Automorphisms of even unimodular lattices and equivariant Witt groups (Q2216741)

Let \(r\) and \(s\) be non-negative integers, and let \(\Lambda\) be an even unimodular lattice of signature \((r,s)\). Such a lattice exists if and only if \(r \equiv s \pmod{8}\), and it is uniquely determined by \((r,s)\) if \(r\) and \(s\) are non-zero. Let \(\alpha \in \operatorname{SO}(\Lambda)\) and denote by \(S\) its characteristic polynomial. Denote by \(m(S)\) the number of complex roots \(z\) of \(S\) with \(|z| > 1\) (counted with multiplicity). \textit{B. H. Gross} and \textit{C. T. McMullen} [J. Algebra 257, No. 2, 265--290 (2002; Zbl 1022.11016)] show that if \(S\) has no linear factor, then (1) \(S\) is reciprocal (i.e., \(t^{r+s}S(1/t)=S(t)\)), (2) \(m(S)\leq r\), \(m(S) \leq s\), and \(m(s) \equiv r \equiv s \pmod{2}\), (3) \(|S(1)|\), \(|S(-1)|\), and \((-1)^{\frac{r+s}{2}}S(1)S(-1)\) are squares. They conjectured that for a monic irreducible \(S \in \mathbb{Z}[t]\) of degree \(r+s\), the above conditions are sufficient for the existence of an even unimodular lattice \(\Lambda\) of signature \((r,s)\) and \(\alpha \in \operatorname{SO}(\Lambda)\) with characteristic polynomial \(S\). They show that this is indeed so if \(|S(1)|=|S(-1)|=1\). The main result (Theorem A) of the paper under discussion confirms this conjecture: Let \(r\) and \(s\) be nonnegative integers satisfying \(r \equiv s \pmod{8}\). Let \(S\) be a power of a monic irreducible polynomial. Assume \(S\) has degree \(r+s\) and satisfies \((1)-(3)\). Then there exist a unimodular lattice \(\Lambda\) of signature \((r,s)\) and \(\alpha \in \operatorname{SO}(\Lambda)\) with characteristic polynomial \(S\). As part of the proof, the authors give a general criterion in terms of Witt groups for a bilinear form equipped with an action of a group \(G\) over a discretely valued field to contain a unimodular \(G\)-stable lattice (Theorem B).