Lie sphere geometry in lattice cosmology

In this paper we propose to use Lie sphere geometry as a new tool to systematically construct time-symmetric initial data for a wide variety of generalised black-hole configurations in lattice cosmology. These configurations are iteratively constructed analytically and may have any degree of geometric irregularity. We show that for negligible amounts of dust these solutions are similar to the swiss-cheese models at the moment of maximal expansion. As Lie sphere geometry has so far not received much attention in cosmology, we will devote a large part of this paper to explain its geometric background in a language familiar to general relativists. (paper)