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Pursuit Curve
In geometry, a curve of pursuit is a curve constructed by analogy to having a point or points representing pursuers and pursuees; the curve of pursuit is the curve traced by the pursuers. With the paths of the pursuer and pursuee parameterized in time, the pursuee is always on the pursuer's tangent. That is, given , the pursuer (follower), and , the pursued (leader), for every with there is an such that :L(t) = F(t) + xF'\!(t). History The pursuit curve was first studied by Pierre Bouguer in 1732. In an article on navigation, Bouguer defined a curve of pursuit to explore the way in which one ship might maneuver while pursuing another. Leonardo da Vinci has occasionally been credited with first exploring curves of pursuit. However Paul J. Nahin, having traced such accounts as far back as the late 19th century, indicates that these anecdotes are unfounded. Single pursuer The path followed by a single pursuer, following a pursuee that moves at constant speed on a line, is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Line (geometry)
In geometry, a line is an infinitely long object with no width, depth, or curvature. Thus, lines are one-dimensional objects, though they may exist in two, three, or higher dimension spaces. The word ''line'' may also refer to a line segment in everyday life, which has two points to denote its ends. Lines can be referred by two points that lay on it (e.g., \overleftrightarrow) or by a single letter (e.g., \ell). Euclid described a line as "breadthless length" which "lies evenly with respect to the points on itself"; he introduced several postulates as basic unprovable properties from which he constructed all of geometry, which is now called Euclidean geometry to avoid confusion with other geometries which have been introduced since the end of the 19th century (such as non-Euclidean, projective and affine geometry). In modern mathematics, given the multitude of geometries, the concept of a line is closely tied to the way the geometry is described. For instance, in analytic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pursuit–evasion
Pursuit–evasion (variants of which are referred to as cops and robbers and graph searching) is a family of problems in mathematics and computer science in which one group attempts to track down members of another group in an environment. Early work on problems of this type modeled the environment geometrically. In 1976, Torrence Parsons introduced a formulation whereby movement is constrained by a graph. The geometric formulation is sometimes called continuous pursuit–evasion, and the graph formulation discrete pursuit–evasion (also called graph searching). Current research is typically limited to one of these two formulations. Discrete formulation In the discrete formulation of the pursuit–evasion problem, the environment is modeled as a graph. Problem definition There are innumerable possible variants of pursuit–evasion, though they tend to share many elements. A typical, basic example is as follows (cops and robber games): Pursuers and evaders occupy nodes of a graph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circles Of Apollonius
The circles of Apollonius are any of several sets of circles associated with Apollonius of Perga, a renowned Greek geometer. Most of these circles are found in planar Euclidean geometry, but analogs have been defined on other surfaces; for example, counterparts on the surface of a sphere can be defined through stereographic projection. The main uses of this term are fivefold: # Apollonius showed that a circle can be defined as the set of points in a plane that have a specified ''ratio'' of distances to two fixed points, known as foci. This Apollonian circle is the basis of the Apollonius pursuit problem. It is a particular case of the first family described in #2. # The Apollonian circles are two families of mutually orthogonal circles. The first family consists of the circles with all possible distance ratios to two fixed foci (the same circles as in #1), whereas the second family consists of all possible circles that pass through both foci. These circles form the basis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tractrix
In geometry, a tractrix (; plural: tractrices) is the curve along which an object moves, under the influence of friction, when pulled on a horizontal plane by a line segment attached to a pulling point (the ''tractor'') that moves at a right angle to the initial line between the object and the puller at an infinitesimal speed. It is therefore a curve of pursuit. It was first introduced by Claude Perrault in 1670, and later studied by Isaac Newton (1676) and Christiaan Huygens (1693). Mathematical derivation Suppose the object is placed at (or in the example shown at right), and the puller at the origin (mathematics), origin, so is the length of the pulling thread (4 in the example at right). Then the puller starts to move along the axis in the positive direction. At every moment, the thread will be tangent to the curve described by the object, so that it becomes completely determined by the movement of the puller. Mathematically, if the coordinates of the object are , the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logarithmic Spiral
A logarithmic spiral, equiangular spiral, or growth spiral is a self-similar spiral curve that often appears in nature. The first to describe a logarithmic spiral was Albrecht Dürer (1525) who called it an "eternal line" ("ewige Linie"). More than a century later, the curve was discussed by Descartes (1638), and later extensively investigated by Jacob Bernoulli, who called it ''Spira mirabilis'', "the marvelous spiral". The logarithmic spiral can be distinguished from the Archimedean spiral by the fact that the distances between the turnings of a logarithmic spiral increase in geometric progression, while in an Archimedean spiral these distances are constant. Definition In polar coordinates (r, \varphi) the logarithmic spiral can be written as r = ae^,\quad \varphi \in \R, or \varphi = \frac \ln \frac, with e being the base of natural logarithms, and a > 0, k\ne 0 being real constants. In Cartesian coordinates The logarithmic spiral with the polar equation r = a e^ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mice Problem
In mathematics, the mice problem is a continuous pursuit–evasion problem in which a number of mice (or insects, dogs, missiles, etc.) are considered to be placed at the corners of a regular polygon. In the classic setup, each then begins to move towards its immediate neighbour (clockwise or anticlockwise). The goal is often to find out at what time the mice meet. The most common version has the mice starting at the corners of a unit square, moving at unit speed. In this case they meet after a time of one unit, because the distance between two neighboring mice always decreases at a speed of one unit. More generally, for a regular polygon of n unit-length sides, the distance between neighboring mice decreases at a speed of 1 - \cos(2\pi/n), so they meet after a time of 1/\bigl(1 - \cos(2\pi/n)\bigr). Path of the mice For all regular polygons, each mouse traces out a pursuit curve in the shape of a logarithmic spiral A logarithmic spiral, equiangular spiral, or growth spir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two together, may be called a polygon. The segments of a polygonal circuit are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon's '' vertices'' (singular: vertex) or ''corners''. The interior of a solid polygon is sometimes called its ''body''. An ''n''-gon is a polygon with ''n'' sides; for example, a triangle is a 3-gon. A simple polygon is one which does not intersect itself. Mathematicians are often concerned only with the bounding polygonal chains of simple polygons and they often define a polygon accordingly. A polygonal boundary may be allowed to cross over itself, creating star polygons and other self-intersecting polygons. A polygon is a 2-dimensional example of the more general polytope in any number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Point Pursuit Curve
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest composite number, its proper divisors being and . Four is the sum and product of two with itself: 2 + 2 = 4 = 2 x 2, the only number b such that a + a = b = a x a, which also makes four the smallest squared prime number p^. In Knuth's up-arrow notation, , and so forth, for any number of up arrows. By consequence, four is the only square one more than a prime number, specifically three. The sum of the first four prime numbers two + three + five + seven is the only sum of four consecutive prime numbers that yields an odd prime number, seventeen, which is the fourth super-prime. Four lies between the first proper pair of twin primes, three and five, which are the first two Fermat primes, like seventeen, which is the third. On the other han ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Differential Equation
In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, and the differential equation defines a relationship between the two. Such relations are common; therefore, differential equations play a prominent role in many disciplines including engineering, physics, economics, and biology. Mainly the study of differential equations consists of the study of their solutions (the set of functions that satisfy each equation), and of the properties of their solutions. Only the simplest differential equations are solvable by explicit formulas; however, many properties of solutions of a given differential equation may be determined without computing them exactly. Often when a closed-form expression for the solutions is not available, solutions may be approximated numerically using computers. The theory of d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiodrome
In geometry, a radiodrome is the pursuit curve followed by a point that is pursuing another linearly-moving point. The term is derived from the Greek words and . The classic (and best-known) form of a radiodrome is known as the "dog curve"; this is the path a dog follows when it swims across a stream with a current after something it has spotted on the other side. Because the dog drifts with the current, it will have to change its heading; it will also have to swim further than if it had taken the optimal heading. This case was described by Pierre Bouguer in 1732. A radiodrome may alternatively be described as the path a dog follows when chasing a hare, assuming that the hare runs in a straight line at a constant velocity. Mathematical analysis Introduce a coordinate system with origin at the position of the dog at time zero and with ''y''-axis in the direction the hare is running with the constant speed . The position of the hare at time zero is with and at time it is T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
