The arithmetic of arithmetic Coxeter groups


Abstract in English

In the 1990s, J.H. Conway published a combinatorial-geometric method for analyzing integer-valued binary quadratic forms (BQFs). Using a visualization he named the topograph, Conway revisited the reduction of BQFs and the solution of quadratic Diophantine equations such as Pells equation. It appears that the crux of his method is the coincidence between the arithmetic group $PGL_2({mathbb Z})$ and the Coxeter group of type $(3,infty)$. There are many arithmetic Coxeter groups, and each may have unforeseen applications to arithmetic. We introduce Conways topograph, and generalizations to other arithmetic Coxeter groups. This includes a study of arithmetic flags and variants of binary quadratic forms.

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