Covering and packing in ${Bbb Z}^n$ and ${Bbb R}^n$, (I)

Given a finite subset of an additive group such as or , we are interested in efficient covering of by translates of , and efficient packing of translates of in . A set provides a covering if the translates with cover (i.e., their union is ), and the covering will be efficient if has small density in . On the other hand, a set will provide a packing if the translated sets with are mutually disjoint, and the packing is efficient if has large density. In the present part (I) we will derive some facts on these concepts when , and give estimates for the minimal covering densities and maximal packing densities of finite sets . In part (II) we will again deal with , and study the behaviour of such densities under linear transformations. In part (III) we will turn to . Authors’ address: Department of Mathematics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Campus Box 395, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0395, USA The first author was partially supported by NSF DMS 0074531.