside an \(n\)-dimensional unit cube found that by some conditions the motions are closed polygons whose number is finite. In order to prove this fact, he introduced a class of equivalent combinatorial objects called \(n\)-chromos: systems of \(n\) sets \(\alpha_i K_n+a_i\) (\(\alpha_i\), \(a_i\in\mathbb{R}\); \(i=1,\dots,n\)) where \(K_n\) is a set of equally spaced half-open intervals \([m,m+ 1/n]\) \((m\in\mathbb{Z})\). The authors give an algorithm for the enumeration of the \(n\)-chromos and find that their number for \(n=2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7\) is 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 27, respectively. All these examples are listed in the appendix.