Shapes of unit lattices in $D_p$-number fields

Abstract

The unit group of the ring of integers of a number field, modulo torsion, is a lattice via the logarithmic Minkowski embedding. We examine the shape of this lattice, which we call the unit shape, within the family of prime degree $p$ number fields whose Galois closure has dihedral Galois group $D_p$ and a unique real embedding. In the case $p=5$, we prove that the unit shapes lie on a single hypercycle on the modular surface (in this case, the modular surface is the space of shapes of rank $2$ lattices). For general $p$, we show that the unit shapes are contained in a finite union of translates of periodic torus orbits in the space of shapes.

v2; comments welcome! Minor changes from the last version