The local-global conjecture for Apollonian circle packings is false
arXiv:2307.02749 · doi:10.4007/annals.2024.200.2.6
Abstract
In a primitive integral Apollonian circle packing, the curvatures that appear must fall into one of six or eight residue classes modulo 24. The local-global conjecture states that every sufficiently large integer in one of these residue classes will appear as a curvature in the packing. We prove that this conjecture is false for many packings, by proving that certain quadratic and quartic families are missed. The new obstructions are a property of the thin Apollonian group (and not its Zariski closure), and are a result of quadratic and quartic reciprocity, reminiscent of a Brauer-Manin obstruction. Based on computational evidence, we formulate a new conjecture.
19 pages, 2 figures. Slightly expanded from the published version