A great challenge in the analysis of the discrepancy function D_N is to obtain universal lower bounds on the L-infty norm of D_N in dimensions d geq 3. It follows from the average case bound of Klaus Roth that the L-infty norm of D_N is at least (log
N) ^{(d-1)/2}. It is conjectured that the L-infty bound is significantly larger, but the only definitive result is that of Wolfgang Schmidt in dimension d=2. Partial improvements of the Roth exponent (d-1)/2 in higher dimensions have been established by the authors and Armen Vagharshakyan. We survey these results, the underlying methods, and some of their connections to other subjects in probability, approximation theory, and analysis.
The Small Ball Inequality is a conjectural lower bound on sums the L-infinity norm of sums of Haar functions supported on dyadic rectangles of a fixed volume in the unit cube. The conjecture is fundamental to questions in discrepancy theory, approxim
ation theory and probability theory. In this article, we concentrate on a special case of the conjecture, and give the best known lower bound in dimension 3, using a conditional expectation argument.
Let E be a compact set in the plane, g be a K-quasiconformal map, and let 0<t<2. Then H^t (E) = 0 implies H^{t} (g E) = 0, for t=[2Kt]/[2+(K-1)t]. This is a refinement of a set of inequalities on the distortion of Hausdorff dimensions by quasicon
formal maps proved by K. Astala in his celebrated paper on area distortion for quasiconformal maps and answers in the positive a Conjecture of K. Astala in op. cit.
Let A_N be an N-point distribution in the unit square in the Euclidean plane. We consider the Discrepancy function D_N(x) in two dimensions with respect to rectangles with lower left corner anchored at the origin and upper right corner at the point x
. This is the difference between the actual number of points of A_N in such a rectangle and the expected number of points - N x_1x_2 - in the rectangle. We prove sharp estimates for the BMO norm and the exponential squared Orlicz norm of D_N(x). For example we show that necessarily ||D_N||_(expL^2) >c(logN)^(1/2) for some aboslute constant c>0. On the other hand we use a digit scrambled version of the van der Corput set to show that this bound is tight in the case N=2^n, for some positive integer n. These results unify the corresponding classical results of Roth and Schmidt in a sharp fashion.
We give a simple proof of L^p boundedness of iterated commutators of Riesz transforms and a product BMO function. We use a representation of the Riesz transforms by means of simple dyadic operators - dyadic shifts - which in turn reduces the estimate quickly to paraproduct estimates.
Hankel operators lie at the junction of analytic and real-variables. We will explore this junction, from the point of view of Haar shifts and commutators. An decomposition of the commutator [H,b] into paraproducts is presented.
In an additive group (G,+), a three-dimensional corner is the four points g, g+d(1,0,0), g+d(0,1,0), g+d(0,0,1), where g is in G^3, and d is a non-zero element of G. The Ramsey number of interest is R_3(G) the maximal cardinality of a subset of G^3 t
hat does not contain a three-dimensional corner. Furstenberg and Katznelson have shown R_3(Z_N) is little-o of N^3, and in fact the corresponding result holds in all dimensions, a result that is a far reaching extension of the Szemeredi Theorem. We give a new proof of the finite field version of this fact, a proof that is a common generalization of the Gowers proof of Szemeredis Theorem for four term progressions, and the result of Shkredov on two-dimensional corners. The principal tool are the Gowers Box Norms.
