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Questions tagged [mg.metric-geometry]

Euclidean, hyperbolic, discrete, convex, coarse geometry, metric spaces, comparisons in Riemannian geometry, symmetric spaces.

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Hearing the 17 planar symmetry groups

Though I'm sure it's not really hard to work out for myself, does anyone know a reference for the spectra of the Laplacian on the 17 flat compact orbifolds that underlie the 17 planar symmetry groups. ...
David Feldman's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
3k views

Approximating a convex function by a piecewise linear function

Suppose I have a Lipschitz-continuous convex function $f:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$. I wish to approximate it on the unit ball by a piecewise-linear function $g:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow \...
Flavio Burton's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
3k views

3-piece dissection of square to equilateral triangle?

At a workshop it was suggested that it likely remains an open problem whether or not there is a 3- or 2 -piece dissection of a square to an equilateral triangle. Can anyone confirm that this is ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
16 votes
4 answers
2k views

Inverse limit in metric geometry

Question. Did you ever see inverse limits to be used (or even seriousely considered) anywhere in metric geometry (but NOT in topology)? The definition of inverse limit for metric spaces is given ...
16 votes
2 answers
528 views

Lipschitz constant for map between triangles

Let $T_1$ and $T_2$ be any two euclidean triangles with labeled sides. The sides are labeled respectively $e_1^1,e_2^1,e_3^1$ and $e_1^2,e_2^2,e_3^2$. Call $A:T_1\rightarrow T_2$ the affine map which ...
user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

Status of Larry Guth's Sponge Problem

[Edited Jan 23, 2021] Let $D^n$ be the $n$-dimensional unit radius disk in euclidean $\mathbb{R}^n$. Larry Guth's Sponge Problem asks: Does there exist a constant $\epsilon=\epsilon_n$ such that every ...
JHM's user avatar
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16 votes
1 answer
667 views

Can a shape rolling inside itself reproduce that shape?

Q. Is the circle the only shape that, when rolling inside itself, has a point that draws out a scaled copy of itself? Let $C$ be a simple, closed, smooth curve in the plane. (Likely "smooth" can be ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
3k views

Metric on one-point compactification

Is there a standard construction of a metric on one-point compactification of a proper metric space? Comments: A metric space is proper if all bounded closed sets are compact. Standard means found in ...
Anton Petrunin's user avatar
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 ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
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? ...
alvarezpaiva's user avatar
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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 ...
Misha's user avatar
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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 ...
Bill Johnson's user avatar
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15 votes
3 answers
7k views

A metric for Grassmannians

I'm reading an article by Ricardo Mañé, "The Hausdorff dimension of horseshoes of diffeomorphisms of surfaces" (https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02585431). I'm having a technical problem. Sorry for ...
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15 votes
4 answers
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More than $n$ approximately orthonormal vectors in $R^n$

This question was asked at math.stackexchange, where it got several upvotes but no answers. It is impossible to find $n+1$ mutually orthonormal vectors in $R^n$. However, it is well established that ...
Nick Alger's user avatar
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4 answers
1k views

Geodesics in $\mathbb{R}^2 \times \mathbb{S}^1$ under "segment" metric

Represent the position of a unit-length, oriented segment $s$ in the plane by the location $a$ of its basepoint and an orientation $\theta$: $s = (a,\theta)$. So $s$ can be viewed as a point in $\...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
2k views

orientations for zero-dimensional manifolds

I am teaching a course on manifolds, and soon I will have to prove the Stokes' theorem which, of course, involves defining oriented manifolds. There are many ways to define an oriented manifold. My ...
Keivan Karai's user avatar
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15 votes
2 answers
2k views

Partitioning a Rectangle into Congruent Isosceles Triangles

Is it possible to partition any rectangle into congruent isosceles triangles?
John Iskra's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
1k views

Stronger version of the isoperimetric inequality

I have been searching for a version of the isoperimetric inequality which is something like: $P(\Omega) - 2\sqrt{\pi} Vol(\Omega)^{1/2} \geq \pi (r_{out}^2 - r_{in}^2)$ where $r_{out}$ and $r_{in}$ ...
Dorian's user avatar
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15 votes
3 answers
4k views

About MF Atiyah and R Bott's 1983 paper

I am a theoretical physics major student working on string theory. I want to understand the work of MF Atiyah and R Bott, "The Yang-Mills equations over riemann surfaces" . What kinds of mathematical ...
Craig Thone's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
1k views

Use of n-transitivity in finite group theory

Hello, apparently finite groups which are n-transitive with n>5 are only the permutation groups Sn or the alternating groups An+2, see e.g. page 226 this book by Isaacs http://books.google.fr/books?...
Thomas Sauvaget's user avatar
15 votes
4 answers
888 views

Orthogonal mud cracks and Maxwell's reciprocal figures

Is there a succinct mathematical/physical explanation of why mud cracks tend to meet orthogonally?                     Wikipedia image in this ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
15 votes
6 answers
2k views

Thales' semicircle theorem in higher dimensions

Thales semicircle theorem says that an angle inscribed in a semicircle is a right angle. Q1. Does a cone with apex on a hemisphere and encompassing the circular base have a solid angle ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
9k views

$n$-dimensional Voronoi diagram

I need to compute the Voronoi diagram of a set of points in $R^n$. I'm quite unschooled on the topic, could someone point me to the right references so that I can a) understand the theory behind it; b)...
Alessandro's user avatar
15 votes
4 answers
815 views

Unlinked interlocking planar polygons

Let $P$ and $Q$ be the boundary segments of two planar simple polygons. View these boundaries as rigid wires. Fix $Q$ in, say, the $xy$-plane, and imagine $P$ arranged in $\mathbb{R}^3$ so that $P$ ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

Concurrent normals conjecture

It is conjectured that if $K$ is a convex body in $n$-dimensional Euclidean space, then there exists a point in the interior of $K$ which is the point of concurrency of normals from $2n$ points on the ...
Clement's user avatar
  • 163
15 votes
1 answer
616 views

Acute triangles in "obtuse" polygons?

Let $P$ be a convex polygon. Suppose every interior angle of $P$ is obtuse. Is it always the case that there exist three vertices $p, q, r$ of $P$ such that $\triangle pqr$ is acute? I conjecture ...
Scattering State's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
1k views

Do two new special points in any triangle exist?

There are some special points in any triangle, as Fermat point, symmedian point, incenter, Morley center, et cetera. Let $P$ be a point on the plane, $PA$, $PB$, $PC$ meet $BC$, $CA$, $AB$ at $...
Đào Thanh Oai's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
1k views

covering a square with unit squares

Can some square of side length greater than $n$ be covered by $n^2+1$ unit squares? (The unit squares may be rotated. The large square and its interior must be covered.)
Martin Erickson's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
699 views

Continuity in terms of lines

Let $f: \mathbb R^n \rightarrow \mathbb R^n$, where $n> 1$ be a bijective map such that the image of every line is a line. Is $f$ continuous? I think it is, but the proof isn't immediately ...
trutheality's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
780 views

How to characterize the regularity of a polygon?

In my research, I've recently started to play with Voronoi tessellations. I currently have a Python code that creates the tessellation and I am trying to color the polygonal regions according to their ...
Caio Tomás's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
1k views

A cube is placed inside another cube

I known following problem with two square $$Area(1)+Area(3)=Area(2)+Area(4).$$ My question. Is this problem true for two cubes? We place a cube $XYZT.X'Y'Z'T$ into another cube $ABCD.A'B'C'D',$ ...
Tran Quang Hung's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
885 views

Lattice n-gons with ordered side lengths 1,2,3,...,n

Consider the octagon in the Cartesian plane with vertices at (0,0), (1,0), (1,2), (4,2), (4,6), (7,2), (7,8), and (0,8). Are there other (infinitely many) polygons, such as this, lying entirely in the ...
Bernardo Recamán Santos's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
17k views

The 4th vertex of a triangle?

I was immensely surprised and amused by the idea of the fourth side of a triangle that was introduced by B.F.Sherman in 1993. 'Sherman's Fourth Side of a Triangle' by Paul Yiu is available here. ...
A.Zakharov's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
949 views

Gromov's articles suitable for master students

I'm a master student and I have read "Monotonicity of the volume of intersection of balls" by Gromov and it was a great experience. When trying to fill the gaps, I often end up finding some ...
HeMan's user avatar
  • 319
15 votes
2 answers
707 views

What is known about Ulam's problem of metric spaces with isometric squares?

Background In the book Problems in Modern Mathematics, S. Ulam asks the following question: Suppose $A$ and $B$ are metric spaces, such that $A^2$ and $B^2$ equipped with the 2-metric $d((x_1, y_1),(...
Dejan Govc's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
1k views

Representation of vectors in $\mathbb{R}^2$ via differences of small vectors.

Is the following fact true? Let $v_1,\ldots, v_k \in \mathbb{R}^2$, $\|v_i\|\leq 1$, be vectors that add up to zero. Does there exist a permutation $\sigma\in S_k$ and vectors $w_1,\ldots, w_k \...
Fiktor's user avatar
  • 1,284
15 votes
5 answers
1k views

Diameter of universal cover

Let $M$ be Riemannian manifold and $\tilde M$ be its universal cover (with induced metric). What is the upper bound for $k=\mathop{diam}\tilde M/\mathop{diam} M$ in terms of $m=|\pi_1(M)|$ (or $\pi_1(...
15 votes
2 answers
1k views

When is a bi-Lipschitz homeomorphism smoothable?

Suppose I have a smooth Riemannian manifold $X$ with induced distance function $d$, and a bi-Lipschitz (with respect to $d$) homeomorphism $$\phi: X \to X.$$ Under what circumstances could $\phi$ be ...
Rohil Prasad's user avatar
  • 1,601
15 votes
2 answers
571 views

Spearing rolling hula hoops

Or: Stabbing rolling disks. Imagine there are $n$ unit-diameter disks rolling between $x=0$ and $x=d$, reflecting off either end. The disk centers start at a random location within $[\frac{1}{2}, d-\...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
556 views

Characterization of a sphere: every "sub-sphere" has two centers

Let me ask this question without too much formalization: Suppose a smooth surface $M$ has the property that for all spheres $S(p,R)$ (i.e. the set of all points which lie a distance $R\geq 0$ from $p ...
5th decile's user avatar
  • 1,461
15 votes
2 answers
758 views

(Non)existence of mirrors with more than two foci

Do there exist any mirrors $M$ in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^d$ for which there exist three different points $x_1$, $x_2$, $x_3 \in \mathbb{R}^d$ such that if any ray of light passes ...
5th decile's user avatar
  • 1,461
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

Random walk on a Penrose tiling

Pólya proved that a random walk on $\mathbb{Z}^2$ almost surely returns to the origin, or, equivalently, returns to the origin infinitely often. It was subsequently established that in $\mathbb{Z}^3$, ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
734 views

Embedding expanders in CAT(0) spaces

It is well-known that expanders are hard to embed into Hilbert (or $\ell^p$) spaces - any embedding of an expander with $n$ vertices has distortion $\Omega(\log n)$. Can anyone provide a reference (...
Michal Kotowski's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
1k views

Hausdorff dimension of Apollonian circle packing, 1.305686729, 1.305688 or yet something else?

I am interested in the Hausdorff dimension of the Apollonian circle packing. There seem to be two numerical calculations of the value: 1.305686729(10) from P.B ...
Moritz Firsching's user avatar
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 ...
Kepler's Triangle's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is every connected metrizable locally path connected space a length space?

Does every connected metrizable locally path connected topological space $X$ admit a compatible metric $d$ so that $(X,d)$ is a length space? (Edit to correct definition: Recall that a metric space $(...
Paul Fabel's user avatar
  • 1,968
15 votes
3 answers
1k views

Optimal inspection path on a sphere

Suppose you would like to "inspect" every point of a unit-radius sphere $S \subset \mathbb{R}^3$ by walking along a path $\gamma$ on $S$, but you can only see a distance $d$ from where you ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
737 views

Tiling survey that updates "Tilings and patterns"?

Can anyone suggest a survey (or surveys) that provides an update to Tilings and patterns by Grunbaum and Shepard? If there's a more recent book, that would be fantastic, but I don't see one. I am ...
Aaron Sterling's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
11k views

Maximum number of mutually equidistant points in an n-dimensional Euclidean space is (n+1). Proof? [closed]

How to prove that the maximum number of mutually equidistant points in an n-dimensional Euclidean space is (n+1)?
Nick's user avatar
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