All Questions
1,357 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
49
votes
0
answers
3k
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Concerning proofs from the axiom of choice that ℝ³ admits surprising geometrical decompositions: Can we prove there is no Borel decomposition?
This question follows up on a comment I made on Joseph O'Rourke's
recent question, one of several questions here on mathoverflow
concerning surprising geometric partitions of space using the axiom
of ...
- 236k
43
votes
0
answers
819
views
A kaleidoscopic coloring of the plane
Problem. Is there a partition $\mathbb R^2=A\sqcup B$ of the Euclidean plane into two Lebesgue measurable sets such that for any disk $D$ of the unit radius we get $\lambda(A\cap D)=\lambda(B\cap D)=\...
- 41.8k
32
votes
0
answers
921
views
Isometric embeddings of finite subsets of $\ell_2$ into infinite-dimensional Banach spaces
Question: Does there exist a finite subset $F$ of $\ell_2$ and an infinite-dimensional Banach space $X$ such that $F$ does not admit an isometric embedding into $X$?
There are some results of the ...
- 4,878
31
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Tiling of the plane with manholes
Some shapes, such as the disk or the Releaux triangle can be used as manholes,
that is, it is a curve of constant width.
(The width between two parallel tangents to the curve are independent of the ...
- 15.8k
30
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Curves on potatoes
On twitter recently, Robin Houston brought up this problem from a mathematical puzzle book of Peter Winkler:
The puzzle is attributed to the book "The mathemagician and pied puzzler", and ...
- 68.8k
30
votes
0
answers
747
views
Is there an Ehrhart polynomial for Gaussian integers
Let $N$ be a positive integer and let $P \subset \mathbb{C}$ be a polygon whose vertices are of the form $(a_1+b_1 i)/N$, $(a_2+b_2 i)/N$, ..., $(a_r+b_r i)/N$, with $a_j + b_j i$ being various ...
- 156k
28
votes
0
answers
546
views
Can every 3-dimensional convex body be trapped in a tetrahedral cage?
Can every 3-dimensional convex body be trapped in a tetrahedral cage?
Although the question is fairly unambiguous, I give all relevant definitions:
$\bullet$ A subset $C$ of $\mathbb{R}^n$ is an $n$-...
- 7,276
28
votes
0
answers
828
views
Blocking light with mirrored convex objects
There is a long-unsolved problem posed by Janos Pach,
sometimes known as the enchanted forest problem,
which asks if it is possible to block a point light source
in the plane
from reaching
infinity by ...
- 151k
26
votes
0
answers
359
views
Can 4-space be partitioned into Klein bottles?
It is known that $\mathbb{R}^3$ can be partitioned into disjoint circles,
or into disjoint unit circles, or into congruent copies of a real-analytic curve
(Is it possible to partition $\mathbb R^3$ ...
- 151k
23
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Boundaries of noncompact contractible manifolds
It is known that a manifold $B$ bounds a compact contractible topological manifold if and only if $B$ is a homology sphere. The "only if" direction follows by excising a small ball in the interior of ...
- 29.1k
22
votes
0
answers
402
views
What is the covering density of a very thin annulus? Is it $\frac{\pi\sqrt{51\sqrt{17}-107}}{16}$?
Take some very small $\epsilon>0$, and consider the annulus/ring given by the set $\{(r,\theta)\ |\ 1-\epsilon\le r\le1\}\subset \mathbb{R}^2$.
We wish to place translated copies of this annulus ...
- 3,068
21
votes
0
answers
270
views
The "stained glass window problem": Draw many random chords in a circle; which kind of polygon ($3$-gon, $4$-gon, etc.) occupies the most total area?
Draw $n$ random chords in a circle, where each chord connects two independent uniformly random points on the circle.
As $n\to\infty$, which kind of polygon (triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, etc.) ...
- 3,507
20
votes
0
answers
433
views
Is the dodecahedron flexible (as a polytope with fixed edge-lengths)?
Consider the (regular) dodecahedron $D\subset\Bbb R^3$. I want to continuously deform it so that throughout the deformation
it stays a convex polytope,
it stays a combinatorial dodecahedron (i.e. its ...
- 13.6k
19
votes
0
answers
841
views
I found a (probably new) family of real analytic closed Bezier-like curves; is it publishable?
Given $n$ distinct points $\mathbf{x} = (\mathbf{x}_1, \ldots, \mathbf{x}_n)$ in the plane $\mathbb{R}^2$, I associate a real analytic map:
$f_{\mathbf{x}}: S^1 \to \mathbb{R}^2$
with the following ...
- 5,215
19
votes
0
answers
576
views
"Japanese Theorem" on cyclic polygons: Higher-dimensional generalizations?
A beautiful theorem known as the Japanese Theorem (Wikipedia, MathWorld)
says that, no matter how one triangulates a cyclic (inscribed in a circle) polygon,
the sum of the radii of the incircles is ...
- 151k
18
votes
0
answers
480
views
Trapping lightrays with segment mirrors
Q. Is it possible to trap all the light from one point source by a finite collection of two-sided disjoint segment mirrors?
I posed this question in several forums before (e.g., here
and in an ...
- 151k
18
votes
0
answers
667
views
The lonely molecule
Suppose $n$ air molecules (infinitesimal points) are bouncing around in
a unit $d$-dimensional cube, with perfectly elastic wall collisions.
Let $k=n^{\frac{1}{d}}$.
For example, in 3D, $d=3$, with $n=...
- 151k
18
votes
0
answers
503
views
Lipschitz constant of a homotopy
Let $n>0$, $\mathbb S^n$ be $n$-sphere and $1\in \mathbb S^n$ be its north pole.
A am looking for an example of compact manifold $M$ with a continuous $n$-parameter family of maps $h_x\colon M\to ...
- 45k
17
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Almost monochromatic point sets
There are many sort of equivalent theorems about monochromatic configurations in finite colorings, such as Van der Waerden, Hales-Jewett or Gallai's theorem, the latter of which states that in a ...
- 18.7k
17
votes
0
answers
224
views
GPS calculations under $L^p$ norms
GPS calculations require finding a sphere externally tangent to
four given spheres, an
Apollonian problem
in $\mathbb{R}^3$.
The center of that fifth sphere is one of the $16$ possible solutions to
...
- 151k
17
votes
0
answers
488
views
Large almost equilateral sets in finite-dimensional Banach spaces
Question: Does there exist a function $C:~(0,1)\to
(0,\infty)$ such that for each $\varepsilon\in(0,1)$ every Banach space
$X$ of dimension $\ge C(\varepsilon)\log n$ contains an $n$-point
set $\{x_i\...
- 4,878
17
votes
0
answers
731
views
Does every connected set that is not a line segment cross some dyadic square?
A dyadic square is a subset of $R^2$ of the form $x + 2^{-n} [0,1]^2$ with $x \in 2^{-m} Z^2$, for integers $m,n \geq 0$. We say that a set $A$ crosses a square $S$ if there exists a connected subset ...
- 171
16
votes
0
answers
576
views
Snakes on a plane
A sleeping bag for a baby snake in $d$ dimensions (no, really) is a subset of $\mathbb{R}^d$ which can cover (via translation and rotation) every (piecewise-smooth for concreteness) curve of unit ...
- 21.2k
16
votes
0
answers
391
views
Is "Escherian metamorphosis" always possible?
$\DeclareMathOperator\int{int}\DeclareMathOperator\diam{diam}\DeclareMathOperator\area{area}\DeclareMathOperator\cl{cl}\DeclareMathOperator\ran{ran}\DeclareMathOperator\dom{dom}$This is a tweaked ...
- 21.2k
16
votes
0
answers
2k
views
An open problem in convex geometry
Is it possible to find four norms $\| \cdot\|_k$ $( 1 \leq k \leq 4)$ on the plane such that a three-dimensional normed space containing four subspaces isometric to these normed planes does not exist? ...
- 13.5k
16
votes
0
answers
298
views
Realization spaces of 3-dimensional polytopes with fixed face areas
It is a well-know result (Steinitz, 1922) that the realization space of 3-dimensional convex polytopes with fixed combinatorics is contractible.
A proof of this theorem can be found for instance in ...
- 31.2k
16
votes
0
answers
763
views
Lipschitz Homeomorphisms Between Spheres of N-dimensional Spaces
Let $B_p^N$ be the unit ball of $\mathbb{R}^N$ under the $\ell_p^N$ norm.
Question: Let $C_N$ be the infimum of all $C$ for which there is a homeomorphism $f_N$ from $B_\infty^N$ onto $B_2^N$ so ...
- 31.5k
15
votes
0
answers
398
views
Will a unit disk be completely covered by randomly placed disks of area $\pi,\frac{\pi}{2},\frac{\pi}{3},\dots$ with probability $1$?
On a "bottom" disk of area $\pi$, we place "top" disks of area $\pi,\frac{\pi}{2},\frac{\pi}{3},\dots$ such that the centre of each top disk is an independent uniformly random ...
- 3,507
15
votes
0
answers
382
views
Has Cheeger's 'de Rham cohomology' of metric measure spaces been studied beyond its definition?
In J. Cheeger's 'Differentiability of Lipschitz Functions on Metric Measure Spaces' (Geometric and Functional Analysis, 1999, Vol. 9 pp 428-517, see here), a 'de Rham cohomology group' $H_{dR}^1(Z,\mu)...
user14166
15
votes
0
answers
517
views
Functions approximated by rolling epicycle curves
Imagine a decreasing sequence of (positive) radii $r_1 > r_2 > r_3 > \cdots$
and a series of nested circles $C_1 \supset C_2 \supset C_3 \supset \cdots$
with these radii,
initially each ...
- 151k
15
votes
0
answers
753
views
Are all these groups CAT(0) groups?
Given a geodesic metric space $X$ together with a choice of midpoints
$m:X\times X\rightarrow X$ (i.e. $d(m(x,y),x)=d(m(x,y),y)=d(x,y)/2$).
Assume furthermore, that the following nonpositive curvature ...
- 11.1k
14
votes
0
answers
270
views
Regular $n$-gon with diagonals: bounds on area of largest cell?
Consider a regular $n$-gon of side length $1$ with diagonals. Here is an example with $n=11$ (from geogebra applet).
I've been trying to find, in terms of $n$, bounds on the area of the largest cell, ...
- 3,507
14
votes
0
answers
205
views
Have there been further developments on this scheme for polytope approximations to the unit ball of $\ell_p^n$?
A long time ago I happened to look at, and save (on a floppy disk!) for future reading, a copy of the following article:
W. T. Gowers, Polytope approximations of the unit ball of $l^n_p$.
In Convex ...
- 25.8k
14
votes
0
answers
479
views
Does every convex polyhedron have a combinatorially isomorphic counterpart whose angles between edges are rational multiples of $\pi$?
After reading these very interesting questions, I came up with another one:
Does every convex polyhedron have a combinatorially isomorphic counterpart whose angles between all pairs of edges meeting ...
- 532
14
votes
0
answers
552
views
Who conjectured that a transitive projective plane is Desarguesian?
The only known finite projective plane with a transitive automorphism group is the Desarguesian plane $PG(2,q)$ and it seems likely that there are no others, although this is not (quite) proved.
...
- 12.7k
14
votes
0
answers
4k
views
Minimum tiling of a rectangle by squares
Given the $n\times m$ rectangle, I want to compute the minimum number of integer-sided squares needed to tile it (possibly of different sizes).
Is there an efficient way to calculate this?
- 1,015
13
votes
0
answers
378
views
Is a convex polyhedron determined by its edge lengths and angular defects?
Let's consider 3-dimensional convex polyhedra $P\subset\Bbb R^3$.
The angular defect at a vertex $v$ is $2\pi$ minus the sum of the interior angles of the incident faces at $v$.
Question:
Is a ...
- 13.6k
13
votes
0
answers
817
views
Covering number estimates for Hölder balls
Let $\alpha \in (0,1]$, $r>0$ and $L>0$, and positive intwgers $n$ and $m$. The Arzela-Ascoli Theorem guarantees that the set $X(\alpha,L,r)$ of $f:[-1,1]^n\rightarrow [-r,r]^m$ with $\alpha$-...
- 5,405
13
votes
0
answers
573
views
What are the known convex polyhedra with congruent faces?
Note: I originally asked this question on math.SE here, where I posted a bounty on the question but received no answers after a week despite apparent interest in the problem. I'm hoping MathOverflow ...
- 3,068
13
votes
0
answers
1k
views
The status of the journal “Forum Geometricorum”
The online journal Forum Geometricorum is a sort of central organ of elementary geometry (mainly triangle geometry and related topics). It has been published regularly since 2000 but seems to have ...
- 2,472
13
votes
0
answers
254
views
Planar arc on a topologically embedded sphere or disk in $\mathbb{R}^3$
An arc is a set homeomorphic to the unit interval $[0,1]$; an arc in $\mathbb{R}^3$ is planar if it is contained in some plane.
The following questions are motivated by Anton Petrunin's Disc bounded ...
- 7,276
13
votes
0
answers
495
views
Unit ball of smallest volume in a Hilbert geometry
In a letter to Felix Klein published in Mathematische Annalen 1895 (see here), Hilbert generalized the Cayley-Klein model of hyperbolic geometry by defining a metric on the interior of a convex body ...
- 13.5k
13
votes
0
answers
576
views
Multiplicity of ball covering
Background. My questions are motivated by the following:
A. Conway and Sloane in "On the covering multiplicity of lattices" (Discrete
and Computational Geometry, 8 (1992) 109-130) considered the ...
- 31.2k
13
votes
0
answers
252
views
Does there always exist a self dual polytope that contains a given polytope contained in its dual?
Suppose a polytope $P$ is contained in its dual polytope $\tilde{P}$. Does there always exist a polytope $Q$ that contains $P$ and is self dual $Q=\tilde{Q}$? Is there any bound on the minimal number ...
- 241
13
votes
0
answers
751
views
$\epsilon$-nets with respect to the cut norm
The cut norm $||A||\_C$ of a real matrix $A = (a_{i,j}) \in \mathcal{R}^{n\times n}$ is the maximum over all $I \subseteq [n], J \subseteq [n]$ of the quantity $\left|\sum_{i \in I, j \in J}a_{i,j}\...
- 794
11
votes
0
answers
488
views
Are there 100 points that are part of every half-density part of the plane?
Is there a configuration $P$ that consists of 100 points of the plane such that every $X\subset\mathbb R^2$ whose density is half contains an isometric copy of $P$?
I am deliberately being vague ...
- 18.7k
11
votes
0
answers
717
views
John-type theorems: trading structure for accuracy?
Given two symmetric convex bodies $B, B'$ in ${\bf R}^d$, define the Banach-Mazur distance $d(B,B')$ between them to be the least constant $\tau \geq 1$ such that
$$ B \subset TB' \subset \tau B$$
for ...
- 114k
11
votes
0
answers
215
views
Can a billiard rack be a square, for every number of balls?
A billiard rack is a rack, usually a triangle, that can hold a certain number of equal size billiard balls, such that the balls' centres cannot move within the rack.
Can the rack be a square, for ...
- 3,507
11
votes
0
answers
336
views
Lattices and stable homotopy groups of spheres
The number $65520$ arises in two very different scenarios:
It occurs in the formula for the theta series of the Leech lattice:
$$ \Theta_{\Lambda_{24}}(q) = 1 + \sum\limits_{m=1}^{\infty} \dfrac{...
- 12.4k
11
votes
0
answers
307
views
Entropy, magnitude, diversity of finite metric spaces in number theory
I was reading the article by Tom Leinster, (Maximizing
diversity in biology and beyond, arXiv link), and find it very interesting.
Since I was searching for entropies of finite metric spaces I found
...
user6671