On a new method for constructing good point sets on spheres

We use quadrature formulas with equal weights in order to constructN point sets on spheres ind-space (d 3) which are almost optimal with respect to a discrepancy concept, based on distance functions (potentials) and distance functionals (energies). By combining this approach with the probabilistic method, we obtain almost best possible approximations of balls by zonotopes, generated byN segments of equal length.Editors' note: We learned with sadness of Gerold Wagner's untimely death as a result of an avalanche in the Alps shortly after the submission of this paper. When one of the referees, Joram Lindenstrauss, suggested that Wagner's results might be extended to dimensions >6, we invited Professor Lindenstrauss to submit a paper containing that extension which we would publish alongside the Wagner paper. The result is the paper by Bourgain and Lindenstrauss that follows the present one.     

Order series of labelled posets

Order series of labelled posets are multi-analogues of the more familiar order polynomials; the corresponding multi-analogues of the related representation polynomials are calledE-series. These series can be used to describe the effect of composition of labelled posets on their order polynomials, whence their interest for us. We give a reciprocity theorem forE-series, and show that for an unlabelled poset the form of theE-series depends only upon the comparability graph of the poset. We also prove that theE-series of any labelled poset is a rational power series (in many indeterminates) and give an algorithm for computing it which runs in polynomial time when the poset is strictly labelled and of bounded width. Finally, we give an explicit product formula for theE-series of strictly labelled interval posets.This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada under operating grant #0105392.