From fractional to set tilings for pairs of lattices

Abstract We generalize a theorem of Isbell asserting that every countably infinite doubly stochastic matrix has a positive generalized diagonal. As an application, we prove a support-reduction theorem for simultaneous lattice tilings. Namely, if a nonnegative measurable function bounded above by one tiles Euclidean space by translations along two full-rank lattices with integer multiplicities, then its pointwise support contains a possibly nonmeasurable set whose indicator function satisfies the same two tiling identities. The proof reduces the problem on each orbit of the group generated by the two lattices to an infinite matrix rounding theorem with integer row and column margins. This matrix theorem gives a $$0$$ - $$1$$ matrix with prescribed integer margins and support contained in the support of the original matrix. The result is motivated by simultaneous tiling questions arising in harmonic analysis and wavelet-set constructions.