The kissing number problem asks for the maximal number k(n) of equal size nonoverlapping spheres in n-dimensional space that can touch another sphere of the same size. This problem in dimension three was the subject of a famous discussion between Isaac Newton and David Gregory in 1694. In three dimensions the problem was finally solved only in 1953 by Schütte and van der Waerden. In this paper we present a solution of a long-standing problem about the kissing number in four dimensions. Namely, the equality k(4)=24 is proved. The proof is based on a modification of Delsarte's method.
These lecture notes treat the solution of the kissing number problem in four dimesions which is based on an extension of the Delsarte method for spherical codes.
How many unit $n-$dimensional spheres can simultaneously touch or kiss a central $n-$dimensional unit sphere? Beyond mathematics this question has implications for fields such as cryptography and the structure of biologic and chemical macromolecules. The kissing number is only known for dimensions 1-4, 8 and 24 (2, 6, 12, 24, 240, 19650, respectively) and only particularly obvious for dimensions one and two. Indeed, in four dimensions it is not even known if Platonic polytope unique to that dimension known as the 24-cell is the unique kissing configuration. We have not been able to prove that …
Let H be a closed half-space of n-dimensional Euclidean space. Suppose S is a unit sphere in H that touches the supporting hyperplane of H. The one-sided kissing number B(n) is the maximal number of unit nonoverlapping spheres in H that can touch S. Clearly, B(2)=4. It was proved that B(3)=9. Recently, K. Bezdek proved that B(4)=18 or 19, and conjectured that B(4)=18. We present a proof of this conjecture.
The best previous lower bounds for kissing numbers in dimensions 25 through 31 were constructed using a set $S$ with $|S| = 480$ of minimal vectors of the Leech Lattice, $Λ_{24}$, such that $\langle x, y \rangle \leq 1$ for any distinct $x, y \in S$. Then, a probabilistic argument based on applying automorphisms of $Λ_{24}$ gives more disjoint sets $S_i$ of minimal vectors of $Λ_{24}$ with the same property. Cohn, Jiao, Kumar, and Torquato proved that these subsets give kissing configurations in dimensions 25 through 31 of given size linear in the sizes of the subsets. We achieve $|S| = 488$ b…
The kissing number k(3) is the maximal number of equal size nonoverlapping spheres in three dimensions that can touch another sphere of the same size. This number was the subject of a famous discussion between Isaac Newton and David Gregory in 1694. The first proof that k(3)=12 was given by Schütte and van der Waerden only in 1953. In this paper we present a new solution of the Newton-Gregory problem that uses our extension of the Delsarte method. This proof relies on basic calculus and simple spherical geometry.
The maximum possible number of non-overlapping unit spheres that can touch a unit sphere in $n$ dimensions is called kissing number. The problem for finding kissing numbers is closely connected to the more general problems of finding bounds for spherical codes and sphere packings. We survey old and recent results on the kissing numbers keeping the generality of spherical codes.
A packing of spherical caps on the surface of a sphere (that is, a spherical code) is called rigid or jammed if it is isolated within the space of packings. In other words, aside from applying a global isometry, the packing cannot be deformed. In this paper, we systematically study the rigidity of spherical codes, particularly kissing configurations. One surprise is that the kissing configuration of the Coxeter-Todd lattice is not jammed, despite being locally jammed (each individual cap is held in place if its neighbors are fixed); in this respect, the Coxeter-Todd lattice is analogous to the…
In this paper, we give some new lower bounds for the kissing number of $\ell_p$-spheres. These results improve the previous work due to Xu (2007). Our method is based on coding theory.
The average kissing number of $\mathbb{R}^n$ is the supremum of the average degrees of contact graphs of packings of finitely many balls (of any radii) in $\mathbb{R}^n$. We provide an upper bound for the average kissing number based on semidefinite programming that improves previous bounds in dimensions $3, \ldots, 9$. A very simple upper bound for the average kissing number is twice the kissing number; in dimensions $6, \ldots, 9$ our new bound is the first to improve on this simple upper bound.
We prove a lower bound of $Ω(d^{3/2} \cdot (2/\sqrt{3})^d)$ on the kissing number in dimension $d$. This improves the classical lower bound of Chabauty, Shannon, and Wyner by a linear factor in the dimension. We obtain a similar linear factor improvement to the best known lower bound on the maximal size of a spherical code of acute angle $θ$ in high dimensions.
Improved kissing numbers in seventeen through twenty-one dimensions
Microsoft Research New England（微软研究院新英格兰）；Department of Mathematics Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院数学系）；Department of Mathematics Stanford University（斯坦福大学数学系）；Department of Computer Science University of Washington（华盛顿大学计算机科学系）
Recently A. Schrijver derived new upper bounds for binary codes using semidefinite programming. In this paper we adapt this approach to codes on the unit sphere and we compute new upper bounds for the kissing number in several dimensions. In particular our computations give the (known) values for the cases n = 3, 4, 8, 24.
The kissing number in n-dimensional Euclidean space is the maximal number of non-overlapping unit spheres which simultaneously can touch a central unit sphere. Bachoc and Vallentin developed a method to find upper bounds for the kissing number based on semidefinite programming. This paper is a report on high accuracy calculations of these upper bounds for n <= 24. The bound for n = 16 implies a conjecture of Conway and Sloane: There is no 16-dimensional periodic point set with average theta series 1 + 7680q^3 + 4320q^4 + 276480q^5 + 61440q^6 + ...
In this article we construct a sequence $\{M_i\}$ of non compact finite volume hyperbolic $3$-manifolds whose kissing number grows at least as $\mathrm{vol}(M_i)^{\frac{31}{27}-ε}$ for any $ε>0$. This extends a previous result due to Schmutz in dimension $2$.
This paper provides upper and lower bounds on the kissing number of congruent radius $r > 0$ spheres in hyperbolic $\mathbb{H}^n$ and spherical $\mathbb{S}^n$ spaces, for $n\geq 2$. For that purpose, the kissing number is replaced by the kissing function $κ_H(n, r)$, resp. $κ_S(n, r)$, which depends on the dimension $n$ and the radius $r$. After we obtain some theoretical upper and lower bounds for $κ_H(n, r)$, we study their asymptotic behaviour and show, in particular, that $κ_H(n,r) \sim (n-1) \cdot d_{n-1} \cdot B(\frac{n-1}{2}, \frac{1}{2}) \cdot e^{(n-1) r}$, where $d_n$ is the sphere pa…
We use the automorphism group $Aut(H)$, of holes in the lattice $L_8=A_2\oplus A_2\oplus D_4$, as the starting point in the construction of sphere packings in 10 and 12 dimensions. A second lattice, $L_4=A_2\oplus A_2$, enters the construction because a subgroup of $Aut(L_4)$ is isomorphic to $Aut(H)$. The lattices $L_8$ and $L_4$, when glued together through this relationship, provide an alternative construction of the laminated lattice in twelve dimensions with kissing number 648. More interestingly, the action of $Aut(H)$ on $L_4$ defines a pair of invariant planes through which dense, non-…
Lattices with Large Kissing Number from Local Density
University of Colorado Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology（韩国科学技术院）；National University of Singapore（新加坡国立大学）；Cornell University（康奈尔大学）
Microsoft Research New England（微软研究院新英格兰）；Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院数学系）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）
A lattice family with kissing numbers $τ(\mathcal{L}_n) \ge e^{2 \sqrt{n}}$
NXP Semiconductors（恩智浦半导体）；Harvard Business School（哈佛商学院）；Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications, Harvard University（哈佛大学数学科学与工程应用中心）；Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management (TIES) Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management（麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院技术创新、创业与战略管理（TIES）小组）
I. J. Schoenberg proved that a function is positive definite in the unit sphere if and only if this function is a nonnegative linear combination of Gegenbauer polynomials. This fact play a crucial role in Delsarte's method for finding bounds for the density of sphere packings on spheres and Euclidean spaces. One of the most excited applications of Delsarte's method is a solution of the kissing number problem in dimensions 8 and 24. However, 8 and 24 are the only dimensions in which this method gives a precise result. For other dimensions (for instance, three and four) the upper bounds exceed t…
We consider bounds on codes in spherical caps and related problems in geometry and coding theory. An extension of the Delsarte method is presented that relates upper bounds on the size of spherical codes to upper bounds on codes in caps. Several new upper bounds on codes in caps are derived. Applications of these bounds to estimates of the kissing numbers and one-sided kissing numbers are considered. It is proved that the maximum size of codes in spherical caps for large dimensions is determined by the maximum size of spherical codes, so these problems are asymptotically equivalent.
In geometry, there are several challenging problems studying numbers associated to convex bodies. For example, the packing density problem, the kissing number problem, the covering density problem, the packing-covering constant problem, Hadwiger's covering conjecture and Borsuk's partition conjecture. They are fundamental and fascinating problems about the same objects. However, up to now, both the methodology and the technique applied to them are essentially different. Therefore, a common foundation for them has been much expected. By treating problems of these types as functionals defined on…
This review paper is devoted to the problems of sphere packings in 4 dimensions. The main goal is to find reasonable approaches for solutions to problems related to densest sphere packings in 4-dimensional Euclidean space. We consider two long-standing open problems: the uniqueness of maximum kissing arrangements in 4 dimensions and the 24-cell conjecture. Note that a proof of the 24-cell conjecture also proves that the checkerboard lattice packing D4 is the densest sphere packing in 4 dimensions.
In discrete geometry, the contact number of a given finite number of non-overlapping spheres was introduced as a generalization of Newton's kissing number. This notion has not only led to interesting mathematics, but has also found applications in the science of self-assembling materials, such as colloidal matter. With geometers, chemists, physicists and materials scientists researching the topic, there is a need to inform on the state of the art of the contact number problem. In this paper, we investigate the problem in general and emphasize important special cases including contact numbers o…
Optimal Extensions of Cross-Sections: Sphere Packings in Dimensions 38 to 43
State Key Lab of Processors, Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences（处理器重点实验室，中国科学院计算技术研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
Sphere packings in high dimensions interest mathematicians and physicists and have direct applications in communications theory. Remarkably, no one has been able to provide exponential improvement on a 100-year-old lower bound on the maximal packing density due to Minkowski in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space $\Re^d$. The asymptotic behavior of this bound is controlled by $2^{-d}$ in high dimensions. Using an optimization procedure that we introduced earlier \cite{To02c} and a conjecture concerning the existence of disordered sphere packings in $\Re^d$, we obtain a provisional lower bound on th…
