When are Quasi-Monte Carlo Algorithms Efficient for High Dimensional Integrals?

Recently quasi-Monte Carlo algorithms have been successfully used for multivariate integration of high dimension d, and were significantly more efficient than Monte Carlo algorithms. The existing theory of the worst case error bounds of quasi-Monte Carlo algorithms does not explain this phenomenon. This paper presents a partial answer to why quasi-Monte Carlo algorithms can work well for arbitrarily large d. It is done by identifying classes of functions for which the effect of the dimension d is negligible. These are weighted classes in which the behavior in the successive dimensions is moderated by a sequence of weights. We prove that the minimal worst case error of quasi-Monte Carlo algorithms does not depend on the dimension d iff the sum of the weights is finite. We also prove that under this assumption the minimal number of function values in the worst case setting needed to reduce the initial error by " is bounded by C " \Gammap , where the exponent p 2 [1; 2], and C depends ..