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Gruber P. Convex and Discrete Geometry

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440 <strong>Geometry</strong> of Numbers<br />

How seriously Hilbert [501] took the packing problem can be seen from the<br />

following question in his 18th problem:<br />

How can one arrange most densely in space an infinite number of equal solids of<br />

given form, e.g. spheres with given radii or regular tetrahedra with given edges (or<br />

in prescribed position), that is, how can one so fit them together that the ratio of the<br />

filled to the unfilled space may be as great as possible?<br />

In this section we consider lattice packings <strong>and</strong> packings of translates of a given<br />

convex body. After some definitions <strong>and</strong> simple remarks, we show that densest lattice<br />

packings of convex bodies always exist. Then bounds for the number of neighbours<br />

in lattice packings of convex bodies are given. Next, we mention an algorithm of<br />

Betke <strong>and</strong> Henk, which permits us to determine the densest lattice packing of convex<br />

polytopes in E 3 , <strong>and</strong> present a lower bound for the maximum density of lattice packings<br />

as a consequence of the Minkowski–Hlawka theorem. Finally, we consider, in<br />

the planar case, the relation between the lattice <strong>and</strong> the non-lattice case.<br />

For more detailed expositions, see the books of Fejes Tóth [329,330] <strong>and</strong> Rogers<br />

[851], <strong>and</strong> the surveys of Fejes Tóth [322], Fejes Tóth <strong>and</strong> Kuperberg [325], <strong>Gruber</strong><br />

[438] <strong>and</strong> Bambah [56].<br />

30.1 Definitions <strong>and</strong> the Existence of Densest Lattice Packings<br />

This section contains the definitions of packing <strong>and</strong> density <strong>and</strong> some simple, yet<br />

important, properties of packings. In particular, we study the relation between packings<br />

of convex bodies <strong>and</strong> packings of their central symmetrizations, <strong>and</strong> show the<br />

existence of lattice packings of convex bodies of maximum density.<br />

Packing of <strong>Convex</strong> Bodies <strong>and</strong> the Notion of Density<br />

A family of convex bodies in E d is a packing if any two distinct bodies have disjoint<br />

interior. We will consider packings of translates <strong>and</strong> lattice packings of a given<br />

proper convex body C, i.e. packings of the form {C + t : t ∈ T } <strong>and</strong> {C + l : l ∈ L},<br />

where T a discrete set <strong>and</strong> L a lattice in E d , respectively. If {C +l : l ∈ L} is a lattice<br />

packing of C then L is called a packing lattice of C.LetK be the cube {x :|xi| ≤1}.<br />

If T is a discrete set in E d then its upper <strong>and</strong> lower density are<br />

lim sup<br />

τ→+∞<br />

#(T ∩ τ K )<br />

(2τ) d<br />

, lim inf<br />

τ→+∞<br />

#(T ∩ τ K )<br />

(2τ) d<br />

.<br />

If the upper <strong>and</strong> the lower density of T coincide, their common value is the density<br />

δ(T ) of the discrete set T . If the density of T exists, it may be interpreted as the<br />

number of points of T per unit volume or, roughly speaking, as the number of points<br />

in T divided by the volume of E d .

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