On the Optimality of Random Partial Sphere Coverings in High Dimensions (2501.10607v1)

Abstract: Given $N$ geodesic caps on the normalized unit sphere in $\mathbb{R}^d$, and whose total surface area sums to one, what is the maximal surface area their union can cover? We show that when these caps have equal surface area, as both the dimension $d$ and the number of caps $N$ tend to infinity, the maximum proportion covered approaches $1 - e^{-1} \approx 0.632$. Furthermore, this maximum is achieved by a random partial sphere covering. Our result refines a classical estimate for the covering density of $\mathbb{R}^d$ by Erd\H{o}s, Few, and Rogers (Mathematika, 11(2):171--184, 1964).