Eisenstein circle packings and the Eisenpint Schmidt arrangement

TL;DR

This paper introduces and studies Eisenpint Schmidt arrangements and Eisenstein circle packings, revealing their unique properties, number-theoretic structure, and symmetries, especially in the context of imaginary quadratic fields.

Contribution

It defines Eisenpint Schmidt arrangements, classifies all primitive Eisenstein circle packings, and analyzes their number theory, symmetries, and local-global properties.

Findings

Eisenpint Schmidt arrangements consist of all primitive Eisenstein circle packings.

Proved strong approximation and classified congruence obstructions.

Identified quadratic reciprocity obstructions and extra symmetries.

Abstract

The Schmidt arrangement of an imaginary quadratic number field $K$ is the orbit of the extended real line under $\text{PSL}(2, \mathcal{O}_K)$ as M\"obius transformations on the extended complex plane. If $K\neq\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-3})$, then the resulting set of circles can only intersect tangentially, leading to various classes of integral circle packings, including Apollonian circle packings. When $K=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-3})$, circles can intersect at angles of $\frac{\pi}{3}$ and $\frac{2\pi}{3}$, making it unclear how to extract circle packings from the arrangement. The goal of this paper is to study a modification of the $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-3})-$Schmidt arrangement called the "Eisenpint Schmidt arrangement" and associated integral "Eisenstein circle packings". In analogy to the study of Apollonian circle packings, we study the number theory of such packings, including associated families of quadratic forms, show the Eisenpint Schmidt arrangement is formed of exactly all primitive Eisenstein circle packings, show strong approximation and classify congruence obstructions, prove a density-one local-global statement, and find quadratic -- but alas no cubic -- reciprocity obstructions. Unexpected aspects of the Eisenstein case include the role of congruence subgroups, the bipartite nature of the packings and reciprocity obstructions, the coefficients of quadratic obstructions, an abundance of extra symmetry, and the need to use "first-odd" quadratic forms.