  This short note describes the tentative form of a finite-dimensional
optimization problem that may be of use in a second-generation proof of the
Kepler conjecture. In the original 1998 proof of the Kepler conjecture, the
form of the optimization problem was constrained by limits to computer power
and by the speed of the algorithms that were available in 1994 to prove
inequalities by computer. The computational resources have changed considerably
since then, and much has been learned by an analysis of the 1998 proof. This
analysis has lead to the proposed new form for an optimization problem.
