In three-dimensional Euclidean space, the densest packing of equal spheres is achieved by a family of structures called close-packed structures. One method for generating such a structure is as follows. Consider a plane with a compact arrangement of spheres on it. Call it A. For any three neighbouring spheres, a fourth sphere can be placed on top in the hollow between the three bottom spheres. If we do this for half of the holes in a second plane above the first, we create a new compact layer. There are two possible choices for doing this, call them B and C. Suppose that we chose B. Then one half of the hollows of B lies above the centers of the balls in A and one half lies above the hollows of A which were not used for B. Thus the balls of a third layer can be placed either directly above the balls of the first one, yielding a layer of type A, or above the holes of the first layer which were not occupied by the second layer, yielding a layer of type C. Combining layers of types A, B, and C produces various close-packed structures.
Two simple arrangements within the close-packed family correspond to regular lattices. One is called cubic close packing (or face-centred cubic, "FCC")—where the layers are alternated in the ABCABC... sequence. The other is called hexagonal close packing ("HCP"), where the layers are alternated in the ABAB... sequence. But many layer stacking sequences are possible (ABAC, ABCBA, ABCBAC, etc.), and still generate a close-packed structure. In all of these arrangements each sphere touches 12 neighboring spheres, and the average density is
In 1611, Johannes Kepler conjectured that this is the maximum possible density amongst both regular and irregular arrangements—this became known as the Kepler conjecture. Carl Friedrich Gauss proved in 1831 that these packings have the highest density amongst all possible lattice packings. In 1998, Thomas Callister Hales, following the approach suggested by László Fejes Tóth in 1953, announced a proof of the Kepler conjecture. Hales proof is a proof by exhaustion involving checking of many individual cases using complex computer calculations. Referees said that they were "99% certain" of the correctness of Hales proof. On 10 August 2014, Hales announced the completion of a formal proof using automated proof checking, removing any doubt.