Compositions of sums of absolute powers

Abstract

We obtain an explicit formula for then-dimensional volumes of certain bodies, calledoddballs hereinafter. An oddball is a bodyG = {x εR ⁿ:f(x) ≤ 1}, wheref:R ⁿ →R is anoddball function. Oddball functions are defined by way of the following construction: We begin with the class of functionsf of the formf(x ₁, ...,x _k ) = |x ₁|^α + |x ₂|^β + ... + |x _k|^γ. Herek may be any positive integer, and is not fixed. The Greek exponents are arbitrary positive real numbers. We extend this class by permitting any finite number of substitutions among functions in the class. Finally, we extend the substitution-enlarged class by permitting linear formsy _i = Σ _j b _ij x _j to replacex _i 's, the transformations being nonsingular. Thus, if det(b _ij ) ≠ 0, the oddball function

$$f(x_1 ,x_2 ,x_3 ,x_4 ,x_5 ,x_6 ) = ((|y_1 |^\alpha + |y_2 |^\beta )^\tau + (|y_3 |^\gamma + |y_4 |^\phi + |y_5 |^\psi )^\delta )^\mu + |y_6 |^\eta $$

is a fairly typical example.

We also consider the number of lattice points in certain types of oddballs, as well as their latticepacking densities.

Neither do oddballs include thesuperballs discussed elsewhere by this and other authors, nor is every oddball a superball.