Constructions of some perfect integral lattices with minimum 4 (Q5963339)

Let \(L\) be a lattice of full rank in \(\mathbb R^d\), and let \(S(L)\) be its set of shortest nonzero vectors with respect to Euclidean norm, written as columns. The lattice \(L\) is called perfect if the set of \(d \times d\) symmetric matrices \(\{ xx^t : x \in S(L) \}\) spans all \(d \times d\) symmetric matrices as a real vector space. Perfect lattices are of great importance in extremal lattice theory, and are promptly featured in \textit{J. Martinet}'s famous book [Perfect lattices in Euclidean spaces. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften. 327. Berlin: Springer (2003; Zbl 1017.11031)], which serves as partial motivation for the article under review. In this interesting article, the author constructs several infinite families of perfect lattices and studies their properties. His constructions in particular allow him to prove that the number of such lattices in dimension \(d\) grows faster than \(d^k\) for any exponent \(k\). The general framework for all of these constructions is as follows: given integers \(d \geq 1\), \(a \geq 0\) and a finite abelian group \(A\), let \(\varphi : \mathbb Z^{d+a} \to \mathbb Z^a \oplus A\) be a surjective group homomorphism, and let the lattice in question be \(\ker(\varphi)\). The author then specifically studies situations of this kind with different choices of \(\varphi\), giving rise to sublattices of integer lattices in various dimensions of (squared) minimum 4 with good properties, including perfection. In the situation when \(a=0\), i.e., the lattice in question is given as \(\ker(\varphi)\) for a specific choice of \(\varphi : \mathbb Z^d \to A\), the resulting family of lattices from abelian groups has also been recently studied in [\textit{A. Böttcher} et al., SIAM J. Discrete Math. 29, No. 1, 382--404 (2015; Zbl 1328.11077)], where, among other properties, it was proved that they have bases of minimal vectors. The author also discusses some further generalizations and related constructions, such as Craig lattices, lattices associated to Sidon sets, and the perfect lattice generated by the \((28,7)\)-equiangular system.