All Questions
26 questions
88
votes
2
answers
7k
views
24
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Tetrahedron insphere iteration
I know that iterating the following incircle construction approaches an equilateral triangle in the limit:
Starting with any triangle $T$, one forms $T'$ by connecting ...
- 151k
18
votes
2
answers
667
views
Total length of a set with the same projections as a square
Take some convex polygon $P$. I'm mostly asking about the unit square, but would also appreciate thoughts on general polygons. We want to take a family of line segments inside $P$ that have the same ...
- 1,160
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
15
votes
1
answer
530
views
Dividing a polyhedron into two similar copies
The paper Dividing a polygon into two similar polygons proves that there are only three families of polygons that are irrep-2-tiles (can be subdivided into similar copies of the original).
Right ...
15
votes
1
answer
640
views
Smallest regular simplex containing the unit cube in $R^n$
What is the length $e_n$ of the edge of the smallest $n$-dimensional regular simplex $S_n$ containing the $n$-dimensional unit cube $Q_n$?
In particular, is there $n$ such that $e_n<\sqrt{2}(n+1-\...
- 6,101
15
votes
1
answer
838
views
Ratio of circumscribed/inscribed $(n{-}1)$-gons
As a discrete analog of the MO question,
"Löwner-John Ellipsoid: incribed and circumscribed,"
I've been wondering what might be the maximum ratio
of this quantity?
Let $P$ be a convex ...
- 151k
14
votes
1
answer
280
views
How many distances are required to calculate all distances among $n$ points in the Euclidean plane?
I want to know all the pairwise distances between points $P_1,P_2,\ldots,P_n$ in the Euclidean plane (or equivalently, I want to reconstruct the set of points up to congruence). Let's say I have an ...
- 523
11
votes
1
answer
403
views
Smallest sphere containing three tetrahedra?
What is the smallest possible radius of a sphere which contains 3 identical plastic tetrahedra with side length 1?
- 111
11
votes
1
answer
712
views
Polygons uniquely inducing arrangements
A beautiful, relatively recent result is that,
Every simple arrangement $\cal{A}$ of $n$ lines in the plane is induced by a simple $n$-gon $P$.
In a simple arrangement, every pair of lines intersect ...
- 151k
10
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Interpolating points with minimum curvature constraint
I have $n$ points $p_i$ strictly interior to a rectangle $R$,
and I would like to connect them with a curve $C$ whose curvature is as low as possible.
Let $\kappa_\max(C)$ be the sharpest (largest ...
- 151k
9
votes
3
answers
525
views
Mutually tangent ellipsoids in 3 space
I recently heard a claim that for any n, it is possible to arrange n ellipsoids in 3 space such that each pair of ellipsoids is kissing. Is this true, and if so, how?
Edit: By kissing, I mean that I ...
- 1,601
9
votes
1
answer
484
views
Which values can attain the minimum solid angle in a simplex
Given a simplex $S$ with a vertex $v$ by the solid angle at this vertex I mean the value $\hbox{vol}(B \cap S)/\hbox{vol}(B)$ where $B$ is a small enough ball centered at $v$ (for example, in the ...
- 976
8
votes
4
answers
530
views
Inside-out polygonal dissections
A dissection of a polygon $P$
is a partition of $P$ into a finite number of pieces, which can then be rearranged
(via planar translations and rotations) and joined (without overlap) to form a new ...
- 151k
8
votes
2
answers
371
views
Are angles between points enough to decide the realizability?
Let n points in the plane be given whose coordinates we don't know.
Assume, however, that for any triple of the points we know the angle.
Question: Can we decide whether the n points are realizable ...
- 245
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
1
answer
435
views
On the aperiodic monotile
One of the more mind-boggling aspects of the Penrose tiles is that there are uncountably many distinct tilings of the plane, but every tiling contains every finite region that appears in another ...
- 4,898
5
votes
0
answers
235
views
Arrangement of points, lines, and planes
Is it possible to construct a finite nontrivial arrangement of points, lines, and planes in 3-dimensional Euclidean space with the following properties?
every line is incident with four points and ...
- 2,773
5
votes
0
answers
313
views
Trade-off between covering number, ball radius and diameter of $d$-dimensional shapes
Given any $d$-dimensional shape $X$ in the Euclidean space, let $\ell(X)$ be the length of the longest line segment connecting two points of $X$. How can we prove the following statement?
There exists ...
- 1,677
4
votes
1
answer
363
views
Trade-off between hypervolume and diameter of $d$-dimensional shapes having a hypercubic smallest bounding box
Given any $d$-dimensional shape $X$, let $V(X)$ be its $d$-dimensional volume, and let $\ell(X)$ be the length of the longest line segment connecting two points of $X$.
Let $\mathcal{S}_C$ be the set ...
- 1,677
3
votes
1
answer
197
views
Three-dimensional Apollonian spirals
Given mutually (externally) tangent spheres $S_1$, $S_2$, $S_3$, $S_4$, let $S_n$ be the unique sphere externally tangent to $S_{n-1}$, $S_{n-2}$, $S_{n-3}$, and $S_{n-4}$ for $n \geq 5$.
Let $P_{\...
- 19.7k
3
votes
0
answers
60
views
A canonical map from a Euclidean cone-manifold $M^3$ to $\mathbb{E}^3/\mathrm{Hol}(M)$
Suppose we have a 3-dimensional Euclidean cone-manifold $M$—in my book that just means $M$ is a manifold whose geometry is constructed by gluing it out of Euclidean tetrahedra, with faces paired by ...
- 458
3
votes
0
answers
214
views
Volume of intersection of a ball and cube with arbitrary position in $n$ dimension
Let $ A(n, r, x) = B^n_r(x) \cap [0,1]^n $ denote the intersection between an $n$ ball $B^n_r(x)$ with arbitrary radius $r$ and arbitrary center $x \in \mathbb{R}^n$ that intersects a unit $n$ cube $ [...
- 365
2
votes
2
answers
163
views
Maximum possible number of similar three-colored triangles
I want to maximize the number of similar triangles with vertices from three fixed sets, one vertex from each set. For example, if you fix two points $X$, $Y$ (i.e. two sets with only one member), then ...
- 628
1
vote
1
answer
96
views
A 'natural' enumerable metric space with integral distances which is essentially the Euclidean space
It is easy to construct a metric space $E_d$ such that all points
of $E_d$ are at mutually integral distance and such that there is a map $\varphi$ from $E_d$ into the $d$-dimensional Euclidean space ...
- 17.9k
0
votes
0
answers
106
views
Upper bounds for minimum angle
What are the latest and best results on the asymptotic upper bound for the minimum angle between any pair of rays among $n$ rays in $\mathbb{R}^3$?
Any helpful answer would be appreciated. Thank you!
- 61