
In
geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
, the tetrahemihexahedron or hemicuboctahedron is a
uniform star polyhedron
In geometry, a uniform star polyhedron is a self-intersecting uniform polyhedron. They are also sometimes called nonconvex polyhedra to imply self-intersecting. Each polyhedron can contain either star polygon faces, star polygon vertex figure ...
, indexed as U
4. It has 7 faces (4
triangles
A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC.
In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non-collinear ...
and 3
squares
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length ad ...
), 12 edges, and 6 vertices. Its
vertex figure
In geometry, a vertex figure, broadly speaking, is the figure exposed when a corner of a polyhedron or polytope is sliced off.
Definitions
Take some corner or vertex of a polyhedron. Mark a point somewhere along each connected edge. Draw lines ...
is a
crossed quadrilateral. Its
Coxeter–Dynkin diagram
In geometry, a Coxeter–Dynkin diagram (or Coxeter diagram, Coxeter graph) is a graph with numerically labeled edges (called branches) representing the spatial relations between a collection of mirrors (or reflecting hyperplanes). It describes ...
is (although this is a double covering of the tetrahemihexahedron).
It is the only non-
prismatic uniform polyhedron
In geometry, a prismatic uniform polyhedron is a uniform polyhedron with dihedral symmetry. They exist in two infinite families, the uniform prisms and the uniform antiprisms. All have their vertices in parallel planes and are therefore prisma ...
with an odd number of faces. Its
Wythoff symbol
In geometry, the Wythoff symbol is a notation representing a Wythoff construction of a uniform polyhedron or plane tiling within a Schwarz triangle. It was first used by Coxeter, Longuet-Higgins and Miller in their enumeration of the uniform ...
is 3/2 3 , 2, but that represents a double covering of the tetrahemihexahedron with eight triangles and six squares, paired and coinciding in space. (It can more intuitively be seen as two coinciding tetrahemihexahedra.)
It is a
hemipolyhedron
In geometry, a hemipolyhedron is a uniform star polyhedron some of whose faces pass through its center. These "hemi" faces lie parallel to the faces of some other symmetrical polyhedron, and their count is half the number of faces of that other p ...
. The "hemi" part of the name means some of the faces form a group with half as many members as some regular polyhedron—here, three square faces form a group with half as many faces as the regular hexahedron, better known as the cube—hence ''hemihexahedron''. Hemi faces are also oriented in the same direction as the regular polyhedron's faces. The three square faces of the tetrahemihexahedron are, like the three facial orientations of the cube, mutually
perpendicular
In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...
.
The "half-as-many" characteristic also means that hemi faces must pass through the center of the polyhedron, where they all intersect each other. Visually, each square is divided into four
right triangle
A right triangle (American English) or right-angled triangle ( British), or more formally an orthogonal triangle, formerly called a rectangled triangle ( grc, ὀρθόσγωνία, lit=upright angle), is a triangle in which one angle is a right ...
s, with two visible from each side.
Related surfaces
It is a
non-orientable
In mathematics, orientability is a property of some topological spaces such as real vector spaces, Euclidean spaces, surfaces, and more generally manifolds that allows a consistent definition of "clockwise" and "counterclockwise". A space is ...
surface. It is unique as the only
uniform polyhedron
In geometry, a uniform polyhedron has regular polygons as faces and is vertex-transitive (i.e., there is an isometry mapping any vertex onto any other). It follows that all vertices are congruent.
Uniform polyhedra may be regular (if also ...
with an
Euler characteristic
In mathematics, and more specifically in algebraic topology and polyhedral combinatorics, the Euler characteristic (or Euler number, or Euler–Poincaré characteristic) is a topological invariant, a number that describes a topological spac ...
of 1 and is hence a
projective polyhedron
In geometry, a (globally) projective polyhedron is a tessellation of the real projective plane. These are projective analogs of spherical polyhedra – tessellations of the sphere – and toroidal polyhedra – tessellations of the toroids.
Proj ...
, yielding a representation of the
real projective plane
In mathematics, the real projective plane is an example of a compact non- orientable two-dimensional manifold; in other words, a one-sided surface. It cannot be embedded in standard three-dimensional space without intersecting itself. It has ...
very similar to the ''
Roman surface
In mathematics, the Roman surface or Steiner surface is a self-intersecting mapping of the real projective plane into three-dimensional space, with an unusually high degree of symmetry. This mapping is not an immersion of the projective pla ...
''.
Related polyhedra
It has the same vertices and edges as the regular
octahedron
In geometry, an octahedron (plural: octahedra, octahedrons) is a polyhedron with eight faces. The term is most commonly used to refer to the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at e ...
. It also shares 4 of the 8 triangular faces of the octahedron, but has three additional square faces passing through the centre of the polyhedron.
The dual figure is the
tetrahemihexacron.
It is
2-covered by the
cuboctahedron
A cuboctahedron is a polyhedron with 8 triangular faces and 6 square faces. A cuboctahedron has 12 identical vertices, with 2 triangles and 2 squares meeting at each, and 24 identical edges, each separating a triangle from a square. As such, it ...
,
which accordingly has the same abstract
vertex figure
In geometry, a vertex figure, broadly speaking, is the figure exposed when a corner of a polyhedron or polytope is sliced off.
Definitions
Take some corner or vertex of a polyhedron. Mark a point somewhere along each connected edge. Draw lines ...
(2 triangles and two squares: 3.4.3.4) and twice the vertices, edges, and faces. It has the same topology as the
abstract polyhedron hemi-cuboctahedron.
It may also be constructed as a crossed triangular
cuploid
In geometry, a cupola is a solid formed by joining two polygons, one (the base) with twice as many edges as the other, by an alternating band of isosceles triangles and rectangles. If the triangles are equilateral and the rectangles are squares ...
. All cuploids and their duals are topologically projective planes.
Tetrahemihexacron
The tetrahemihexacron is the
dual of the tetrahemihexahedron, and is one of nine
dual hemipolyhedra.
Since the hemipolyhedra have
faces passing through the center, the
dual figures have corresponding
vertices at infinity; properly, on the
real projective plane
In mathematics, the real projective plane is an example of a compact non- orientable two-dimensional manifold; in other words, a one-sided surface. It cannot be embedded in standard three-dimensional space without intersecting itself. It has ...
at infinity.
In
Magnus Wenninger
Father Magnus J. Wenninger OSB (October 31, 1919Banchoff (2002)– February 17, 2017) was an American mathematician who worked on constructing polyhedron models, and wrote the first book on their construction.
Early life and education
Born to Ge ...
's ''Dual Models'', they are represented with intersecting
prisms, each extending in both directions to the same vertex at infinity, in order to maintain symmetry. In practice the model prisms are cut off at a certain point that is convenient for the maker. Wenninger suggested these figures are members of a new class of
stellation
In geometry, stellation is the process of extending a polygon in two dimensions, polyhedron in three dimensions, or, in general, a polytope in ''n'' dimensions to form a new figure. Starting with an original figure, the process extends specific el ...
figures, called ''stellation to infinity''. However, he also suggested that strictly speaking they are not polyhedra because their construction does not conform to the usual definitions.
Topologically it is considered to contain seven vertices. The three vertices considered at infinity (the
real projective plane
In mathematics, the real projective plane is an example of a compact non- orientable two-dimensional manifold; in other words, a one-sided surface. It cannot be embedded in standard three-dimensional space without intersecting itself. It has ...
at infinity) correspond directionally to the three vertices of the
hemi-octahedron
A hemi-octahedron is an abstract regular polyhedron, containing half the faces of a regular octahedron.
It has 4 triangular faces, 6 edges, and 3 vertices. Its dual polyhedron is the hemicube.
It can be realized as a projective polyhedron (a ...
, an abstract polyhedron. The other four vertices exist at alternate corners of a central cube (a
demicube
In geometry, a tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the ...
, in this case a
tetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the ...
).
References
*
* (Page 101, Duals of the (nine) hemipolyhedra)
External links
*
Uniform polyhedra and dualsPaper modelGreat Stella: software used to create main image on this page
{{Nonconvex polyhedron navigator
Uniform polyhedra
Projective polyhedra