The multidimensional cube recurrence

We introduce a recurrence which we term the multidimensional cube recurrence, generalizing the octahedron recurrence studied by Propp, Fomin and Zelevinsky, Speyer, and Fock and Goncharov and the three-dimensional cube recurrence studied by Fomin and Zelevinsky, and Carroll and Speyer. The states of this recurrence are indexed by tilings of a polygon with rhombi, and the variables in the recurrence are indexed by vertices of these tilings. We travel from one state of the recurrence to another by performing elementary flips. We show that the values of the recurrence are independent of the order in which we perform the flips; this proof involves nontrivial combinatorial results about rhombus tilings which may be of independent interest. We then show that the multidimensional cube recurrence exhibits the Laurent phenomenon - any variable is given by a Laurent polynomial in the other variables. We recognize a special case of the multidimensional cube recurrence as giving explicit equations for the isotropic Grassmannians IG(n−1,2n). Finally, we describe a tropical version of the multidimensional cube recurrence and show that, like the tropical octahedron recurrence, it propagates certain linear inequalities.     

Tiling a Polygon with Two Kinds of Rectangles

We fix two rectangles with integer dimensions. We give a quadratic time algorithm which, given a polygon F as input, produces a tiling of F with translated copies of our rectangles (or indicates that there is no tiling). Moreover, we prove that any pair of tilings can be linked by a sequence of local transformations of tilings, called flips. This study is based on the use of Conway’s tiling groups and extends the results of Kenyon and Kenyon (limited to the case when each rectangle has a side of length 1).     

Spaces of domino tilings

We consider the set of all tilings by dominoes (2×1 rectangles) of a surface, possibly with boundary, consisting of unit squares. Convert this set into a graph by joining two tilings by an edge if they differ by aflip, i.e., a 90° rotation of a pair of side-by-side dominoes. We give a criterion to decide if two tilings are in the same connected component, a simple formula for distances, and a method to construct geodesics in this graph. For simply connected surfaces, the graph is connected. By naturally adjoining to this graph higher-dimensional cells, we obtain a CW-complex whose connected components are homotopically equivalent to points or circles. As a consequence, for any region different from a torus or Klein bottle, all geodesics with common endpoints are equivalent in the following sense. Build a graph whose vertices are these geodesics, adjacent if they differ only by the order of two flips on disjoint squares: this graph is connected. The first two authors received support from SCT and CNPq, Brazil. The other two were supported by a grant for undergraduates by CNPq.     

An optimal algorithm to generate tilings

We produce an algorithm that is optimal with respect to both space and execution time to generate all the lozenge (or domino) tilings of a hole-free, general-shape domain given as input.We first recall some useful results, namely the distributive lattice structure of the space of tilings and Thurston's algorithm for constructing a particular tiling. We then describe our algorithm and study its complexity.     

On the enumeration of Archimedean polyhedra in the Lobachevsky space

We describe the class of Archimedean polyhedra in the three-dimensional Lobachevsky space, which technically reduces to studying Archimedean tilings of the Lobachevsky plane. We analyze the possibility of obtaining Archimedean tilings by methods that are usually applied on the sphere and in the Euclidean plane. It is pointed out that such tilings can be constructed by using certain types of Fedorov groups in the Lobachevsky plane. We propose a general approach to the problem of classifying Archimedean tilings of the Lobachevsky plane.     

Rhombus Tilings: Decomposition and Space Structure

We study the spaces of rhombus tilings, i.e. the graphs whose vertices are tilings of a fixed zonotope. Two tilings are linked if one can pass from one to the other by a local transformation, called a flip. We first use a decomposition method to encode rhombus tilings and give a useful characterization for a sequence of bits to encode a tiling. We use the previous coding to get a canonical representation of tilings, and two order structures on the space of tilings. In codimension 2 we prove that the two order structures are equal. In larger codimensions we study the lexicographic case, and get an order regularity result.     

Strukturen geometrischer Ornamente

We consider double-periodic tilings of the whole plane from the view of graph theory, not with respect to symmetry groups. We suppose that the graph is planar and connected and that the fundamental domain contains a finite number of vertices and edges. We assign to every tiling a tableau. There exists a fundamental formula connecting the number of all numbers of the tableau with the sum of the reciprocals of all these numbers and with the number p of lines in the tableau; the formula is proved even if multiple edges or loops occur. By this way we get a graph-theoretic classification of the tilings. We introduce families F of tilings and their ranks. The family F={k₁,k₂...,k_s} (with k₁>k₂>...>k_s>O) is the set of all tilings, the tableau of which contains all the numbers k_j and no others. The smallest number p of lines (which occur for the tilings of the family F) is the rank of F and has special geometric interest. Some open questions are mentioned at the end.

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Herrn Helmut Karzel zum 60. Geburtstag gewidmet     

An Algebraic Invariant for Substitution Tiling Systems

We consider tilings of Euclidean spaces by polygons or polyhedra, in particular, tilings made by a substitution process, such as the Penrose tilings of the plane. We define an isomorphism invariant related to a subgroup of rotations and compute it for various examples. We also extend our analysis to more general dynamical systems.     

Penrose tilings as coverings of congruent decagons

The open problem of tiling theory whether there is a single aperiodic two-dimensional prototile with corresponding matching rules, is answered for coverings instead of tilings. We introduce admissible overlaps for the regular decagon determining only nonperiodic coverings of the Euclidean plane which are equivalent to tilings by Robinson triangles. Our work is motivated by structural properties of quasicrystals.     

A primer of substitution tilings of the Euclidean plane

This paper is intended to provide an introduction to the theory of substitution tilings. For our purposes, tiling substitution rules are divided into two broad classes: geometric and combinatorial. Geometric substitution tilings include self-similar tilings such as the well-known Penrose tilings; for this class there is a substantial body of research in the literature. Combinatorial substitutions are just beginning to be examined, and some of what we present here is new. We give numerous examples, mention selected major results, discuss connections between the two classes of substitutions, include current research perspectives and questions, and provide an extensive bibliography. Although the author attempts to represent the field as a whole, the paper is not an exhaustive survey, and she apologizes for any important omissions.     

Detecting Combinatorial Hierarchy in Tilings Using Derived Voronoi Tessellations

Abstract. Tilings of R ² can display hierarchy similar to that seen in the limit sequences of substitutions. Self-similarity for tilings has been used as the standard generalization, but this viewpoint is limited because such tilings are analogous to limit points of constant-length substitutions. To generalize limit points of non-constant-length substitutions, we define hierarchy for infinite, labelled graphs, then extend this definition to tilings via their dual graphs. Examples of combinatorially substitutive tilings that are not self-similar are given. We then find a sufficient condition for detecting combinatorial hierarchy that is motivated by the characterization by Durand of substitutive sequences. That characterization relies upon the construction of the ``derived sequence'—a recoding in terms of reappearances of an initial block. Following this, we define the ``derived Vorono? tiling'—a retiling in terms of reappearances of an initial patch of tiles. Using derived Vorono? tilings, we obtain a sufficient condition for a tiling to be combinatorially substitutive.     

Invariant measures for non-primitive tiling substitutions

We consider self-affine tiling substitutions in Euclidean space and the corresponding tiling dynamical systems. It is well known that in the primitive case, the dynamical system is uniquely ergodic. We investigate invariant measures when the substitution is not primitive and the tiling dynamical system is non-minimal. We prove that all ergodic invariant probability measures are supported on minimal components, but there are other natural ergodic invariant measures, which are infinite. Under some mild assumptions, we completely characterize σ-finite invariant measures which are positive and finite on a cylinder set. A key step is to establish recognizability of non-periodic tilings in our setting. Examples include the “integer Sierpiński gasket and carpet” tilings. For such tilings, the only invariant probability measure is supported on trivial periodic tilings, but there is a fully supported σ-finite invariant measure that is locally finite and unique up to scaling.     

Fusion: a general framework for hierarchical tilings of \mathbb{R }^d

We introduce a formalism for handling general spaces of hierarchical tilings, a category that includes substitution tilings, Bratteli–Vershik systems, S-adic transformations, and multi-dimensional cut-and-stack transformations. We explore ergodic, spectral and topological properties of these spaces. We show that familiar properties of substitution tilings carry over under appropriate assumptions, and give counter-examples where these assumptions are not met. For instance, we exhibit a minimal tiling space that is not uniquely ergodic, with one ergodic measure having pure point spectrum and another ergodic measure having mixed spectrum. We also exhibit a 2-dimensional tiling space that has pure point measure-theoretic spectrum but is topologically weakly mixing.     

Duality,sections and projections of certain Euclidean tilings

Pegged tilings localize the defining property of or Laguerre tilings, and, like them, admit a natural duality (corresponding to the Delaunay tilings of tilings). It can thus be shown that the projection method, which is generally used to construct quasi-periodic tilings related to tilings of higher dimensional lattices, applies to this wider class of tilings. Of further importance is that pegged tilings are just those which can be lifted to the graphs of convex functions with a certain strong locally polyhedrality property. The context of convex functions also provides a direct way of viewing the projection method, and leads to alternative pictures of special cases such as various grid methods.     

Detecting Combinatorial Hierarchy in Tilings Using Derived Voronoi Tessellations

   Abstract. Tilings of R ² can display hierarchy similar to that seen in the limit sequences of substitutions. Self-similarity for tilings has been used as the standard generalization, but this viewpoint is limited because such tilings are analogous to limit points of constant-length substitutions. To generalize limit points of non-constant-length substitutions, we define hierarchy for infinite, labelled graphs, then extend this definition to tilings via their dual graphs. Examples of combinatorially substitutive tilings that are not self-similar are given. We then find a sufficient condition for detecting combinatorial hierarchy that is motivated by the characterization by Durand of substitutive sequences. That characterization relies upon the construction of the ``derived sequence'—a recoding in terms of reappearances of an initial block. Following this, we define the ``derived Vorono? tiling'—a retiling in terms of reappearances of an initial patch of tiles. Using derived Vorono? tilings, we obtain a sufficient condition for a tiling to be combinatorially substitutive.     

Some 2-isohedral tilings of the plane

In this paper we describe and classify, using adjacency symbols, the 2-isohedral tilings of the plane such that all tiles have four edges and four tiles meet at each vertex. There are 69 such tilings. Since many of these can be constructed by dissecting isohedral tilings appropriately, we show which isohedral tilings are related in this way to these 2-isohedral tilings.     

Convex pentagons that admit <Emphasis Type="Italic">i</Emphasis>-block transitive tilings

The problem of classifying the convex pentagons that admit tilings of the plane is a long-standing unsolved problem. Previous to this article, there were 14 known distinct kinds of convex pentagons that admit tilings of the plane. Five of these types admit tile-transitive tilings (i.e. there is a single transitivity class with respect to the symmetry group of the tiling). The remaining 9 types do not admit tile-transitive tilings, but do admit either 2-block transitive tilings or 3-block transitive tilings; these are tilings comprised of clusters of 2 or 3 pentagons such that these clusters form tile-2-transitive or tile-3-transitive tilings. In this article, we present some combinatorial results concerning pentagons that admit i-block transitive tilings for \(i \in \mathbb {N}\). These results form the basis for an automated approach to finding all pentagons that admit i-block transitive tilings for each \(i \in \mathbb {N}\). We will present the methods of this algorithm and the results of the computer searches so far, which includes a complete classification of all pentagons admitting i-block transitive tilings for \(i \le 4\), among which is a new 15th type of convex pentagon that admits a tile-3-transitive tiling.     

Distribution of points of one-dimensional quasilattices with respect to a variable module

We consider one-dimensional quasiperiodic Fibonacci tilings. Namely, we study sets of vertices of these tilings that represent one-dimensional quasilattices defined on the base of a parameterization by rotations of a circle, and the distribution of points of quasilattices with respect to a variable module. We show that the distribution with respect to some modules is not uniform. We describe the distribution function and its integral representation, and estimate the remainder in the problem of the distribution of points of a quasilattice for corresponding modules.     

Linear Repetitivity, I. Uniform Subadditive Ergodic Theorems and Applications

This paper is concerned with the concept of linear repetitivity in the theory of tilings. We prove a general uniform subadditive ergodic theorem for linearly repetitive tilings. This theorem unifies and extends various known (sub)additive ergodic theorems on tilings. The results of this paper can be applied in the study of both random operators and lattice gas models on tilings. Received July 19, 2000, and in revised form January 30, 2001. Online publication July 25, 2001.