SQUARE AND RHOMBUS CENTRAL CONFIGURATIONS

In this paper, we consider the flat central configurations of bodies using the characteristic set method. We completely solve two special cases of four planets, namely,the square and the rhombus. For the square case, we obtain that a square is a central configuration only in the case where the masses are equal and there exactly are two different square central configurations determined by the mass and the angular velocity; for the rhombus case, we obtain that if a rhombus is a central configuration, then the masses of the diagonal vertices must be equal. Furthermore, there are two or three or four different rhombus central configurations determined by the masses and the angular velocity.     

Some Enumeration Problems on Central Configurations at the Bifurcation Points

In “Counting central configurations at the bifurcation points,” we proposed an algorithm to rigorously count central configurations in some cases that involve one parameter. Here, we improve our algorithm to consider three harder cases: the planar \((3+1)\)-body problem with two equal masses; the planar 4-body problem with two pairs of equal masses which have an axis of symmetry containing one pair of them; the spatial 5-body problem with three equal masses at the vertices of an equilateral triangle and two equal masses on the line passing through the center of the triangle and being perpendicular to the plane containing it.While all three problems have been studied in two parameter cases, numerical observations suggest new results at some points on the bifurcation curves. Applying the improved version of our algorithm, we count at those bifurcation points. As a result, for the \((3+1)\)-body problem, we identify three points on the bifurcation curve where there are 8 central configurations, which adds to the known results of \(8,9,10\) ones. For our 4-body case, at the bifurcation points, there are 3 concave central configurations, which adds to the known results of \(2,4\) ones. For our 5-body case, at the bifurcation point, there is 1 concave central configuration, which adds to the known results of \(0,2\) ones.     

Isohedra with nonconvex faces

An isohedron is a 3-dimensional polyhedron all faces of which are equivalent under symmetries of the polyhedron. Many well known polyhedra are isohedra; among them are the Platonic solids, the polars of Archimedean polyhedra, and a variety of polyhedra important in crystallography. Less well known are isohedra with nonconvex faces. We establish that such polyhedra must be starshaped and hence of genus 0, that their faces must be star-shaped pentagons with one concave vertex, and that they are combinatorially equivalent to either the pentagonal dodecahedron, or to the polar of the snub cube or snub dodecahedron.Supported in part by grants from the USA National Science Foundation.     

Four icosahedra can meet at a point

What is the maximal number of nonoverlapping copies of a regular polyhedron ∏ that can share a common vertex? The answer is shown to be 4 if ∏ is an icosahedron or dodecahedron, and is conjectured to be 7 for an octahedron and 20 for a tetrahedron. (For a cube the answer is trivially 8.)     

A combinatorial theory of Grünbaum's new regular polyhedra,Part II: Complete enumeration

The new regular polyhedra as defined by Branko Grünbaum in 1977 (cf. [5]) are completely enumerated. By means of a theorem of Bieberbach, concerning the existence of invariant affine subspaces for discrete affine isometry groups (cf. [3], [2] or [1]) the standard crystallographic restrictions are established for the isometry groups of the non finite (Grünbaum-)polyhedra. Then, using an appropriate classification scheme which—compared with the similar, geometrically motivated scheme, used originally by Grünbaum—is suggested rather by the group theoretical investigations in [4], it turns out that the list of examples given in [5] is essentially complete except for one additional polyhedron.So altogether—up to similarity—there are two classes of planar polyhedra, each consisting of 3 individuals and each class consisting of the Petrie duals of the other class, and there are ten classes of non planar polyhedra: two mutually Petrie dual classes of finite polyhedra, each consisting of 9 individuals, two mutually Petrie dual classes of infinite polyhedra which are contained between two parallel planes with each of those two classes consisting of three one-parameter families of polyhedra, two further mutually Petrie dual classes each of which consists of three one parameter families of polyhedra whose convex span is the whole 3-space, two further mutually Petrie dual classes consisting of three individuals each of which spanE ³ and two further classes which are closed with respect to Petrie duality, each containing 3 individuals, all spanningE ³, two of which are Petrie dual to each other, the remaining one being Petrie dual to itself.In addition, a new classification scheme for regular polygons inE ⁿ is worked out in §9.     

Duality of polyhedra

Everyone is familiar with the concept that the cube and octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron are dual pairs, with the tetrahedron being self-dual. On the face of it, the concept seems straightforward; however, in all but the most symmetrical cases it is far from clear. By using the computer and three-dimensional graphics programs, it is possible to clarify the concept and explore new ideas. Moreover, it is an ideal topic for teaching clear logical thinking.     

On the central configurations of the planar restricted four-body problem

This article is devoted to answering several questions about the central configurations of the planar (3+1)-body problem. Firstly, we study bifurcations of central configurations, proving the uniqueness of convex central configurations up to symmetry. Secondly, we settle the finiteness problem in the case of two nonzero equal masses. Lastly, we provide all the possibilities for the number of symmetrical central configurations, and discuss their bifurcations and spectral stability. Our proofs are based on applications of rational parametrizations and computer algebra.     

Constructing the Cubus simus and the Dodecaedron simum via paper folding

The archimedean solids Cubus simus (snub cube) and Dodecaedron simum (snub dodecahedron) cannot be constructed by ruler and compass. We explain that for general reasons their vertices can be constructed via paper folding on the faces of a cube, respectively dodecahedron, and we present explicit folding constructions. The construction of the Cubus simus is particularly elegant. We also review and prove the construction rules of the other Archimedean solids.     

Classification of four-body central configurations with three equal masses

It is known that a central configuration of the planar four body problem consisting of three particles of equal mass possesses a symmetry if the configuration is convex or is concave with the unequal mass in the interior. We use analytic methods to show that besides the family of equilateral triangle configurations, there are exactly one family of concave and one family of convex central configurations, which completely classifies such central configurations.     

Symmetry of the restricted 4 + 1 body problem with equal masses

We consider the problem of symmetry of the central configurations in the restricted 4 + 1 body problem when the four positive masses are equal and disposed in symmetric configurations, namely, on a line, at the vertices of a square, at the vertices of a equilateral triangle with a mass at the barycenter, and finally, at the vertices of a regular tetrahedron [1–3]. In these situations, we show that in order to form a non collinear central configuration of the restricted 4 + 1 body problem, the null mass must be on an axis of symmetry. In our approach, we will use as the main tool the quadratic forms introduced by A. Albouy and A. Chenciner [4]. Our arguments are general enough, so that we can consider the generalized Newtonian potential and even the logarithmic case. To get our results, we identify some properties of the Newtonian potential (in fact, of the function ϕ(s) = −s ^k, with k < 0) which are crucial in the proof of the symmetry.     

Vertex-faithful regular polyhedra

We study the abstract regular polyhedra with automorphism groups that act faithfully on their vertices, and show that each non-flat abstract regular polyhedron covers a “vertex-faithful” polyhedron with the same number of vertices. We then use this result and earlier work on flat polyhedra to study abstract regular polyhedra based on the size of their vertex set. In particular, we classify all regular polyhedra where the number of vertices is prime or twice a prime. We also construct the smallest regular polyhedra with a prime squared number of vertices.     

Central configurations of nested regular tetrahedrons

In this paper, we study the necessary and sufficient conditions about nested regular tetrahedrons, and prove that some nests do not form central configurations, some can. The necessary and sufficient conditions of central configurations are the masses of the inner layer and outer layer must equal, respectively, and the ratios of masses and distances of inner and outer layer must satisfy an equation.     

正四面体套中心构型的存在唯一性

Two cases of the nested configurations in R^3 consisting of two regular quadrilaterals are discussed. One case of them do not form central configuration, the other case can be central configuration. In the second case the existence and uniqueness of the central configuration are studied. If the configuration is a central configuration, then all masses of outside layer are equivalent, similar to the masses of inside layer. At the same time the following relation between r(the ratio of the sizes) and mass ratio b = m/m must be satisfied b=24(3的立方根)（3r^2 2r 3）^-3/2-8（1-r）|1-r|^-3-3(6r的立方根)/24(3的立方根)（3 r）（3r^2 2r 3）^-3/2-8r（1-r）|1-r|^-3-3(6r^-2的立方根)in which the masses at outside layer are not less than the masses at inside layer, and the solution of this kind of central configuration is unique for the given ratio (b) of masses.     

Convex central configurations for the n-body problem

We give a simple proof of a classical result of MacMillan and Bartky (Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 34 (1932) 838) which states that, for any four positive masses and any assigned order, there is a convex planar central configuration. Moreover, we show that the central configurations we find correspond to local minima of the potential function with fixed moment of inertia. This allows us to show that there are at least six local minimum central configurations for the planar four-body problem. We also show that for any assigned order of five masses, there is at least one convex spatial central configuration of local minimum type. Our method also applies to some other cases.     

The central configurations of four masses x, −x, y, −y

The configuration of a homothetic motion in the N-body problem is called a central configuration. In this paper, we prove that there are exactly three planar non-collinear central configurations for masses x, −x, y, −y with x≠y (a parallelogram and two trapezoids) and two planar non-collinear central configurations for masses x, −x, x, −x (two diamonds). Except the case studied here, the only known case where the four-body central configurations with non-vanishing masses can be listed is the case with equal masses (A. Albouy, 1995-1996), which requires the use of a symbolic computation program. Thanks to a lemma used in the proof of our result, we also show that a co-circular four-body central configuration has non-vanishing total mass or vanishing multiplier.     

On a Class of Central Configurations in the Planar $${\varvec{}}$$-Body Problem

The existence of a central configuration of 2n bodies located on two concentric regular n-gons with the polygons which are homotetic or similar with an angle equal to \(\frac{\pi }{n}\) and the masses on the same polygon, are equal, has proved by Elmabsout (C R Acad Sci 312(5):467–472, 1991). Moreover, the existence of a planar central configuration which consists of 3n bodies, also situated on two regular polygons, the interior n-gon with equal masses and the exterior 2n-gon with masses on the 2n-gon alternating, has shown by author. Following Smale (Invent Math 11:45-64, 1970), we reduce this problem to one, concerning the critical points of some effective-type potential. Using computer assisted methods of proof we show the existence of ten classes of such critical points which corresponds to ten classes of central configurations in the planar six-body problem.     

Sphere Packings, II

An earlier paper describes a program to prove the Kepler conjecture on sphere packings. This paper carries out the second step of that program. A sphere packing leads to a decomposition of R ³ into polyhedra. The polyhedra are divided into two classes. The first class of polyhedra, called quasi-regular tetrahedra, have density at most that of a regular tetrahedron. The polyhedra in the remaining class have density at most that of a regular octahedron (about 0.7209). Received April 24, 1995, and in revised form April 11, 1996.     

On the classification of pyramidal central configurations

We present some results associated with the existence of central configurations (c.c.'s) in the classical gravitational -body problem of Newton. We call a central configuration of five bodies, four of which are coplanar, a central configuration (p.c.c). It can be shown that there are only three types of p.c.c.'s, admitting one or more planes of symmetry, viz. (i) the case where the planar bodies lie at the vertices of a regular trapezoid, (ii) the case where the bodies lie at the vertices of a kite-shaped quadrilateral, and (iii) the case where the bodies lie at the vertices of a rectangle. In this paper we classify all p.c.c.'s with a rectangular base and, in fact, prove that there is only one such c.c., namely, the square-based pyramid with equal masses at the corners of the square. The classification of all p.c.c.'s satisfying either (i) or (ii) will be discussed in subsequent papers.

     

Hamiltonicity and combinatorial polyhedra

We say that a polyhedron with 0–1 valued vertices is combinatorial if the midpoint of the line joining any pair of nonadjacent vertices is the midpoint of the line joining another pair of vertices. We show that the class of combinatorial polyhedra includes such well-known classes of polyhedra as matching polyhedra, matroid basis polyhedra, node packing or stable set polyhedra and permutation polyhedra. We show the graph of a combinatorial polyhedron is always either a hypercube (i.e., isomorphic to the convex hull of a k-dimension unit cube) or else is hamilton connected (every pair of nodes is the set of terminal nodes of a hamilton path). This implies several earlier results concerning special cases of combinatorial polyhedra.