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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 May 2009
In some recent work by D. G. Kendall and the author † on the number of points of a lattice which lie in a random circle the mean value of the variance emerged as a constant multiple of the value of the Epstein zeta-function Z(s) associated with the lattice, taken at the point s=
. Because of the connexion with the problems of closest packing and covering it seemed likely that the minimum value of Z(
) would be attained for the hexagonal lattice; it is the purpose of this paper to prove this and to extend the result to other real values of the variable s.
† “On the number of points of a given lattice in a random hypersphere.” (To appear in the Quarterly Journal.)
‡ For the general theory of Zh(s) see Deuring, Max, “Zetafunktionen quadratischer Formen” J. reine angew. Math. 172 (1935), 226–252.Google Scholar
† Deuring (loc. cit.) gives a somewhat similar formula for the function G (x, y), but with a different form of remainder and without the explicit numerical constants which are essential for our purpose.
† Cambridge, 1922.
† “On the number of lattice points inside a random oval,” Quart. J. Math., Oxford Ser. 19 (1948), 1–26.Google Scholar