Right-angled Coxeter polytopes, hyperbolic six-manifolds, and a problem of Siegel (Q1938413)

If \(M\) is a hyperbolic \(6\)-manifold of finite volume, then the Chern-Gauss-Bonnet theorem implies that \(vol(M)=-\frac{8}{15}\pi^3\chi(M)\), and hence \(vol(M)\) must be an integer multiple of \(\frac{8}{15}\pi^3\). In the paper under review, the authors construct two cusped orientable hyperbolic \(6\)-manifolds \(M\) with \(\chi(M)=-1\), thus realising the minimal possible volume. (An analogous construction of nonorientable manifolds had been announced by the authors in [Electron. Res. Announc. Am. Math. Soc. 11, 40--46 (2005; Zbl 1069.57005)]). We outline the construction. The group \(\Gamma^6=PO_{6,1}(\mathbb Z)\) is a discrete reflection group with fundamental polyhedron a Coxeter simplex \(\Delta^6\) with exactly one ideal vertex. \(\Sigma^6\subset\Gamma^6\) is defined to be a finite subgroup generated by reflections in all but one sides of \(\Delta^6\), it is isomorphic to the Weyl group of type \(E_6\). The union \(P^6=\Sigma^6\Delta^6\) is a right-angled polytope. Let \(\Gamma_2^6=\Gamma^6\cap ker(PO_{6,1}(\mathbb Z)\rightarrow PO_{6,1}(\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z))\) be the congruence two subgroup. The authors show that \(\Gamma_2^6\) is a reflection group with Coxeter polytope \(P^6\), thus \(\mid\Gamma^6/\Gamma_2^6\mid=\mid\Sigma^6\mid=51840\) and \(\chi(\Gamma_2^6)=\mid\Sigma^6\mid\chi(\Gamma^{6})=-\frac{51840}{414720}=-\frac{1}{8}\). The authors then construct two hyperbolic \(6\)-manifolds \(\Gamma\backslash \mathbb H^6\) by gluing together eight copies of \(P^6\) along their sides. (Basically this is made possible because \(P^6\) is right-angled and its 27 sides are congruent to the analogously constructed right-angled polytope \(P^5\). The appropriate side-pairings were actually found by a computer search, according to the authors.) The group \(\Gamma\) is (in both cases) generated by \(\Gamma\cap\Gamma_2^6\) and a certain matrix \(A\), and as a subgroup of the arithmetic group \(\Gamma^6\) it is arithmetic. The authors also give, for one of their examples, a computer-independent group theoretical proof that \(\Gamma\) is torsion-free.