English

Random coverage of a manifold with boundary

Probability 2025-09-24 v1

Abstract

Let AA be a compact dd-dimensional C2C^2 Riemannian manifold with boundary, embedded in Rm{\bf R}^m where md2m \geq d \geq 2, and let BB be a nice subset of AA (possibly B=AB=A). Let X1,X2,X_1,X_2, \ldots be independent random uniform points in AA. Define the {\em coverage threshold} RnR_n to be the smallest rr such that BB is covered by the geodetic balls of radius rr centred on X1,,XnX_1,\ldots,X_n. We obtain the limiting distribution of RnR_n and also a strong law of large numbers for RnR_n in the large-nn limit. For example, if AA has Riemannian volume 1 and its boundary has surface measure A|\partial A|, and B=AB=A, then if d=3d=3 then P[nπRn3logn2log(logn)x]{\bf P}[n\pi R_n^3 - \log n - 2 \log (\log n) \leq x] converges to exp(24π5/3Ae2x/3)\exp(-2^{-4}\pi^{5/3} |\partial A| e^{-2 x/3}) and (nπRn3)/(logn)1(n \pi R_n^3)/(\log n) \to 1 almost surely, while if d=2d=2 then P[nπRn2lognlog(logn)x]{\bf P}[n \pi R_n^2 - \log n - \log (\log n) \leq x] converges to exp(exAπ1/2ex/2)\exp(- e^{-x}- |\partial A|\pi^{-1/2} e^{-x/2}). We generalize to allow for multiple coverage. For the strong laws of large numbers, we can relax the requirement that the underlying density on AA be uniform. For the limiting distribution, we have a similar result for Poisson samples. Our results still hold if we use Euclidean rather than geodetic balls.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.19278,
  title  = {Random coverage of a manifold with boundary},
  author = {Mathew D. Penrose and Xiaochuan Yang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.19278},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

52 pages, 1 figure

R2 v1 2026-07-01T05:52:35.510Z