The Apollonian Staircase

DOI10.1093/IMRN/RNAD007MaRDI QIDQ6183071zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors James Rickards

Publication date 26 January 2024

Published in IMRN. International Mathematics Research Notices (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.08311

zbMATH Keywords

primitive integral packingsrandom circle packing

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Packing and covering in (2) dimensions (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C15)

Abstract: A circle of curvature $ninmathbb{Z}^{+}$ is a part of finitely many primitive integral Apollonian circle packings. Each such packing has a circle of minimal curvature $-cleq0$, and we study the distribution of $c/n$ across all primitive integral packings containing a circle of curvature $n$. As $nightarrowinfty$, the distribution is shown to tend towards a picture we name the Apollonian staircase. A consequence of the staircase is that if we choose a random circle packing containing a circle $C$ of curvature $n$, then the probability that $C$ is tangent to the outermost circle tends towards $3/pi$. These results are found by using positive semidefinite quadratic forms to make $mathbb{P}^1(mathbbC)$ a parameter space for (not necessarily integral) circle packings. Finally, we examine an aspect of the integral theory known as spikes. When $n$ is prime, the distribution of $c/n$ is extremely smooth, whereas when $n$ is composite, there are certain spikes that correspond to prime divisors of $n$ that are at most $sqrtn$.

Recommendations

• Some Experiments with Integral Apollonian Circle Packings
• Integral Apollonian circle packings and prime curvatures
• Apollonian circle packings: dynamics and number theory
• Apollonian circle packings: Number theory
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