Lower bounds for the simplexity of the n-cube

In this paper we prove a new asymptotic lower bound for the minimal number of simplices in simplicial dissections of $n$-dimensional cubes. In particular we show that the number of simplices in dissections of $n$-cubes without additional vertices is at least $(n+1)^{\frac {n-1} 2}$.Comment: 10 page

There are only two nonobtuse binary triangulations of the unit nn-cube

Triangulations of the cube into a minimal number of simplices without additional vertices have been studied by several authors over the past decades. For $3\leq n\leq 7$ this so-called simplexity of the unit cube $I^n$ is now known to be $5,16,67,308,1493$, respectively. In this paper, we study triangulations of $I^n$ with simplices that only have nonobtuse dihedral angles. A trivial example is the standard triangulation into $n!$ simplices. In this paper we show that, surprisingly, for each $n\geq 3$ there is essentially only one other nonobtuse triangulation of $I^n$, and give its explicit construction. The number of nonobtuse simplices in this triangulation is equal to the smallest integer larger than $n!({\rm e}-2)$.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Asymptotically efficient triangulations of the d-cube

Let $P$ and $Q$ be polytopes, the first of "low" dimension and the second of "high" dimension. We show how to triangulate the product $P \times Q$ efficiently (i.e., with few simplices) starting with a given triangulation of $Q$. Our method has a computational part, where we need to compute an efficient triangulation of $P \times \Delta^m$, for a (small) natural number $m$ of our choice. $\Delta^m$ denotes the $m$-simplex. Our procedure can be applied to obtain (asymptotically) efficient triangulations of the cube $I^n$: We decompose $I^n = I^k \times I^{n-k}$, for a small $k$. Then we recursively assume we have obtained an efficient triangulation of the second factor and use our method to triangulate the product. The outcome is that using $k=3$ and $m=2$, we can triangulate $I^n$ with $O(0.816^{n} n!)$ simplices, instead of the $O(0.840^{n} n!)$ achievable before.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures. Only minor changes from previous versions, some suggested by anonymous referees. Paper accepted in "Discrete and Computational Geometry

Extremal properties for dissections of convex 3-polytopes

A dissection of a convex d-polytope is a partition of the polytope into d-simplices whose vertices are among the vertices of the polytope. Triangulations are dissections that have the additional property that the set of all its simplices forms a simplicial complex. The size of a dissection is the number of d-simplices it contains. This paper compares triangulations of maximal size with dissections of maximal size. We also exhibit lower and upper bounds for the size of dissections of a 3-polytope and analyze extremal size triangulations for specific non-simplicial polytopes: prisms, antiprisms, Archimedean solids, and combinatorial d-cubes.Comment: 19 page

A Lower Bound for the Simplexity of then-Cube via Hyperbolic Volumes

AbstractLet T(n) denote the number of n -simplices in a minimum cardinality decomposition of the n -cube into n -simplices. For n≥ 1, we show that T(n) ≥H(n), where H(n) is the ratio of the hyperbolic volume of the ideal cube to the ideal regular simplex. H(n) ≥12·6n/2(n+ 1)−n+12n!. Also limn→∞n [H(n)]1/n≈ 0.9281. Explicit bounds for T(n) are tabulated for n≤ 10, and we mention some other results on hyperbolic volumes

Simplexity of the n-cube

Major: Mathematics and Classics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Su-Jeong Kang, Mathematics The process of dividing shapes into triangles is called triangulation, and it is possible to abstract the idea of a triangle to higher dimensions, where it will be called a simplex in n-dimensions, or an n-simplex. I studied this process of generalized triangulation, or decomposition, in order to find an optimal decomposition of a 5-cube to help improve the bounds on the general case of an n-cube

Lattice Delone simplices with super-exponential volume

In this short note we give a construction of an infinite series of Delone simplices whose relative volume grows super-exponentially with their dimension. This dramatically improves the previous best lower bound, which was linear.Comment: 7 pages; v2: revised version improves our exponential lower bound to a super-exponential on

Products of Foldable Triangulations

Regular triangulations of products of lattice polytopes are constructed with the additional property that the dual graphs of the triangulations are bipartite. The (weighted) size difference of this bipartition is a lower bound for the number of real roots of certain sparse polynomial systems by recent results of Soprunova and Sottile [Adv. Math. 204(1):116-151, 2006]. Special attention is paid to the cube case.Comment: new title; several paragraphs reformulated; 23 page