Optimal asymptotic bounds for design curves on manifolds

Abstract

A spherical $t$-design is a finite set of points on the $d$-dimensional unit sphere such that averaging any polynomial of degree at most $t$ over these points gives its exact spherical average. We study the corresponding notion for curves, where point averages are replaced by normalized arclength integration. For fixed $d\ge 2$, the length of such curves is known to be bounded below by a positive multiple of $t^{d-1}$ as $t\to\infty$. We show that this asymptotic order is attained: for every $d\ge 2$, there exists a constant $C_d>0$ such that, for every positive integer $t$ and every prescribed length $L\ge C_dt^{d-1}$, there is a simple spherical $t$-design curve of length $L$. This establishes the analogue for curves of the theorem of Bondarenko, Radchenko, and Viazovska, which resolved the Korevaar-Meyers conjecture for spherical design points. More generally, we prove the corresponding result on closed, connected Riemannian manifolds of dimension $d\ge 2$, where eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator substitute for polynomials. The proof combines a geometric construction of curves with continuously adjustable local lengths and an application of Brouwer's degree theorem.