Using polyhedral models to automatically sketch idealized geometry for structural analysis

Simplification of polyhedral models, which may incorporate large numbers of faces and nodes, is often required to reduce their amount of data, to allow their efficient manipulation, and to speed up computation. Such a simplification process must be adapted to the use of the resulting polyhedral model. Several applications require simplified shapes which have the same topology as the original model (e.g. reverse engineering, medical applications, etc.). Nevertheless, in the fields of structural analysis and computer visualization, for example, several adaptations and idealizations of the initial geometry are often necessary. To this end, within this paper a new approach is proposed to simplify an initial manifold or non-manifold polyhedral model with respect to bounded errors specified by the user, or set up, for example, from a preliminary F.E. analysis. The topological changes which may occur during a simplification because of the bounded error (or tolerance) values specified are performed using specific curvature and topological criteria and operators. Moreover, topological changes, whether or not they kept the manifold of the object, are managed simultaneously with the geometric operations of the simplification process

Degree-regular triangulations of the double-torus

A connected combinatorial 2-manifold is called degree-regular if each of its vertices have the same degree. A connected combinatorial 2-manifold is called weakly regular if it has a vertex-transitive automorphism group. Clearly, a weakly regular combinatorial 2-manifold is degree-regular and a degree-regular combinatorial 2-manifold of Euler characteristic - 2 must contain 12 vertices. In 1982, McMullen et al. constructed a 12-vertex geometrically realized triangulation of the double-torus in \RR^3. As an abstract simplicial complex, this triangulation is a weakly regular combinatorial 2-manifold. In 1999, Lutz showed that there are exactly three weakly regular orientable combinatorial 2-manifolds of Euler characteristic - 2. In this article, we classify all the orientable degree-regular combinatorial 2-manifolds of Euler characteristic - 2. There are exactly six such combinatorial 2-manifolds. This classifies all the orientable equivelar polyhedral maps of Euler characteristic - 2.Comment: 13 pages. To appear in `Forum Mathematicum

Polyhedral realisation of hyperbolic metrics with conical singularities on compact surfaces

A Fuchsian polyhedron in hyperbolic space is a polyhedral surface invariant under the action of a Fuchsian group of isometries (i.e. a group of isometries leaving globally invariant a totally geodesic surface, on which it acts cocompactly). The induced metric on a convex Fuchsian polyhedron is isometric to a hyperbolic metric with conical singularities of positive singular curvature on a compact surface of genus greater than one. We prove that these metrics are actually realised by exactly one convex Fuchsian polyhedron (up to global isometries). This extends a famous theorem of A.D. Alexandrov.Comment: Some little corrections from the preceding version. To appear in Les Annales de l'Institut Fourie

Angled decompositions of arborescent link complements

This paper describes a way to subdivide a 3-manifold into angled blocks, namely polyhedral pieces that need not be simply connected. When the individual blocks carry dihedral angles that fit together in a consistent fashion, we prove that a manifold constructed from these blocks must be hyperbolic. The main application is a new proof of a classical, unpublished theorem of Bonahon and Siebenmann: that all arborescent links, except for three simple families of exceptions, have hyperbolic complements.Comment: 42 pages, 23 figures. Slightly expanded exposition and reference

Classification of alternating knots with tunnel number one

This paper gives a complete classification of all alternating knots with tunnel number one, and all their unknotting tunnels. We prove that the only such knots are two-bridge knots and certain Montesinos knots.Comment: 38 pages, 26 figures; to appear in Communications in Analysis and Geometr