Bodies of constant width in arbitrary dimension

We give a number of characterizations of bodies of constant width in arbitrary dimension. As an application, we describe a way to construct a body of constant width in dimension n, one of its (n – 1)‐dimensional projection being given. We give a number of examples, like a four‐dimensional body of constant width whose 3D‐projection is the classical Meissner's body. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Diameter graphs of polygons and the proof of a conjecture of Graham

We show that for an n-gon with unit diameter to have maximum area, its diameter graph must contain a cycle, and we derive an isodiametric theorem for such n-gons in terms of the length of the cycle. We then apply this theorem to prove Graham's 1975 conjecture that the diameter graph of a maximal 2m-gon (m?3) must be a cycle of length 2m−1 with one additional edge attached to it.     

平面常宽凸集的Firey-Sallee定理

常宽凸集是一类广泛应用在机械设计、医学等领域的特殊几何图形.本文探讨平面中的常宽凸集,简化证明著名的Firey-Sallee定理,即宽度相等的正Reuleaux多边形中Reuleaux三角形的面积最小.     

Generators of the product of two Schoenflies motion groups

Schoenflies motion is often termed X-motion for conciseness. A set of X-motions with a given direction of its axes of rotations has the algebraic properties of a Lie group for the composition product of rigid-body motions or displacements. The product of two X-subgroups, which is the mathematical model of a serial concatenation of two kinematic chains generating two distinct X-motions, characterizes a noteworthy type of 5-dimensional (5D) displacement set called double Schoenflies motion or X–X motion for brevity. This X–X motion set is a 5D submanifold of the displacement 6D Lie group. Such a motion type includes any spatial translation (3T) and any two sequential rotations (2R) provided that the axes of rotation are parallel to two fixed independent vectors. This motion set also contains the rotations that are products of the foregoing two rotations. In the paper, some preliminary fundamentals on the 4D X-motion are recalled; the 5D set of X–X motions is emphasized. Then implementing serial arrays of one-dof Reuleaux pairs and hinged parallelograms, we enumerate all serial mechanical generators of X–X motion, which have no redundant internal mobility. Based on the group-theoretic concepts, one can differentiate two families of irreducible representations of an X–X motion. One family is realized by twenty-one open chains including the doubly planar motion generators as special cases. The other is generally classified into eight major categories in which one hundred and six distinct open chains generating X–X motion are revealed and nineteen more ones having at least one parallelogram are derived from them. Meanwhile, these kinematic chains are graphically displayed for a possible use in the structural synthesis of parallel manipulators.     

On Borsuk's Problem in ℝ3

Mathematical Notes -     

Minimum Area of a Set of Constant Width in the Hyperbolic Plane

We prove that, in the hyperbolic plane, the Reuleaux triangle has smaller area than any other set of the same constant width.     

一类常宽"等腰梯形"

本文由对角线等于底边长的等腰梯形构造了一类新的常宽“等腰梯形”, 而著名的常宽凸集圆盘与Reuleaux 三角形为退化的特例. 我们还证明了关于这类常宽“等腰梯形” 面积的Blaschke-Lebesgue定理.     

平面常宽凸体的构造

该文首先定义了一类平面曲线"杠杆轮"与它的臂函数,并利用臂函数给出杠杆轮的参数表示.其次,证明了杠杆轮是平面常宽曲线的一种等价刻画.最后,表明Reuleaux多边形是臂函数为分段常函数的一类杠杆轮,进而构造出偶数边的Reuleaux多边形.     

Isoperimetric Polygons of Maximum Width

The value is shown to be an upper bound on the width of any n-sided polygon with unit perimeter. This bound is reached when n is not a power of 2, and the corresponding optimal solutions are the regular polygons when n is odd and clipped regular Reuleaux polygons when n is even but not a power of 2. Using a global optimization algorithm, we show that the optimal width for the quadrilateral is with a precision of 10⁻⁴. We propose two mathematical programs to determine the maximum width when n=2 ^s with s≥3 and provide approximate, but near-optimal, solutions obtained by various heuristics and local optimization for n=8, 16, and 32. Work of the first author was supported by NSERC grant 239436-01, AFOSR FA9550-07-1-0302, and ExxonMobil. Work of the second author was supported by NSERC grant 239436-01.