On well-rounded sublattices of the hexagonal lattice

We produce an explicit parameterization of well-rounded sublattices of the hexagonal lattice in the plane, splitting them into similarity classes. We use this parameterization to study the number, the greatest minimal norm, and the highest signal-to-noise ratio of well-rounded sublattices of the hexagonal lattice of a fixed index. This investigation parallels earlier work by Bernstein, Sloane, and Wright where similar questions were addressed on the space of all sublattices of the hexagonal lattice. Our restriction is motivated by the importance of well-rounded lattices for discrete optimization problems. Finally, we also discuss the existence of a natural combinatorial structure on the set of similarity classes of well-rounded sublattices of the hexagonal lattice, induced by the action of a certain matrix monoid.Comment: 21 pages (minor correction to the proof of Lemma 2.1); to appear in Discrete Mathematic

On similarity classes of well-rounded sublattices of Z2\mathbb Z^2

A lattice is called well-rounded if its minimal vectors span the corresponding Euclidean space. In this paper we study the similarity classes of well-rounded sublattices of ${\mathbb Z}^2$. We relate the set of all such similarity classes to a subset of primitive Pythagorean triples, and prove that it has structure of a noncommutative infinitely generated monoid. We discuss the structure of a given similarity class, and define a zeta function corresponding to each similarity class. We relate it to Dedekind zeta of ${\mathbb Z}[i]$, and investigate the growth of some related Dirichlet series, which reflect on the distribution of well-rounded lattices. Finally, we construct a sequence of similarity classes of well-rounded sublattices of ${\mathbb Z}^2$, which gives good circle packing density and converges to the hexagonal lattice as fast as possible with respect to a natural metric we define.Comment: 27 pages, 2 figures; added a lemma on Diophantine approximation by quotients of Pythagorean triples; final version to be published in Journal of Number Theor

Revisiting the hexagonal lattice: on optimal lattice circle packing

In this note we give a simple proof of the classical fact that the hexagonal lattice gives the highest density circle packing among all lattices in $R^2$. With the benefit of hindsight, we show that the problem can be restricted to the important class of well-rounded lattices, on which the density function takes a particularly simple form. Our proof emphasizes the role of well-rounded lattices for discrete optimization problems.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; to appear in Elemente der Mathemati

Well-rounded zeta-function of planar arithmetic lattices

We investigate the properties of the zeta-function of well-rounded sublattices of a fixed arithmetic lattice in the plane. In particular, we show that this function has abscissa of convergence at $s=1$ with a real pole of order 2, improving upon a recent result of S. Kuehnlein. We use this result to show that the number of well-rounded sublattices of a planar arithmetic lattice of index less or equal $N$ is $O(N \log N)$ as $N \to \infty$. To obtain these results, we produce a description of integral well-rounded sublattices of a fixed planar integral well-rounded lattice and investigate convergence properties of a zeta-function of similarity classes of such lattices, building on some previous results of the author.Comment: 12 pages; to appear in PAM

Phases and phase transitions of a perturbed Kekul\'e-Kitaev model

We study the quantum spin liquid phase in a variant of the Kitaev model where the bonds of the honeycomb lattice are distributed in a Kekul\'e pattern. The system supports gapped and gapless Z_2 quantum spin liquids with interesting differences from the original Kitaev model, the most notable being a gapped Z_2 spin liquid on a Kagome lattice. Perturbing the exactly solvable model with antiferromagnetic Heisenberg perturbations, we find a magnetically ordered phase stabilized by a quantum `order by disorder' mechanism, as well as an exotic continuous phase transition between the topological spin liquid and this magnetically ordered phase. Using a combination of field theory and Monte-Carlo simulations, we find that the transition likely belongs to the 3D-XYxZ_2 universality class.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure

Ripple state in the frustrated honeycomb-lattice antiferromagnet

We discover a new type of multiple-$q$ state, "ripple state", in a frustrated honeycomb-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet under magnetic fields. The ground state has an infinite ring-like degeneracy in the wavevector space, exhibiting a cooperative paramagnetic state, "ring-liquid" state. We elucidate that the system exhibits the ripple state as a new low-temperature thermodynamic phase via a second-order phase transition from the ring-liquid state, keeping the ring-like spin structure factor. The spin texture in real space looks like a "water ripple" and can induce a giant electric polarization vortex. Possible relationship to the honeycomb-lattice compound, ${\rm Bi_{3}Mn_{4}O_{12}(NO_{3})}$, is discussed.Comment: 6+7 pages, 3+7 figures, revised manuscript accepted in PR