The kissing number in four dimensions

Abstract

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.