Generators for orthogonal groups of unimodular lattices (Q1177246)

Let \(F\) be a global field with characteristic not two, \(\Omega\) the set of all nontrivial prime spots on \(F\), \(S\) a Hasse set of finite prime spots with \(|\Omega-S|\geq 1\) and finite, and \(R\) the associated ring of integers at \(S\). Let \(L\) be a unimodular \(R\)-lattice on a regular quadratic space over \(F\), \(O(L)\) the orthogonal group of \(L\) and \(O'(L)\) the spinorial kernel. This paper contains two types of results. The first describe the quotient group \(O(L)/O'(L)\), which is an elementary abelian 2-group. In the general setting, a sequence of homomorphisms is used to give an upper bound for the order of this group in terms of the ideal class group of \(R\), the group of \(S\)-units, and the number of dyadic primes \(p\) at which the localization \(L_ p\) has certain properties. An explicit isomorphism is obtained under the restrictions that \(L\) is even and \(V\) is indefinite. The second type of results concerns the generation of the spinorial kernel by elementary transformations. Let \(EO(L)\) denote the subgroup of \(O(L)\) generated by Eichler transformations. When \(L\) is free, even, and has hyperbolic rank at least two, it is shown that \(O'(L)=EO(L)\), with exceptions when \(|\Omega-S|=1\).