All Questions
377 questions
36
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Bodies of constant width?
In two-dimensional case one can generalize figures of constant width as figures which can rotate in a convex polygon.
Here is one example which can be used to drill triangular holes:
I would like to ...
- 45k
31
votes
2
answers
1k
views
The Sylvester-Gallai theorem over $p$-adic fields
The famous Sylvester-Gallai theorem states that for any finite set $X$ of points in the plane $\mathbf{R}^2$, not all on a line, there is a line passing through exactly two points of $X$.
What ...
- 20.8k
31
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Is it possible to dissect a disk into congruent pieces, so that a neighborhood of the origin is contained within a single piece?
Problem: is it possible to dissect the interior of a circle into a finite number of congruent pieces (mirror images are fine) such that some neighbourhood of the origin is contained in just one of the ...
- 375
28
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Visibility of vertices in polyhedra
Suppose $P$ is a closed polyhedron in space (i.e. a union of polygons which is homeomorphic to $S^2$) and $X$ is an interior point of $P$. Is it true that $X$ can see at least one vertex of $P$? More ...
- 4,484
28
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Erdős-Szekeres for first differences
The classical Erdős-Szekeres theorem says that any sequence of $n^2+1$
real numbers contains a monotonic $(n+1)$-term subsequence. Suppose, however,
that we want to find a subsequence which is not ...
- 23k
27
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Is the matrix $\left({2m\choose 2j-i}\right)_{i,j=1}^{2m-1}$ nonsingular?
Suppose we have a $(2m-1) \times (2m-1)$ matrix defined as follows:
$$\left({2m\choose 2j-i}\right)_{i,j=1}^{2m-1}.$$
For example, if $m=3$, the matrix is
$$\begin{pmatrix}6 & 20 & 6& 0 ...
- 1,121
25
votes
3
answers
994
views
Does every convex polyhedron have a combinatorially isomorphic counterpart whose faces all have rational areas?
Does every convex polyhedron have a combinatorially isomorphic counterpart whose faces all have rational areas?
Does every convex polyhedron have a combinatorially isomorphic counterpart whose edges ...
- 513
25
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Number of hypercube unfoldings
While writing the code for this answer, I noticed that I not only could calculate the number of unfoldings of the $4$-cube, but also the number of the $n$-cube for more values of $n$. Basically, we ...
- 10.7k
25
votes
1
answer
667
views
Is there a short proof of the decidability of Kepler's Conjecture?
I've believed that the answer is "yes" for years, as suggested in various sources with reference to Tóth's work. For example, the Wikipedia article for Kepler Conjecture says:
The next step toward ...
- 353
24
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Building a genus-$n$ torus from cubes
I wonder if this has been studied:
What is the fewest number of unit cubes
from which one can build an $n$-toroid?
The cubes must be glued face-to-face,
and the boundary of the resulting object ...
- 151k
24
votes
5
answers
3k
views
What is the minimum N for which there exist N points in the plane that cannot be covered by any number of non-overlapping closed unit discs?
This problem was posed in March 2010 at G4G9 in a talk by the Japanese mathematician Hirokazu "Iwahiro" Iwasawa. He claims there is a simple proof that N > 10, though he did not share it with the ...
- 349
19
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is the tensor product of polyhedra a polyhedron?
Conventions: A polytope in a finite-dimensional $\mathbb R$-vector space $V$ is defined to be a convex hull of finitely many points in $V$. A polyhedron in a finite-dimensional $\mathbb R$-vector ...
- 33.8k
18
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Sperner's Lemma implies Tucker's Lemma - simple combinatorial proof
Sperner’s Lemma is often called the "combinatorial analog" of Brouwer’s Fixed Point Theorem, and similarly Tucker’s Lemma is often called the combinatorial analog of Borsuk–Ulam’s Theorem.
We can ...
- 6,917
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
The minimum of a sum of absolute values of inner products in $\mathbb{R}^d$
Consider a collection of unit vectors $v_1, \ldots, v_n$ in $\mathbb{R}^d$ (we think of $n$ being much larger than $d$). I would like to minimize the sum:
$$\sum_{i\neq j}|\langle v_i,v_j\rangle|.$$
...
- 2,288
17
votes
1
answer
457
views
The sparsest planar net that captures every unit segment
Let $\cal C = \lbrace C_i \rbrace$ be a collection
of rectifiable curves in the plane with the property that
every unit-length segment meets at least one curve
in at least one point.
Call such a ...
- 151k
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
When is the number of areas obtained by cutting a circle with $n$ chords a power of $2$?
Also posted on the Math Stackexchange: When is the number of areas obtained by cutting a circle with $n$ chords a power of $2$?
Introduction
Recently, a friend told me about the following ...
- 1,326
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is Euler characteristic of a simplicial complex upper bounded by a polynomial in the number of its facets ?
What is the best upper bound known on the (absolute value of) the
Euler characteristic of a simplicial complex
in terms of the number of its facets ?
In particular, I am interested in proving or ...
- 173
16
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Random polycube shapes
I am wondering if it is hopeless to obtain any firm results
on the following model of a "random polycube shape."
First, a polycube in $\mathbb{R}^3$
is a connected face-to-face gluing of unit cubes.
(...
- 151k
16
votes
1
answer
755
views
Are there general principles that allow us to easily determine whether coins in simple arrangements in a frame can move?
Circular coins in a frame may all be stuck in their positions; for example:
Another possibility is that they can all move simultaneously; I claim the following examples:
It is not always obvious ...
- 3,507
16
votes
5
answers
712
views
The smallest disk containing all sides of an $n$-gon
Start with a regular $n$-gon of side 1 and consider its sides as open segments that can be moved around in the plane, allowing only translations. Two segments may not intersect.
What is the radius ...
- 13.4k
15
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Conjecture: If equal size circular coins are in a convex polygonal frame, with each coin touching exactly one edge, then all the coins can move
Earlier I conjectured that if circular coins of any sizes are in a convex polygonal frame, with each coin touching exactly one edge, then all the coins can move. A counter-example using coins of ...
- 3,507
14
votes
1
answer
640
views
Which convex bodies can be captured in a knot?
Which convex bodies can be captured in a knot?
This question is based on the discussion in "Is it possible to capture a sphere in a knot?".
We assume that the knot is made from an ...
- 45k
14
votes
2
answers
540
views
Are all well behaved "mean" functions on $\mathbb{R}^+$ equivalent?
Given a set $S$, a function $M: S\times S \rightarrow S$ is a mean if it satisfies the properties:
$M(a,a)=a\qquad$ (identity)
$M(a,b)=M(b,a)\qquad$ (commutativity).
and possibly
$M(M(a,b),M(a,c))=...
- 5,103
14
votes
3
answers
966
views
Can a tangle of arcs interlock?
Can a (finite) collection of disjoint circle arcs in $\mathbb{R}^3$ be interlocked in the sense in that they cannot be separated, i.e. each moved arbitrarily far from one another while remaining ...
- 151k
13
votes
3
answers
387
views
Intersecting cylinders around a sphere
Intersecting $n$ unit-radius cylinders, each with axis through the origin,
produces a shape circumscribed about a unit-radius sphere:
My question is:
For each $n$, which arrangement of cylinders ...
- 151k
13
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How many squares can be formed by using n points?
How many squares can be formed by using n points on a 3 dimensional space?
Like using 4 points, there is 1 square be formed
Using 5 points, still 1 square
Using 6 points, 3 squares can be formed
- 241
13
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Average degree of contact graph for balls in a box
Imagine you dump congruent, hard, frictionless balls in a box,
letting gravity compress the balls into a stable configuration
(I believe such configurations are called
jammed.)
Assume the box ...
- 151k
13
votes
3
answers
835
views
What fraction of n-point sets in the unit ball have diameter smaller than 1?
This question is inspired by a recent talk by Matt Kahle on random geometric complexes.
Some simple notation: let $\mathcal{B} \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ be the unit ball in $d$-dimensional Euclidean ...
- 15.5k
13
votes
3
answers
1k
views
(non-)existence of the aperiodic monotile
The aperiodic monotile problem asks whether there exists a single tile that every tiling of the plane made with it results non-periodic. What is known about this problem? If this tile exists, how can ...
- 561
12
votes
2
answers
5k
views
The Gauss circle problem on a hexagonal lattice
Take an infinite hexagonal lattice (or equivalently, an equilateral triangular lattice), with unit spacing between the closest lattice point pairs, and draw a disc of radius $r$ centered on a lattice ...
- 197
11
votes
1
answer
499
views
Tiling with incommensurate triangles
Say that two triangles are incommensurate if they do not
share an edge length or a vertex angle, and their areas differ.
Suppose you'd like to tile the plane with pairwise incommensurate triangles.
I ...
- 151k
11
votes
1
answer
339
views
Analogue of conic sections for the permutohedra, associahedra, and noncrossing partitions
Slicing cones in various ways with a plane generates conic sections identified geometrically as hyperbolas, parabolas, or ellipses and algebraically, when suitably rotated, as certain rescaled ...
- 10.5k
11
votes
1
answer
651
views
How to correctly state Cauchy's rigidity theorem?
Cauchy's rigidity theorem is often stated briefly as
Any two (convex, 3-dimensional) polyhedra with pairwise congruent faces are themselves congruent.
As a more formal generalization to general ...
- 13.6k
10
votes
5
answers
959
views
Is this an instance of any existing convex pentagonal tilings?
Inspired by Wikipedia's article on pentagonal tiling, I made my own attempt.
I believe this belongs to the 4-tile lattice category, because it's composed of pentagons pointing towards 4 different ...
- 151
10
votes
1
answer
682
views
Building a polyhedron from areas of its faces
Is there a known algorithm which, given a finite multiset (unordered list) of integers $A$, returns a yes/no answer for ...
- 6,819
10
votes
1
answer
465
views
Chord arrangement that avoids confining small or large disks
These two questions are two-dimensional variations on this recent MO question,
"Threading pinholes in the wall of cylinder to pass through an internal coordinate."
Noam Elkies suggested that even a 2D ...
- 151k
9
votes
3
answers
846
views
Conjecture on NP-completeness of tesselation of Wang Tile up to finite size
Motivated by these following questions on tessellation:
coloring in lattice
Reference for Wang Tile
Computational approach deciding whether a set of Wang Tile could tile the space up to some size
...
user46976
8
votes
1
answer
885
views
Maximal tetrahedra inscribed in ellipsoid
Pietro Majer quoted the theorem of Michel Chasles in his MO question,
"Convex curves with many inscribed triangles maximizing perimeter,"
which states that the triangles of maximum perimeter inscribed ...
- 151k
6
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Delaunay triangulations and convex hulls
This is a reference request.
I have the impression that those who work in computational geometry are accustomed to the following. You have some locally finite set of sites in $\mathbb{R}^n$ and you ...
6
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Given a set of 2D vertices, how to create a minimum-area polygon which contains all the given vertices?
Not sure whether this question belongs here or math.stackexchange.
You can assume that all the vertices are unique. The given vertices can be the vertices of the polygon, thus they do NOT have to be ...
- 163
6
votes
1
answer
767
views
Using mirrors to make a non-convex polygon visible from a fixed interior point
Take a point $A$ inside a non-convex polygon $P$. Is it always possible to place a finite set of mirrors given by straight segments (not necessarily along the boundary of $P$, any position inside $P$ ...
- 17.9k
6
votes
0
answers
657
views
Unique domino tiling
Question: how does one enumerate all star-convex $2n$-vertex sublattices of the plane that have the unique domino-tiling property?
Definitions:
A subset $S$ of the $xy$-plane is star-convex if there ...
- 1,090
6
votes
1
answer
429
views
Bichromatic pencils
A pencil is a collection of some lines through a point, called the center of the pencil.
If the points of the plane are colored, then call a pencil bichromatic if there is a color that is present on ...
- 18.7k
6
votes
1
answer
469
views
Cutting the unit square into pieces with rational length sides
The following questions seem related to the still open question whether there is a point(s) whose distances from the 4 corners of a unit square are all rational.
To cut a unit square into n (a finite ...
- 5,979
5
votes
1
answer
156
views
On folding a polygonal sheet
Consider a polygonal sheet $P$ of area $A$ with $N$ vertices (it material is not stretchable or tearable). Let $n$ be a positive integer >=2.
Question: Let $P$ lie on a flat plane. We need to fold ...
- 5,979
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Algorithm for the intersection of a vector subspace with a cone of non-negative vectors
Hi,
I would like to know whether there is some more effective way of how to compute an intersection of a vector subspace of $\mathbb{R}^{n}$ with a cone of vectors with non-negative entries than the ...
5
votes
1
answer
280
views
Classification of vertex-transitive zonotopes
Zonotopes are convex polytopes that can be defined in several equivalent ways:
parallel projections of cubes,
Minkowsi sums of line segments,
only centrally symmetric faces,
...
I wonder whether ...
- 13.6k
4
votes
1
answer
215
views
On two centers of convex regions
Definition: A line segment with both end points on the boundary of a planar convex region $C$ is called a chord of $C$.
Consider any point $P$ within a given planar convex region $C$. From among all ...
- 5,979
4
votes
1
answer
3k
views
optimization of inverse matrix with constraint on matrix elements
everyone! I have this optimization problem with constraint.
$D$ and $T$ are symmetric matrices, where T is known and D is the unknown parameter.
$x$ and $v$ are two known p-dimensional vectors.
The ...
- 49
4
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Detection of Redundant Constraints
Suppose I pose the following query to a constraint logic programming
system:
?- Y <= 6 - X, Y <= (- 4) + 4 * X, Y <= 4 + X / 3.
Are there systems that would recognize the last inequality as
...
Countably Infinite