Laminating lattices with symmetrical glue (Q848661): Difference between revisions

The problem of packing a system of spheres (or balls) in the \(d\)-dimensional Euclidean space is foundational in the field of discrete geometry and the investigation of the densest lattice-like sphere packings and the best lattice kissing arrangements play an important role in the material sciences and in the code theory, as well. In this paper the authors have constructed a 12 dimensional lattice \(L_{12}\) gluing together the lattices \(L_8=A_2 \oplus A_2 \oplus D_4\) and \(L_4=A_2 \oplus A_2\) (see to the gluing theory [\textit{J. H. Conway} and \textit{N. J. A. Sloane}, Sphere Packings, Lattices and Groups. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Springer (1999; Zbl 0915.52003)]). This gluing is possible because the authomorphism group of holes in \(L_8\) isomorphic to a subgroup of the authomorphism group of the lattice \(L_4\). The lattice \(L_4\) possesses a symmetry that decomposes the 4-dimensional space into 2 invariant planes through which the authors have constructed dense, non-lattice packings in 10 dimensions preserving many of the sphere contacts of the 12-dimensonal lattice packing. The main result of the paper is that the most symmetric of these provide an aperiodic sphere packing with minimum distance 2 and centre density \(1/32\). Moreover, the authors have found by their search algorithm [\textit{S. Gravel} and \textit{V. Elser}, Divide and concur: a general approach to constraint satisfaction, Phys. Rev. E 78, 036706, 5 p. (2008)] an interesting arrangement of 378 kissing spheres.