Resolving the Lonely Runner Conjecture: Fourier Indicator Functions and Energy Variance in Synchronizing Rotating Vectors

19 March 2026, Version 1
This content is an early or alternative research output and has not been peer-reviewed by Cambridge University Press at the time of posting.

Abstract

By mapping the motion of multiple runners to rotating vectors on a unit circle, this paper invokes Harmonic Analysis and Topological Ergodicity to demonstrate that 'loneliness' is a structural requirement of the system rather than a stochastic occurrence. We develop a novel Fourier-based framework to resolve the Lonely Runner Conjecture specifically for the n = 11 case, providing a rigorous analytical proof for this high-dimensional boundary.

Keywords

Interference function
topological ergodicity
harmonic analysis
parseval's identity
energy conservation
indicator functions
rotating vectors
unit circle
energy variance
standard deviation

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