On a lemma of Minkowski (Q1307427)

The translative number (lattice kissing number) of a convex body \(K\) is the maximum of neighbours that a member can have in a packing (lattice packing) with translates of \(K\). The author proves a generalization of Minkowski lemma concerning the number of common points of the boundary of \(K\) and a lattice and shows that this result can be applied to solve two problems concerning kissing numbers of convex bodies. In the first application the author gives a short proof showing that the lattice kissing number of a tetrahedron \(T\) is eighteen and there exists a unique 18-neighbour lattice packing of \(T\) and an essentially unique 16-neighbour lattice packing of \(T\). Secondly, it is shown that for every dimension \(d\geq 3\) there exists a \(d\)-dimensional convex body \(K\) such that the difference between its translative kissing number and lattice kissing number is at least \(2^{d-1}\).