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1 answer
173 views

Which simplicial complexes are completely determined by the 1-skeleton of their dual polyhedral complexes?

Consider the following line of reasoning that shows certain simplicial complexes (of arbitrary dimension) are completely determined by corresponding graphs: The facet complex of any simplicial ...
hasManyStupidQuestions's user avatar
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 ...
John's user avatar
  • 185
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 ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
26 votes
7 answers
3k views

What's that shape? Inferring a 3D shape from random shadows

Let $P$ be a bounded, simply connected region of $\mathbb{R}^3$. $P$ could be a polyhedron, or a smooth shape, or an arbitrary shape; I'll assume below that $P$ is a (non-degenerate, perhaps non-...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
426 views

Complexity of the union of randomly rotated unit cubes

It is a remarkable fact that the union of congrent cubes has only at most near-quadratic combinatorial complexity, $O^*(n^2)$ for $n$ cubes, known to be almost tight. This contrasts with the union of ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
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 \...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
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 ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
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 ...
Edmund Harriss's user avatar
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 ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
1k views

Which (semi)regular polyhedra are combinations of two others?

The convex combination of convex polytopes is a convex polytope. An example in $\mathbb{R}^2$ is that a regular octagon can be obtained as $\frac{1}{2} S + \frac{1}{2} S'$, where $S$ is a square and $...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar