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14 votes
3 answers
2k views

Optimal wireframe sphere

Suppose you have a length $L$ of metal pipe at your disposal, and you would like to build a wireframe unit-radius sphere, by bending, cutting, and welding the pipe into a connected structure $F$. Your ...
3 votes
1 answer
381 views

Source on counting lattice points on a line

Looking for a book or article on the result linked below. The result tells us that the number of lattice points on a line between points $(a,b)$ and $(c,d)$ is given by $\gcd(a-c,b-d)+1$. https://math....
5 votes
1 answer
190 views

Finding a superbase in a lattice of Voronoi first kind

An $n$-dimensional lattice in $\mathbb R^n$ is said to be of Voronoi’s first kind if it there exists $n+1$ vectors $b_1,\cdots b_{n+1}$ (called the superbase) such that $\{b_1,\ldots,b_n \}$ is a ...
7 votes
4 answers
377 views

Discretizing a line segment with pixels which satisfies the Pythagorean theorem

There are plenty of line drawing algorithms to discretize line segments using pixels. The Bresenham's algorithm gives a line where the number of pixels in the segment is the same as its width (in x-...
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Proofs of circle packing theorem

Circle packing theorem is a famous result stating that for every connected simple planar graph $G$ there is a circle packing in the plane whose intersection graph is $G$ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
2 votes
0 answers
47 views

Source request: Optimal bounds on signings of points from a convex body

I recently came across an old survey of problems in discrete geometry: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c350/f4d4a9466fa6708d99ec1187c63d89bed20f.pdf Problem 2.1 from the list caught my eye. It states ...
4 votes
0 answers
60 views

How are these "Voronoi-dual" configurations called?

If $\mathscr P\subset \mathbb R^d$ is a discrete point configuration, take the Voronoi diagram of $\mathscr P$ and call $\mathscr P'$ the vertices of that diagram. I would like to know if ...
3 votes
1 answer
111 views

Reference for "every 5-dimensional polytope has a 3-gonal or 4-gonal face"

It seems to be folklore that every 5-dimensional convex polytope has a 3-gonal or 4-gonal face of dimension two. I was not able to track down a source for that claim. Alternatively, I would be ...
2 votes
1 answer
112 views

Reference request: placing a set with respect to the integer grid

For $x=(x_1,...,x_n)\in \mathbb{R}^n$, let $Q_x=(x_1,x_1+1)\times ...\times (x_n,x_n+1)$ - the open cube having $x$ in its "bottom left" corner. It seems, I can prove (see a draft here) the following ...
14 votes
2 answers
878 views

Sets of evenly distributed points in the Euclidean plane

Is there a set $P \subset \mathbb{R}^2$ of points in the Euclidean plane whose intersection with every convex subset of $\mathbb{R}^2$ of area $1$ is nonempty but finite? If the answer is yes, can $P$...
6 votes
1 answer
295 views

A conjecture (or theorem?) on unit vectors in a Euclidean space

I have heard (if I am not mistaken) that there exists the following conjecture (or theorem?). Let $u_1,\dots,u_n$ be unit vectors in an $n$-dimensional Euclidean vector space. Then there exists ...
18 votes
2 answers
840 views

Reference to a conjecture on unit vectors in Euclidean space

I have heard that there exists the following conjecture (if I am not mistaken). Let $u_1,\dots,u_n$ be unit vectors in an $n$-dimensional Euclidean vector space. Then there exists another unit vector ...
4 votes
0 answers
230 views

Is this case of Barnette's Conjecture known?

Context: Barnette's Conjecture is that every bipartite cubic polyhedral graph is Hamiltonian. I have been interested by this problem for a long time, and I recently came up with a result. From my ...
1 vote
1 answer
75 views

Given a vertex $u$ (of bounded degree $k$) and another vertex $v$ in a planar graph, what is the smallest number of "curves"?

Given a vertex $u$ (of bounded degree $k$) and another vertex $v$ in a planar graph $G$, what is the smallest number of "curves" in the plane drawn from $u$ to $v$ such that no $u$--$v$ path in $G$ ...
9 votes
0 answers
100 views

A characterization of root systems via their intersections with halfspaces

In a recent preprint I obtained a nice characterization of root systems as a side product. I can imagine that this was known before, and that a source for this statement can shorten the proof of my ...
4 votes
2 answers
173 views

4-polytopes with only one kind of regular facet

Is there a neat way to show (or a reference that already proves) that the 4-cube is the only convex 4-polytope in which all facets are regular 3-cubes? the 24-cell is the only convex 4-polytope in ...
7 votes
3 answers
551 views

Minkowski's theorem for non-0-symmetric sets

Let $\Lambda \subseteq \mathbb{R}^n$ be a full-rank lattice, i.e. $\Lambda = A \mathbb{Z}^n$ for some $A \in \mathrm{GL}_n (\mathbb{R})$, and let $C \subseteq \mathbb{R}^n$ be a $0$-symmetric convex ...
9 votes
1 answer
460 views

Connections between linear representations and permutation representations

A finite group $\Gamma$ might be represented by a linear transformation $$\rho : \Gamma\to\mathrm{GL}(\Bbb R^d),$$ or by permutations $$\phi :\Gamma\to\mathrm{Sym}(n).$$ Of course, latter ones can ...
15 votes
0 answers
477 views

Expanding disks lead to what packing of the plane?

Suppose one sprinkles points uniformly at random on the infinite Euclidean plane, with some density $\rho$ per unit area. View the points as disks of radius zero. Now the radii $r$ of all disks grows ...
2 votes
0 answers
87 views

A theory of (or reference for) symmetric point arrangements

I wonder where I can find something written on symmetric point arrangements (see definition below). I am interested in general references, preferably books that introduce (or papers that use) some ...
1 vote
1 answer
393 views

Hyperbolic embedding of a directed acyclic graph defined over strings

For integer $n$ and alphabet $\Sigma$ we construct a DAG (directed acyclic graph) $G=(V,E)$ over strings $s\in\Sigma^\star$ as follows: $$V = \{s\in\Sigma^\star\colon |s|\le n\}$$ $$E = \{(s_1,s_2)\...
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 ...
3 votes
2 answers
348 views

Request for some references exploring the connections of Riemann surfaces with medical imaging

I'd like to know some references for a beginner who has basic background in Riemann surfaces and differential geometry, and would like to start learning/working on more applied areas, medical imaging/...
4 votes
2 answers
425 views

Algorithm for Reconstructing Point Sites from a Voronoi Diagram

how can one construct a finite set of points in the euclidean plane from its Voronoi Diagram and, what is the complexity of the problem?
1 vote
0 answers
69 views

Can sufficiently symmetric polytopes be uniquely reconstructed from their 1-skeleton?

General convex polytopes can not be uniquely reconstructed from their 1-skeleton1, as explained here. Not even the dimension is known from the skeleton, as e.g. the complete graph $K_n,n\ge 5$ is the ...
4 votes
2 answers
349 views

How many dihedral angles need to be specified to uniquely specify a triangulated polyhedron?

Suppose you are given a simplicial complex $K$ homeomorphic to the sphere and for each each edge of the complex a label specifying a length of that edge (this gives us a polyhedral metric on $K$). In ...
24 votes
0 answers
760 views

How much of the plane is 4-colorable?

In 1981, Falconer proved that the measurable chromatic number of the plane is at least 5. That is, there are no measurable sets $A_1,A_2,A_3,A_4\subseteq\mathbb{R}^2$, each avoiding unit distances, ...
1 vote
0 answers
278 views

Sphere packings with antipodal (unequal) spheres

Let $\|\cdot\|_2$ denote the Euclidean norm, let $\langle \cdot, \cdot\rangle$ denote the standard dot product, and let $\mathcal{S}^{d-1} = \{\mathbf{x} \in \mathbb{R}^d: \|\mathbf{x}\|_2 = 1\}$ ...
17 votes
1 answer
1k views

The optimal constant in Vitali covering lemma

Let me restate Vitali covering lemma. Let $\{B_i\}_{i\in F}$ be a finite collection of balls in the $\mathbb{R}^n$. Then there is $S\subset F$ such that the balls $\{B_i\}_{i\in S}$ are disjoint and ...
11 votes
1 answer
607 views

Largest pair of homometric Golomb rulers?

A Golomb ruler is a set of $n$ integers that determines $\binom{n}{2}$ distinct differences. Two sets are homometric if they determine the same (multiset) of differences. For example, $$\{0,1,4,10,12,...
13 votes
1 answer
3k views

What nets fold to polyhedra?

There is a classic (and open) problem asking whether every polyhedron can be unfolded to give a non-overlapping net. The converse problem has been studied asking which polygons can be folded in some ...
13 votes
3 answers
1k views

Random Reidemeister moves to unknot

Suppose one has a link diagram of the unknot, and applies random Reidemeister moves until the unknot is reached. Surely it requires an exponential number of moves, exponential in, say, the crossing ...
17 votes
5 answers
883 views

Rigidity of convex polyhedrons in $\mathbb R^3$ with faces removed

Take a convex polyhedron $P$ in $\mathbb R^3$ and remove all the faces, i.e. leave only the edges. Call this graph $E$. Let us now try to continuously deform $E$ in $\mathbb R^3$ so that all the edges ...
11 votes
1 answer
406 views

Thinnest 2-fold coverings of the plane by congruent convex shapes

It is an unsolved problem to determine the "thinnest" $2$-fold covering of the plane by disks. The $2$-fold coverage problem by disks is to find the minimum number of congruent (unit-radius) disks ...
21 votes
2 answers
1k views

On convergence of convex bodies

Let $K\subset \mathbb{R}^n$ be a compact convex set of full dimension. Assume that $0\in \partial K$. Question 1. Is it true that there exists $\varepsilon_0>0$ such that for any $0<\...
3 votes
1 answer
176 views

Toric Desingularization Algorithms

There are certainly many algorithms to desingularize toric varieties (e.g https://arxiv.org/pdf/math/0411340.pdf). I would imagine in analogy with desingularizing surfaces these all involve blowing up ...
45 votes
1 answer
2k views

Pach's "Animals": What if the genus is positive?

Janos Pach asked a deep question 23 years ago (1988) that remains unsolved today: Can every animal—a topological ball in $\mathbb{R^3}$ composed of unit cubes glued face-to-face—be ...
7 votes
3 answers
805 views

Wrapping a convex polyhedron with string

This is a meta-question, rather than a specific mathematical question. I am seeking a mathematical definition that captures the following physical idea. Suppose you have a convex polyhedron $P \...
16 votes
6 answers
2k views

Optimal pebble-packing shape

Suppose you throw many ($n$) congruent convex bodies (in $\mathbb{R}^3$) of unit volume (or of unit area in $\mathbb{R}^2$) into a large container, and shake it until little else changes. Q. ...
14 votes
1 answer
819 views

The geometry of crinkled aluminum foil

I wonder if the geometry of crinkled aluminum foil has been studied?            The above is a photo of foil I flattened to reuse. It might be ...
17 votes
1 answer
458 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 ...
14 votes
1 answer
781 views

Perimeters of random-walk polygons

I have a random walk on $\mathbb{Z}^2$ that takes a step with equal probability in the three directions that avoid retracing the previous step. The walk proceeds until it returns to a lattice point ...
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 ...
4 votes
0 answers
153 views

Perimeters of nested convex spherical polygons

I seek a reference—not a proof—that if $P_1$ and $P_2$ are two convex polygons on a sphere composed of geodesic segments, contained in a hemisphere, and $P_1 \subseteq P_2$, then the ...
3 votes
1 answer
394 views

Min Bend Orthogonal Knots

I am seeking literature on 3D orthogonal drawings of knots, especially minimum bend drawings. An orthogonal drawing employs segments parallel to the axes of a Cartesian coordinate system. A bend is a ...
1 vote
0 answers
371 views

Simple development of simple curve on a cone

Let $\Lambda$ be a cone with apex $a$ and apex angle $\alpha$. Draw a simple (non-self-intersecting) curve $C=(x,y)$ on $\Lambda$, and then develop it to a curve $\overline{C}$ on a plane by rolling $...
4 votes
1 answer
323 views

What properties does generalized Delaunay triangulation have?

Suppose that instead of the usual circle, we pick some other convex set D and make the Delaunay triangulation of a finite planar point set with respect to this set, i.e. connect two points if there is ...
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 ...
10 votes
2 answers
280 views

Monochromatic point sets in two-colored plane

Which are the configrations $P\subset \mathbb{R}^2$ of points, such that the following property holds: Property M (for Monochromatic): Every two-coloring of $\mathbb{R}^2$ contains a monochromatic ...
6 votes
2 answers
364 views

Triangles whose vertices and center have all the same color

A plane is colored with two colors. It's an easy exercise to prove that it's always possible to find an equilateral triangle whose vertices have all the same color. Does anyone know any proof or ...