Symmetries of quadratic form classes and of quadratic surd continued fractions. II: Classification of the periods' palindromes (Q968026)

According to a theorem of Lagrange, the continued fractions of quadratic surds are periodic. Their periods may have different types of symmetries. In this paper, these types of symmetries have been related to the symmetries of the classes of corresponding indefinite quadratic forms. This allows classifying the periods of quadratic surds and simultaneously finding the symmetry type of the class of an arbitrary indefinite quadratic form and the number of its integer points contained in each domain of the Poincaré tiling of the de Sitter world introduced in Part I of this paper [Bull. Braz. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 40, No. 3, 301--340 (2009; Zbl 1213.11021)]. In Part I, it is proved that each class whose discriminant is a square has representative on the boundaries of the domains of the tiling. In particular, there are \(k\) distinct classes whose discriminant is equal to \(k^2\). These \(k\) classes have a fixed number of representatives in the interior of each domain. Here for every class the number of forms in \(H^0\) and its symmetry type is obtained from the finite continued fraction of a rational number related to a representative of that class. Finally, the relation between the reduction procedure for indefinite quadratic forms defined by continued fractions and the classical reduction theory is shown. Proofs given here show a geometric description of this theory in Poincaré tiling of the de Sitter world.