On the number of non-hexagons in a planar tiling

We give a simple proof of T. Stehling's result, that in any normal tiling of the plane with convex polygons with number of sides not less than six, all tiles except the finite number are hexagons.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figure

Thermomechanical effects in uniformly aligned dye-doped nematic liquid crystals

We show theoretically that thermomechanical effects in dye-doped nematic liquid crystals when illuminated by laser beams, can become important and lead to molecular reorientation at intensities substantially lower than that needed for optical Fr\'eedericksz transition. We propose a 1D model that assumes homogenous intensity distribution in the plane of the layer and is capable to describe such a thermally induced threshold lowering. We consider a particular geometry, with a linearly polarized light incident perpendicularly on a layer of homeotropically aligned dye-doped nematics

Long geodesics on convex surfaces

We review the theory of intrinsic geometry of convex surfaces in the Euclidean space and prove the following theorem: if the surface of a convex body K contains arbitrary long closed simple geodesics, then K is an isosceles tetrahedron.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Billiards in convex bodies with acute angles

In this paper we investigate the existence of closed billiard trajectories in not necessarily smooth convex bodies. In particular, we show that if a body $K\subset \mathbb{R}^d$ has the property that the tangent cone of every non-smooth point $q\in \partial K$ is acute (in a certain sense) then there is a closed billiard trajectory in $K$.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

On the Lengths of Curves Passing through Boundary Points of a Planar Convex Shape

We study the lengths of curves passing through a fixed number of points on the boundary of a convex shape in the plane. We show that for any convex shape $K$, there exist four points on the boundary of $K$ such that the length of any curve passing through these points is at least half of the perimeter of $K$. It is also shown that the same statement does not remain valid with the additional constraint that the points are extreme points of $K$. Moreover, the factor $\frac12$ cannot be achieved with any fixed number of extreme points. We conclude the paper with few other inequalities related to the perimeter of a convex shape.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure