Quinary lattices and binary quaternion hermitian lattices (Q2272811)

Let \(B\) be a definite quaternion algebra over \(\mathbb Q\), and let \(G\) be the group of similitudes of the positive definite quaternion hermitian form on \(B^2\); that is, \(G=\{g\in M_2(B):gg^*=n(g)I_2, n(g)\in \mathbb Q^{\times}\}\), where \(g^*\) denotes the conjugate transpose of \(g\) and \(I_2\) is the \(2\times 2\) identity matrix. The goal of the paper under review is to show that the \(G\)-type number of any genus of positive definite binary quaternion hermitian maximal lattices in \(B^2\) is equal to the class number of an explicitly determined genus of positive definite quinary quadratic lattices. This generalizes the result previously obtained for the case of a principal genus by \textit{K. Hashimoto} and the author [J. Fac. Sci., Univ. Tokyo, Sect. IA 27, 549--601 (1980; Zbl 0452.10029); ibid. 28, 695--699 (1982; Zbl 0493.10030); ibid. 30, 393--401 (1983; Zbl 0533.10019)]. To describe the results in more detail, let \(\mathcal O\) be a maximal order in \(B\) and let \(D\) be the product of the finite primes such that \(B_p=B\otimes _{\mathbb Q}\mathbb Q_p\) is a division algebra. For \(p\nmid D\), there is only one \(G_p\)-orbit of maximal left \(\mathcal O_p\)-lattices in \(B_p^2\), where \(G_p\) acts on such a lattice by right multiplication, and for each \(p|D\), there are two such orbits. For each factorization \(D=D_1D_2\), let \(\mathcal L(D_1,D_2)\) denote the genus consisting of all left \(\mathcal O\)-lattices \(L\) in \(B^2\) such that \(L_p\) is in the \(G_p\)-orbit of \(\mathcal O_p^2\) for precisely those primes \(p\) such that \(p\nmid D_2\). So if \(d\) is the number of prime divisors of \(D\), there are \(2^d\) different genera of this kind; \(\mathcal L(D,1)\) is called the principal genus (of discriminant \(D\)). Explicit formulas for the number \(H(D_1,D_2)\) of \(G\)-orbits in \(\mathcal L(D_1,D_2)\) were given by Hashimoto and the author [op cit]. Let \(L_1,\ldots,L_h\) be a complete set of representatives of these orbits, and denote by \(R_i=\{g\in M_2(B):L_ig\subset L_i\}\) the right order of \(L_i\). If \(a^{-1}R_ia=R_j\) for some \(a\in G\), then \(R_i\) and \(R_j\) are said to have the same \(G\)-type. The number of different \(G\)-types in \(\{R_1,\ldots, R_h\}\) is called the \(G\)-type number of \(\mathcal L(D_1,D_2)\), denoted \(T(D_1,D_2)\). Under the assumption that \(D\) is odd, the author establishes a correspondence between such a genus \(\mathcal L(D_1,D_2)\) and a genus of quinary quadratic lattices in a quadratic space \(V\) of discriminant \(2D_2\). The space \(V\) can be identified with \(\mathbb Q\oplus B\) equipped with the quadratic form \(Q(t,r)=(t^2+N(r))/D_2\), where \(t\in \mathbb Q\), \(r\in B\), and \(N\) denotes the reduced norm on \(B\). Several explicit \(\mathbb Z_p\)-lattices on \(V_p\) are defined, and a connection with \(G\)-type numbers is established by considering the stabilizers of these lattices and their actions on the right orders of quaternion hermitian lattices. A genus \(\mathcal M(D_1,D_2)\) of global lattices of discriminant \(2D_1^2D_2\) on V is then defined by specifying the localizations of the lattices at each of the primes \(p|D_2\) and \(p\nmid D_2\) separately. The main result of the paper is that the \(G\)-type number of the genus \(\mathcal L(D_1,D_2)\) in \(B^2\) is equal to the class number of the genus \(\mathcal M(D_1,D_2)\). The latter class numbers can be computed by formulas given by T. Asai [Japan J. Math. 3, 239--296 (1977; Zbl 0376.10017)]. Motivated by connections with algebraic geometry, explicit formulas are given in this paper for the numbers \(T(1,p)\) and \(2T(1,p)-H(1,p)\) for the case of the non-principal genus \(\mathcal L(1,p)\), for an odd prime \(p\). An explanation of an application of the latter numbers to the study of supersingular abelian varieties can be found in a previous paper of the author [Osaka J. Math. 55, 369--382 (2018; Zbl 1403.11034)]. For the principal genus, the analogous formula for \(2T(p,1)-H(p,1)\) was given by the author and \textit{T. Katsura} [Compositio Math. 91, 37--46 (1994; Zbl 0817.14024].