Riesz external field problems on the hypersphere and optimal point separation (Q462301)

Let \(\mathbb{S}^d\) be the unit sphere in \(\mathbb{R}^{d+1}\). An external field on \(\mathbb{S}^d\) is a lower semi-continuous function \(Q : \mathbb{S}^d\to ]-\infty,\infty]\). The \textit{weighted energy associated with} \(Q\) (with respect to the parameter \(s\)) is given by \[ I_{Q,s}(\mu) = \mathcal{I}_s(\mu) + 2\int Q(x)d\mu(x), \] where \(\mu\) is a positive Borel measure on the sphere. Here \(\mathcal{I}_s(\mu)\) is, for \(s > 0\), the Riesz \(s\)-energy of \(\mu\) which is defined through the Riesz \(s\)-kernel \(k_s(x, y) = |x - y|^{-s}\). If \(s = 0\) the Riesz kernel is replaced by the logarithmic kernel \(k_{\mathrm{log}}(x, y) = -\log |x - y|\). The \textit{Riesz external field problem} concerns the minimization of the weighted energy. There is a unique measure minimizing the weighted energy, called the \textit{\(s\)-extremal measure associated with} \(Q\). In the first part of the paper, characterization theorems of Frostman-type for the \(s\)-extremal measure are established which are new for the case \(d - 2 \leq s < d - 1\). The discrete version is considered in the second part of the article. For general classes of external fields, explicit point-separation estimates for \((Q, s)\)-Fekete points are given. The case of three points is rigorously characterized and the case of four points is investigated numerically.