Integral binary Hamiltonian forms and their waterworlds

Abstract

We give a graphical theory of integral indefinite binary Hamiltonian forms $f$ analogous to the one by Conway for binary quadratic forms and the one of Bestvina-Savin for binary Hermitian forms. Given a maximal order $\mathcal O$ in a definite quaternion algebra over $\mathbb Q$, we define the waterworld of $f$, analogous to Conway's river and Bestvina-Savin's ocean, and use it to give a combinatorial description of the values of $f$ on $\mathcal O\times\mathcal O$. We use an appropriate normalisation of Busemann distances to the cusps (with an algebraic description given in an independent appendix), and the $\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathcal O)$-equivariant Ford-Voronoi cellulation of the real hyperbolic $5$-space.