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A complete irredundant list of the 656565 Sohncke space-group types

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LeanEval.Geometry.SpaceGroupsProblem.space_groups_sohncke_classification

by Gabewhigham · Sep 6, 2026 · Mathlib 0df444a (Lean v4.33.1)

discrete-geometrygroup-theory

Work in E=R3E=\mathbb R^3E=R3 with its Euclidean metric, and let Isom(E)\mathrm{Isom}(E)Isom(E) be the group of bijective affine isometries of EEE. Call a subgroup G≤Isom(E)G\le\mathrm{Isom}(E)G≤Isom(E) crystallographic if (i) for every x∈Ex\in Ex∈E and every ε>0\varepsilon>0ε>0 the set {g∈G:dist⁡(g(x),x)≤ε}\{g\in G:\operatorname{dist}(g(x),x)\le\varepsilon\}{g∈G:dist(g(x),x)≤ε} is finite, and (ii) there are three linearly independent vectors v1,v2,v3v_1,v_2,v_3v1​,v2​,v3​ such that translation by each viv_ivi​ belongs to GGG.

For subgroups G1,G2≤Isom(E)G_1,G_2\le\mathrm{Isom}(E)G1​,G2​≤Isom(E) write G1∼G2G_1\sim G_2G1​∼G2​ (affinely equivalent) if some invertible affine map φ\varphiφ of EEE satisfies φG1φ−1=G2\varphi G_1\varphi^{-1}=G_2φG1​φ−1=G2​ as sets of affine maps, and G1∼+G2G_1\sim_{+}G_2G1​∼+​G2​ (orientation-preserving affinely equivalent) if such a φ\varphiφ can be chosen with det⁡(φlin)>0\det(\varphi_{\mathrm{lin}})>0det(φlin​)>0.

Call a crystallographic group GGG a Sohncke group if every g∈Gg\in Gg∈G has det⁡(glin)>0\det(g_{\mathrm{lin}})>0det(glin​)>0, that is, if GGG consists entirely of orientation-preserving isometries. Note that this restricts the groups themselves, not the maps used to compare them.

This statement is the enumeration form of the count of 656565 Sohncke types: there is a list

G1,…,G65G_1,\dots,G_{65}G1​,…,G65​

of Sohncke crystallographic groups in R3\mathbb R^3R3 that is

  1. complete: every Sohncke crystallographic group GGG satisfies Gi∼+GG_i\sim_{+}GGi​∼+​G for some index iii; and
  2. irredundant: Gi∼+GjG_i\sim_{+}G_jGi​∼+​Gj​ forces i=ji=ji=j.

Thus the Sohncke groups fall into exactly 656565 classes under orientation-preserving affine conjugacy — the 656565 chiral space-group types among the 230230230.

Formalization Note. The groups range over the subtype of CrystallographicGroup 3 whose every element satisfies IsOrientationPreservingIsom, and the comparison is AffOPEquivalent applied to the underlying subgroups; both predicates are taken verbatim from the LeanEval definition bundle.

Preamble
import Mathlib
import Definitions.Def_LeanEval_SpaceGroups_Definitions
Formal statement
namespace LeanEval
namespace Geometry
namespace SpaceGroupsProblem

theorem space_groups_sohncke_classification :
    ∃ f : Fin 65 →
        { G : CrystallographicGroup 3 // ∀ g, g ∈ G.1 → IsOrientationPreservingIsom g },
      (∀ G : { G : CrystallographicGroup 3 // ∀ g, g ∈ G.1 → IsOrientationPreservingIsom g },
          ∃ i : Fin 65, AffOPEquivalent (f i).1.1 G.1.1) ∧
        (∀ i j : Fin 65, AffOPEquivalent (f i).1.1 (f j).1.1 → i = j) := by
  sorry

end SpaceGroupsProblem
end Geometry
end LeanEval
Source
LeanEval v1, problem space_groups_230; LeanEval/Geometry/SpaceGroups.lean, LeanEval.Geometry.SpaceGroupsProblem.space_groups, repository commit 296b7491ec989d21bcf8636a9a69231a1e5d1d25: https://github.com/leanprover/lean-eval/blob/296b7491ec989d21bcf8636a9a69231a1e5d1d25/LeanEval/Geometry/SpaceGroups.lean . Classification due to E. S. Fedorov (1891) and A. Schoenflies (1891), independently; background: Oliver Knill, Some Fundamental Theorems in Mathematics, section 94 (Crystallography), printed p. 41, https://people.math.harvard.edu/~knill/graphgeometry/papers/fundamental.pdf .

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