3,466 research outputs found
A topological classification of convex bodies
The shape of homogeneous, generic, smooth convex bodies as described by the
Euclidean distance with nondegenerate critical points, measured from the center
of mass represents a rather restricted class M_C of Morse-Smale functions on
S^2. Here we show that even M_C exhibits the complexity known for general
Morse-Smale functions on S^2 by exhausting all combinatorial possibilities:
every 2-colored quadrangulation of the sphere is isomorphic to a suitably
represented Morse-Smale complex associated with a function in M_C (and vice
versa). We prove our claim by an inductive algorithm, starting from the path
graph P_2 and generating convex bodies corresponding to quadrangulations with
increasing number of vertices by performing each combinatorially possible
vertex splitting by a convexity-preserving local manipulation of the surface.
Since convex bodies carrying Morse-Smale complexes isomorphic to P_2 exist,
this algorithm not only proves our claim but also generalizes the known
classification scheme in [36]. Our expansion algorithm is essentially the dual
procedure to the algorithm presented by Edelsbrunner et al. in [21], producing
a hierarchy of increasingly coarse Morse-Smale complexes. We point out
applications to pebble shapes.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figure
LR characterization of chirotopes of finite planar families of pairwise disjoint convex bodies
We extend the classical LR characterization of chirotopes of finite planar
families of points to chirotopes of finite planar families of pairwise disjoint
convex bodies: a map \c{hi} on the set of 3-subsets of a finite set I is a
chirotope of finite planar families of pairwise disjoint convex bodies if and
only if for every 3-, 4-, and 5-subset J of I the restriction of \c{hi} to the
set of 3-subsets of J is a chirotope of finite planar families of pairwise
disjoint convex bodies. Our main tool is the polarity map, i.e., the map that
assigns to a convex body the set of lines missing its interior, from which we
derive the key notion of arrangements of double pseudolines, introduced for the
first time in this paper.Comment: 100 pages, 73 figures; accepted manuscript versio
Generating spherical multiquadrangulations by restricted vertex splittings and the reducibility of equilibrium classes
A quadrangulation is a graph embedded on the sphere such that each face is
bounded by a walk of length 4, parallel edges allowed. All quadrangulations can
be generated by a sequence of graph operations called vertex splitting,
starting from the path P_2 of length 2. We define the degree D of a splitting S
and consider restricted splittings S_{i,j} with i <= D <= j. It is known that
S_{2,3} generate all simple quadrangulations.
Here we investigate the cases S_{1,2}, S_{1,3}, S_{1,1}, S_{2,2}, S_{3,3}.
First we show that the splittings S_{1,2} are exactly the monotone ones in the
sense that the resulting graph contains the original as a subgraph. Then we
show that they define a set of nontrivial ancestors beyond P_2 and each
quadrangulation has a unique ancestor.
Our results have a direct geometric interpretation in the context of
mechanical equilibria of convex bodies. The topology of the equilibria
corresponds to a 2-coloured quadrangulation with independent set sizes s, u.
The numbers s, u identify the primary equilibrium class associated with the
body by V\'arkonyi and Domokos. We show that both S_{1,1} and S_{2,2} generate
all primary classes from a finite set of ancestors which is closely related to
their geometric results.
If, beyond s and u, the full topology of the quadrangulation is considered,
we arrive at the more refined secondary equilibrium classes. As Domokos,
L\'angi and Szab\'o showed recently, one can create the geometric counterparts
of unrestricted splittings to generate all secondary classes. Our results show
that S_{1,2} can only generate a limited range of secondary classes from the
same ancestor. The geometric interpretation of the additional ancestors defined
by monotone splittings shows that minimal polyhedra play a key role in this
process. We also present computational results on the number of secondary
classes and multiquadrangulations.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures and 3 table
Multitriangulations, pseudotriangulations and primitive sorting networks
We study the set of all pseudoline arrangements with contact points which
cover a given support. We define a natural notion of flip between these
arrangements and study the graph of these flips. In particular, we provide an
enumeration algorithm for arrangements with a given support, based on the
properties of certain greedy pseudoline arrangements and on their connection
with sorting networks. Both the running time per arrangement and the working
space of our algorithm are polynomial.
As the motivation for this work, we provide in this paper a new
interpretation of both pseudotriangulations and multitriangulations in terms of
pseudoline arrangements on specific supports. This interpretation explains
their common properties and leads to a natural definition of
multipseudotriangulations, which generalizes both. We study elementary
properties of multipseudotriangulations and compare them to iterations of
pseudotriangulations.Comment: 60 pages, 40 figures; minor corrections and improvements of
presentatio
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