This book aims to provide an introduction to the broad and dynamic subject of discrete energy problems and point configurations. Written by leading authorities on the topic, this treatise is designed with the graduate student and further explorers in mind. The presentation includes a chapter of preliminaries and an extensive Appendix that augments a course in Real Analysis and makes the text self-contained. Along with numerous attractive full-color images, the exposition conveys the beauty of the subject and its connection to several branches of mathematics, computational methods, and physical/biological applications.
This work is destined to be a valuable research resource for such topics as packing and covering problems, generalizations of the famous Thomson Problem, and classical potential theory in Rd. It features three chapters dealing with point distributions on the sphere, including an extensive treatment of Delsarte-Yudin-Levenshtein linear programming methods for lower bounding energy, a thorough treatment of Cohn-Kumar universality, and a comparison of 'popular methods' for uniformly distributing points on the two-dimensional sphere. Some unique features of the work are its treatment of Gauss-type kernels for periodic energy problems, its asymptotic analysis of minimizing point configurations for non-integrable Riesz potentials (the so-called Poppy-seed bagel theorems), its applications to the generation of non-structured grids of prescribed densities, and its closing chapter on optimal discrete measures for Chebyshev (polarization) problems.
Sergiy V. Borodachov is a Professor of Mathematics at Towson University, which he joined in 2008. Prof. Borodachov's primary research interests include approximation theory, numerical analysis, and minimal energy problems. He authored or co-authored more than 30 research articles and gave more than 90 talks at research conferences and seminars.
Douglas P. Hardin is a Professor of Mathematics and a Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University. His research interests include discrete minimum energy problems, fractals, harmonic analysis (wavelets), inverse problems, and machine learning. Hardin has authored or co-authored over 115 research publications, 2 monographs, and co-edited 3 research journal special issues.
Edward B. Saff is a Professor of Mathematics at Vanderbilt University and Director of the Center for Constructive Approximation. His research areas include approximation theory, numerical analysis, and potential theory. Saff is a Fellow of the American Mathematics Society, a Foreign Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Science, and was a recipient of both a Guggenheim and a Fulbright Fellowships. He has authored or co-authored over 270 research articles, 4 research monographs and 4 textbooks, and is co-Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor of the research journal Constructive Approximation. Prof. Saff also serves on the boards of 3 other research journals.
