Polytopes
   HOME
*



picture info

Polytopes
In elementary geometry, a polytope is a geometric object with flat sides (''faces''). Polytopes are the generalization of three-dimensional polyhedra to any number of dimensions. Polytopes may exist in any general number of dimensions as an -dimensional polytope or -polytope. For example, a two-dimensional polygon is a 2-polytope and a three-dimensional polyhedron is a 3-polytope. In this context, "flat sides" means that the sides of a -polytope consist of -polytopes that may have -polytopes in common. Some theories further generalize the idea to include such objects as unbounded apeirotopes and tessellations, decompositions or tilings of curved manifolds including spherical polyhedra, and set-theoretic abstract polytopes. Polytopes of more than three dimensions were first discovered by Ludwig Schläfli before 1853, who called such a figure a polyschem. The German term ''polytop'' was coined by the mathematician Reinhold Hoppe, and was introduced to English mathematicians as ' ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Abstract Polytope
In mathematics, an abstract polytope is an algebraic partially ordered set which captures the dyadic property of a traditional polytope without specifying purely geometric properties such as points and lines. A geometric polytope is said to be a ''realization'' of an abstract polytope in some real N-dimensional space, typically Euclidean. This abstract definition allows more general combinatorial structures than traditional definitions of a polytope, thus allowing new objects that have no counterpart in traditional theory. Introductory concepts Traditional versus abstract polytopes In Euclidean geometry, two shapes that are not similar can nonetheless share a common structure. For example a square and a trapezoid both comprise an alternating chain of four vertices and four sides, which makes them quadrilaterals. They are said to be isomorphic or “structure preserving”. This common structure may be represented in an underlying abstract polytope, a purely algebra ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Convex Polytope
A convex polytope is a special case of a polytope, having the additional property that it is also a convex set contained in the n-dimensional Euclidean space \mathbb^n. Most texts. use the term "polytope" for a bounded convex polytope, and the word "polyhedron" for the more general, possibly unbounded object. Others''Mathematical Programming'', by Melvyn W. Jeter (1986) p. 68/ref> (including this article) allow polytopes to be unbounded. The terms "bounded/unbounded convex polytope" will be used below whenever the boundedness is critical to the discussed issue. Yet other texts identify a convex polytope with its boundary. Convex polytopes play an important role both in various branches of mathematics and in applied areas, most notably in linear programming. In the influential textbooks of Grünbaum and Ziegler on the subject, as well as in many other texts in discrete geometry, convex polytopes are often simply called "polytopes". Grünbaum points out that this is solely to avoi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Thorold Gosset
John Herbert de Paz Thorold Gosset (16 October 1869 – December 1962) was an English lawyer and an amateur mathematician. In mathematics, he is noted for discovering and classifying the semiregular polytopes in dimensions four and higher, and for his generalization of Descartes' theorem on tangent circles to four and higher dimensions. Biography Thorold Gosset was born in Thames Ditton, the son of John Jackson Gosset, a civil servant and statistical officer for HM Customs,UK Census 1871, RG10-863-89-23 and his wife Eleanor Gosset (formerly Thorold). He was admitted to Pembroke College, Cambridge as a pensioner on 1 October 1888, graduated BA in 1891, was called to the bar of the Inner Temple in June 1895, and graduated LLM in 1896. In 1900 he married Emily Florence Wood, and they subsequently had two children, named Kathleen and John.UK Census 1911, RG14-181-9123-19 Mathematics According to H. S. M. Coxeter, after obtaining his law degree in 1896 and having no clients, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Star Polyhedron
In geometry, a star polyhedron is a polyhedron which has some repetitive quality of nonconvexity giving it a star-like visual quality. There are two general kinds of star polyhedron: *Polyhedra which self-intersect in a repetitive way. *Concave polyhedra of a particular kind which alternate convex and concave or saddle vertices in a repetitive way. Mathematically these figures are examples of star domains. Mathematical studies of star polyhedra are usually concerned with regular, uniform polyhedra, or the duals of the uniform polyhedra. All these stars are of the self-intersecting kind. Self-intersecting star polyhedra Regular star polyhedra The regular star polyhedra are self-intersecting polyhedra. They may either have self-intersecting faces, or self-intersecting vertex figures. There are four regular star polyhedra, known as the Kepler–Poinsot polyhedra. The Schläfli symbol implies faces with ''p'' sides, and vertex figures with ''q'' sides. Two of them have pentag ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Star Polytope
In geometry, a star polyhedron is a polyhedron which has some repetitive quality of nonconvexity giving it a star-like visual quality. There are two general kinds of star polyhedron: *Polyhedra which self-intersect in a repetitive way. *Concave polyhedra of a particular kind which alternate convex and concave or saddle vertices in a repetitive way. Mathematically these figures are examples of star domains. Mathematical studies of star polyhedra are usually concerned with regular, uniform polyhedra, or the duals of the uniform polyhedra. All these stars are of the self-intersecting kind. Self-intersecting star polyhedra Regular star polyhedra The regular star polyhedra are self-intersecting polyhedra. They may either have self-intersecting faces, or self-intersecting vertex figures. There are four regular star polyhedra, known as the Kepler–Poinsot polyhedra. The Schläfli symbol implies faces with ''p'' sides, and vertex figures with ''q'' sides. Two of them have pentag ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Polyhedron
In geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. A convex polyhedron is the convex hull of finitely many points, not all on the same plane. Cubes and pyramids are examples of convex polyhedra. A polyhedron is a 3-dimensional example of a polytope, a more general concept in any number of dimensions. Definition Convex polyhedra are well-defined, with several equivalent standard definitions. However, the formal mathematical definition of polyhedra that are not required to be convex has been problematic. Many definitions of "polyhedron" have been given within particular contexts,. some more rigorous than others, and there is not universal agreement over which of these to choose. Some of these definitions exclude shapes that have often been counted as polyhedra (such as the self-crossing polyhedra) or include shapes that are often not considered as valid polyhedr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Ludwig Schläfli
Ludwig Schläfli (15 January 1814 – 20 March 1895) was a Swiss mathematician, specialising in geometry and complex analysis (at the time called function theory) who was one of the key figures in developing the notion of higher-dimensional spaces. The concept of multidimensionality is pervasive in mathematics, has come to play a pivotal role in physics, and is a common element in science fiction. Life and career Youth and education Ludwig spent most of his life in Switzerland. He was born in Grasswil (now part of Seeberg), his mother's hometown. The family then moved to the nearby Burgdorf, where his father worked as a tradesman. His father wanted Ludwig to follow in his footsteps, but Ludwig was not cut out for practical work. In contrast, because of his mathematical gifts, he was allowed to attend the Gymnasium in Bern in 1829. By that time he was already learning differential calculus from Abraham Gotthelf Kästner's ''Mathematische Anfangsgründe der Analysis des Unendli ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Alicia Boole Stott
Alicia Boole Stott (8 June 1860 – 17 December 1940) was an Irish mathematician. Despite never holding an academic position, she made a number of valuable contributions to the field, receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Groningen. She is best known for introducing the term "polytope" for a convex solid in four (or more) dimensions, and having an impressive grasp of four-dimensional geometry from a very early age. Early life Alicia Boole was born in Cork, Ireland, the third daughter and one of five siblings of English parents; mathematician and logician George Boole and Mary Everest Boole, a self-taught mathematician and educationalist. Other of her sisters were notable in their own right. Lucy Everest Boole was a chemist and pharmacist and Ethel Lilian Voynich was a novelist. After her father's sudden death in 1864, the family moved to London, where her mother became the librarian at Queen's College, London. She attended the school attached to Queens' Colleg ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Simplices
In geometry, a simplex (plural: simplexes or simplices) is a generalization of the notion of a triangle or tetrahedron to arbitrary dimensions. The simplex is so-named because it represents the simplest possible polytope in any given dimension. For example, * a 0-dimensional simplex is a point, * a 1-dimensional simplex is a line segment, * a 2-dimensional simplex is a triangle, * a 3-dimensional simplex is a tetrahedron, and * a 4-dimensional simplex is a 5-cell. Specifically, a ''k''-simplex is a ''k''-dimensional polytope which is the convex hull of its ''k'' + 1 vertices. More formally, suppose the ''k'' + 1 points u_0, \dots, u_k \in \mathbb^ are affinely independent, which means u_1 - u_0,\dots, u_k-u_0 are linearly independent. Then, the simplex determined by them is the set of points : C = \left\ This representation in terms of weighted vertices is known as the barycentric coordinate system. A regular simplex is a simplex that is also a regular polytope. A ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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]  


picture info

Tessellation
A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane (mathematics), plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to high-dimensional spaces, higher dimensions and a variety of geometries. A periodic tiling has a repeating pattern. Some special kinds include ''regular tilings'' with regular polygonal tiles all of the same shape, and ''semiregular tilings'' with regular tiles of more than one shape and with every corner identically arranged. The patterns formed by periodic tilings can be categorized into 17 wallpaper groups. A tiling that lacks a repeating pattern is called "non-periodic". An ''aperiodic tiling'' uses a small set of tile shapes that cannot form a repeating pattern. A ''tessellation of space'', also known as a space filling or honeycomb, can be defined in the geometry of higher dimensions. A real physical tessellation is a tiling made of materials such a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Face (geometry)
In solid geometry, a face is a flat surface (a planar region) that forms part of the boundary of a solid object; a three-dimensional solid bounded exclusively by faces is a ''polyhedron''. In more technical treatments of the geometry of polyhedra and higher-dimensional polytopes, the term is also used to mean an element of any dimension of a more general polytope (in any number of dimensions).. Polygonal face In elementary geometry, a face is a polygon on the boundary of a polyhedron. Other names for a polygonal face include polyhedron side and Euclidean plane ''tile''. For example, any of the six squares that bound a cube is a face of the cube. Sometimes "face" is also used to refer to the 2-dimensional features of a 4-polytope. With this meaning, the 4-dimensional tesseract has 24 square faces, each sharing two of 8 cubic cells. Number of polygonal faces of a polyhedron Any convex polyhedron's surface has Euler characteristic :V - E + F = 2, where ''V'' is the number of ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]