{ "id": "math/9811071", "version": "v2", "published": "1998-11-11T06:13:05.000Z", "updated": "2002-05-20T20:56:31.000Z", "title": "An overview of the Kepler conjecture", "authors": [ "Thomas C. Hales" ], "comment": "16 pages. First in a series", "categories": [ "math.MG" ], "abstract": "This is the first in a series of papers giving a proof of the Kepler conjecture, which asserts that the density of a packing of congruent spheres in three dimensions is never greater than $\\pi/\\sqrt{18}\\approx 0.74048...$. This is the oldest problem in discrete geometry and is an important part of Hilbert's 18th problem. An example of a packing achieving this density is the face-centered cubic packing. This paper has a historical overview and a synopsis of the rest of the series. The other papers in the series are math.MG/9811072, math.MG/9811073, math.MG/9811074, math.MG/9811075, math.MG/9811076, math.MG/9811077, and math.MG/9811078.", "revisions": [ { "version": "v2", "updated": "2002-05-20T20:56:31.000Z" } ], "analyses": { "keywords": [ "kepler conjecture", "hilberts 18th problem", "oldest problem", "important part", "congruent spheres" ], "note": { "typesetting": "TeX", "pages": 16, "language": "en", "license": "arXiv", "status": "editable", "adsabs": "1998math.....11071H" } } }