As in a symmetric space of noncompact type, one can associate to an oriented geodesic segment in a Euclidean building a vector valued length in the Euclidean Weyl chamber; in addition to the metric length it contains information on the direction of the segment. We study in this paper restrictions on the vector valued side lengths of polygons in (thick) Euclidean buildings. The main result is that the set of possible side lengths of n-gons depends only on the associated spherical Coxeter complex. We show moreover that it coincides with the space of vector valued weights of semistable weighted configurations on the Tits boundary.
The side lengths of polygons in symmetric spaces of noncompact type are studied in the related paper [KLM1]. Applications of the geometric results in both papers to algebraic group theory are given in [KLM3].
The Erdos-Szekeres theorem states that for any natural k there is a natural number g(k) such that any set of at least g(k) points on a plane in general position contains a set of k points that are the extreme points of a convex polytope. We generalize and refine this theorem, having the general-position condition removed and a convex polygon defined as an ordered sequence of points such that the union of the edges of the polygon coincides with the boundary of its convex hull.
This paper presents a general method for obtaining radius of the corresponding circumference to a cyclical polygon $n$ sides given the lengths of said sides, using the notion of complex number. As of radius $r$, obtained, can then be calculated polygon area in question applying known expressions which requires, after $n=4$, a powerful calculation tool. Are also given like elements regarding non convex polygons cyclic, although in this respect it deepens less and is not considered, course, the calculation of areas.
Consider the map $S$ which sends a planar polygon $P$ to a new polygon $S(P)$ whose vertices are the intersection points of second nearest sides of $P$. This map is the inverse of the famous pentagram map. In this paper we investigate the dynamics of the map $S$. Namely, we address the question of whether a convex polygon stays convex under iterations of $S$. Computer experiments suggest that this almost never happens. We prove that indeed the set of polygons which remain convex under iterations of $S$ has measure zero, and moreover it is an algebraic subvariety of codimension two. We also dis…
We prove that every rational angled hyperbolic triangle has transcendental side lengths and that every rational angled hyperbolic quadrilateral has at least one transcendental side length. Thus, there does not exist a rational angled hyperbolic triangle or quadrilateral with algebraic side lengths. We conjecture that there does not exist a rational angled hyperbolic polygon with algebraic side lengths.
A regular polygon circumscribing another regular polygon (with a different side number) may be tightened to minimize the difference of both areas. The manuscripts computes the optimum result under the restriction that both polygons are concentric, and obtains limits if the process is repeated in a two-dimensional Babuschka-doll fashion with side numbers increasing or decreasing by one or stepping through the prime numbers. The new aspect compared to the circumscription discussed in the literature so far is that further squeezing of the outer polygon is possible as we drop the requirement of dr…
Heron's formula states that the area $K$ of a triangle with sides $a$, $b$, and $c$ is given by $$ K=\sqrt {s(s-a) (s-b) (s-c)} $$ where $s$ is the semiperimeter $(a+b+c)/2$. Brahmagupta, Robbins, Roskies, and Maley generalized this formula for polygons of up to eight sides inscribed in a circle. In this paper we derive formulas giving the areas of any $n$-gon, with odd $n$, in terms of the ordered list of side lengths, if the $n$-gon is circumscribed about a circle (instead of being inscribed in a circle). Unlike the cyclic polygon problem, where the order of the sides does not matter, for th…
We prove that for any convex polygon $S$ with at least four sides, or a concave one with no parallel sides, and any $m>0$, there is an $m$-fold covering of the plane with homothetic copies of $S$ that cannot be decomposed into two coverings.
Take a circle and mark $n\in\mathbb{N}$ points on it designated as vertices. For any arc segment between two consecutive vertices which does not pass through any other vertex, there is a disk centered at its midpoint and has its end points on the boundary. We analyze intersection behaviour of these disks and show that the number of disjoint pairs among them is between $\frac{(n-2)(n-3)}{2}$ and $\frac{n(n-3)}{2}$ and their intersection graph is a subgraph of a triangulation of a convex $n$-gon.
Viviani's theorem states that the sum of distances from any point inside an equilateral triangle to its sides is constant. We consider extensions of the theorem and show that any convex polygon can be divided into parallel segments such that the sum of the distances of the points to the sides on each segment is constant. A polygon possesses the CVS property if the sum of the distances from any inner point to its sides is constant. An amazing result, concerning the converse of Viviani's theorem is deduced; Three non-collinear points which have equal sum of distances to the sides inside a convex…
Formulas about the side lengths, diagonal lengths or radius of the circumcircle of a cyclic polygon in Euclidean geometry, hyperbolic geometry or spherical geometry can be unified.
Certain topics on polygons are extended from Euclidean to hyperbolic geometry. This first part deals with uniqueness and existence of cocyclic polygons with prescribed sidelengths. The non-Euclidean versions are more difficult due to the existence of three different types of circles in the hyperbolic plane. The second part will be concerned with the problem of maximizing the area of polygons with fixed sidelengths. By the metric character of these problems it is necessary to dispense to a certain extent with classical hyperbolic trigonometry because angles must be replaced by length quantities…
Given a convex polygon of $n$ sides, one can draw $n$ disks (called side disks) where each disk has a different side of the polygon as diameter and the midpoint of the side as its center. The intersection graph of such disks is the undirected graph with vertices the $n$ disks and two disks are adjacent if and only if they have a point in common. We prove that for every convex polygon this graph is planar. Particularly, for $n=5$, this shows that for any convex pentagon there are two disks among the five side disks that do not intersect, which means that $K_5$ is never the intersection graph of…
A convex polygon $Q$ is inscribed in a convex polygon $P$ if every side of $P$ contains at least one vertex of $Q$. We present algorithms for finding a minimum area and a minimum perimeter convex polygon inscribed in any given convex $n$-gon in $O(n)$ and $O(n^3)$ time, respectively. We also investigate other variants of this problem.
We investigate the ``generalized Heron polynomial'' that relates the squared area of an n-gon inscribed in a circle to the squares of its side lengths. For a (2m+1)-gon or (2m+2)-gon, we express it as the defining polynomial of a certain variety derived from the variety of binary (2m-1)-forms having m-1 double roots. Thus we obtain explicit formulas for the areas of cyclic heptagons and octagons, and illuminate some mysterious features of Robbins' formulas for the areas of cyclic pentagons and hexagons. We also introduce a companion family of polynomials that relate the squared area of an n-go…
We consider a hyperbolic polygon in the unit disk $\{z:\, |z|<1\}$ with all its vertices on the unit circle $\{z:\, |z|=1\}$ and a growth process of such polygons when each $n$-gon generates an $n(n-1)$-gon by inverting itself across all of its sides. In this paper, we prove some general monotonicity results of inversion for convex hyperbolic $n$-gons and solve an extremal problem that, among all convex hyperbolic $4$-gons containing the origin, the inverted side length of the longest side of the given hyperbolic $4$-gon is minimal for the regular hyperbolic $4$-gon.
We provide a new proof of the elementary geometric theorem on the existence and uniqueness of cyclic polygons with prescribed side lengths. The proof is based on a variational principle involving the central angles of the polygon as variables. The uniqueness follows from the concavity of the target function. The existence proof relies on a fundamental inequality of information theory. We also provide proofs for the corresponding theorems of spherical and hyperbolic geometry (and, as a byproduct, in $1+1$ spacetime). The spherical theorem is reduced to the euclidean one. The proof of the hyperb…
Two ideal polygons, $(p_1,\ldots,p_n)$ and $(q_1,\ldots,q_n)$, in the hyperbolic plane or in hyperbolic space are said to be $α$-related if the cross-ratio $[p_i,p_{i+1},q_i,q_{i+1}] = α$ for all $i$ (the vertices lie on the projective line, real or complex, respectively). For example, if $α= -1$, the respective sides of the two polygons are orthogonal. This relation extends to twisted ideal polygons, that is, polygons with monodromy, and it descends to the moduli space of Möbius-equivalent polygons. We prove that this relation, which is, generically, a 2-2 map, is completely integrable in the…
