The rhombidodecahedral tessellation of 3-space and a particular 15-vertex triangulation of the 3-dimensional torus

It is well known that the unique 7-vertex triangulation of the 2-dimensional torus S¹×S¹ is a consequence of the relationship between two hexagonal lattices in the euclidean plane: it is just the quotient of the triangular tessellation of the plane by a translation group. Each vertex star is a regular hexagon and the symmetry group of this triangulation is the affine group A(1,₇) in one dimension over ₇. In this paper we describe a particular 15-vertex triangulation of the 3-dimensional torus S¹×S¹×S¹ whose symmetry group is the affine group A(1,₁₅) and which is similarly related to two lattices in euclidean 3-space: it is just the quotient of a particular tessellation of 3-space by a translation group. Each vertex star happens to be a rhombidodecahedron, the dual of a (semiregular) cuboctahedron.