The extremal configuration conjecture for d+1 unit vectors

Let d1d\geqslant 1, and let (ui)i=1d+1(u_i)_{i=1}^{d+1} be a configuration of unit vectors in Sd1RdS^{d-1}\subset\mathbb{R}^d. A sequence of signs is an element ε{±1}d+1\varepsilon\in\{\pm1\}^{d+1}. A linear subspace HRdH\subset\mathbb{R}^d is even dimensional when dimH\dim H is even.

Extremal configuration conjecture. For every such configuration, there exists ε{±1}d+1\varepsilon\in\{\pm1\}^{d+1} such that

i=1d+1εiuid+2.\left|\sum_{i=1}^{d+1}\varepsilon_i u_i\right|\geqslant\sqrt{d+2}.

Moreover, equality in the sharp estimate occurs if and only if, up to sign changes, (ui)i=1d+1(u_i)_{i=1}^{d+1} is the union of the vertex set of a regular simplex centered at the origin in an even-dimensional linear subspace HH and an orthonormal basis of HH^\perp. This conjecture concerns the extremal point configurations for the corresponding sign-maximization problem; the source notes that the statement was corrected in the cited literature, while its resolution is not specified here.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Gergely Ambrus and Sloan Nietert, “Polarization, sign sequences and isotropic vector systems”, arXiv:1904.10360 (2019).

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