The probability of choosing primitive sets

Lattices and convex bodies (number-theoretic aspects) (11H06) (zeta (s)) and (L(s, chi)) (11M06) Lattices and convex bodies in (n) dimensions (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C07)

Abstract: We generalize a theorem of Nymann that the density of points in Z^d that are visible from the origin is 1/zeta(d), where zeta(a) is the Riemann zeta function 1/1^a + 1/2^a + 1/3^a + ... A subset S of Z^d is called primitive if it is a Z-basis for the lattice composed of the integer points in the R-span of S, or, equivalently, if S can be completed to a Z-basis of Z^d. We prove that if m points in Z^d are chosen uniformly and independently at random from a large box, then as the size of the box goes to infinity, the probability that the points form a primitive set approaches 1/[zeta(d)zeta(d-1)...zeta(d-m+1)].

Review text

A theorem of Nymann states that if a point \(\left( x_1, x_2, \dots, x_d \right) \in {\mathbb Z}^d\) is chosen at random, then the probability that the point is visible from the origin (i.e., \(\gcd \left( x_1, x_2, \dots, x_d \right) = 1\)) is \({1 \over { \zeta(d) }}\), where \(\zeta (z) = \sum_{ k \geq 1 } k^{ -z }\) is the Riemann zeta function. The condition that \(x = \left( x_1, x_2, \dots, x_d \right)\) is visible from the origin is equivalent to saying that \(\{ x \}\) is a \({\mathbb Z}\)-basis for the lattice \(\text{ span}_{ \mathbb R } (x) \cap {\mathbb Z}^d\). In general, given a set \(S = \left\{ s_1, s_2, \dots, s_m \right\} \subset {\mathbb Z}^d\), where \(1 \leq m \leq d\), we say that \(S\) is primitive if \(S\) is a \({\mathbb Z}\)-basis for the lattice \(\text{ span}_{ \mathbb R } (S) \cap {\mathbb Z}^d\). The main result of the paper under review states that if \(S\) is chosen ``at random (specified precisely in the paper), then the probability that \(S\) is primitive is \[ {1 \over { \zeta(d) \zeta(d-1) \cdots \zeta(d-m+1) }} \, . \] The proof uses concepts from triangulations of point sets, metric geometry of polytopes, analytic number theory, and the geometry of numbers.

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