We prove that in all dimensions n at least 3, for every integer N there exists a distribution of points of cardinality $ N$, for which the associated discrepancy function D_N satisfies the estimate an estimate, of sharp growth rate in N, in the expon
ential Orlicz class exp)L^{2/(n+1)}. This has recently been proved by M.~Skriganov, using random digit shifts of binary digital nets, building upon the remarkable examples of W.L.~Chen and M.~Skriganov. Our approach, developed independently, complements that of Skriganov.
It is a well-known conjecture in the theory of irregularities of distribution that the L1 norm of the discrepancy function of an N-point set satisfies the same asymptotic lower bounds as its L^2 norm. In dimension d=2 this fact has been established b
y Halasz, while in higher dimensions the problem is wide open. In this note, we establish a series of dichotomy-type results which state that if the L^1 norm of the discrepancy function is too small (smaller than the conjectural bound), then the discrepancy function has to be large in some other function space.
