Optimal Quantization on Spherical Surfaces: Continuous and Discrete Models -- A Beginner-Friendly Expository Study

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Roychowdhury, Mrinal Kanti
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Roychowdhury, Mrinal Kanti
author_facet Roychowdhury, Mrinal Kanti
contents This expository paper provides a unified and pedagogical introduction to optimal quantization for probability measures supported on spherical curves and discrete subsets of the sphere, emphasizing both continuous and discrete settings. We first present a detailed geometric and analytical foundation for intrinsic quantization on the unit sphere, including definitions of great and small circles, spherical triangles, geodesic distance, Slerp interpolation, the Frechet mean, spherical Voronoi regions, centroid conditions, and quantization dimensions. Building upon this framework, we develop explicit continuous and discrete quantization models on spherical curves, namely great circles, small circles, and great circular arcs supported by rigorous derivations and pedagogical exposition. For uniform continuous distributions, we compute optimal sets of $n$-means and the associated quantization errors on these curves; for discrete distributions, we analyze antipodal, equatorial, tetrahedral, and finite uniform configurations, illustrating convergence to the continuous model. The central conclusion is that for a uniform probability distribution supported on a one-dimensional geodesic subset of total length $L$, the optimal $n$-means form a uniform partition and the quantization error satisfies $V_n = L^2/(12n^2)$. The exposition emphasizes geometric intuition, detailed derivations, and clear step-by-step reasoning, making it accessible to beginning graduate students and researchers entering the study of quantization on manifolds. This article is intended as an expository and tutorial contribution, with the main emphasis on geometric reformulation and pedagogical clarity of intrinsic quantization on spherical curves, rather than on the development of new asymptotic quantization theory.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_05099
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Optimal Quantization on Spherical Surfaces: Continuous and Discrete Models -- A Beginner-Friendly Expository Study
Roychowdhury, Mrinal Kanti
Optimization and Control
Probability
Primary: 60B05, 94A34, 53C22, Secondary: 62H11
This expository paper provides a unified and pedagogical introduction to optimal quantization for probability measures supported on spherical curves and discrete subsets of the sphere, emphasizing both continuous and discrete settings. We first present a detailed geometric and analytical foundation for intrinsic quantization on the unit sphere, including definitions of great and small circles, spherical triangles, geodesic distance, Slerp interpolation, the Frechet mean, spherical Voronoi regions, centroid conditions, and quantization dimensions. Building upon this framework, we develop explicit continuous and discrete quantization models on spherical curves, namely great circles, small circles, and great circular arcs supported by rigorous derivations and pedagogical exposition. For uniform continuous distributions, we compute optimal sets of $n$-means and the associated quantization errors on these curves; for discrete distributions, we analyze antipodal, equatorial, tetrahedral, and finite uniform configurations, illustrating convergence to the continuous model. The central conclusion is that for a uniform probability distribution supported on a one-dimensional geodesic subset of total length $L$, the optimal $n$-means form a uniform partition and the quantization error satisfies $V_n = L^2/(12n^2)$. The exposition emphasizes geometric intuition, detailed derivations, and clear step-by-step reasoning, making it accessible to beginning graduate students and researchers entering the study of quantization on manifolds. This article is intended as an expository and tutorial contribution, with the main emphasis on geometric reformulation and pedagogical clarity of intrinsic quantization on spherical curves, rather than on the development of new asymptotic quantization theory.
title Optimal Quantization on Spherical Surfaces: Continuous and Discrete Models -- A Beginner-Friendly Expository Study
topic Optimization and Control
Probability
Primary: 60B05, 94A34, 53C22, Secondary: 62H11
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05099