Asymptotic Distributions of Covering and Separation Measures on the Hypersphere

Abstract

AbstractWe consider measures of covering and separation that are expressed through maxima and minima of distances between points of an hypersphere. We investigate the behavior of these measures when applied to a sample of independent and uniformly distributed points. In particular, we derive their asymptotic distributions when the number of points diverges. These results can be useful as a benchmark against which deterministic point sets can be evaluated. Whenever possible, we supplement the rigorous derivation of these limiting distributions with some heuristic reasonings based on extreme value theory. As a by-product, we provide a proof for a conjecture on the hole radius associated to a facet of the convex hull of points distributed on the hypersphere.