Carousels, Zindler curves and the floating body problem (Q2567411): Difference between revisions

The floating body problem is the following question: Is a solid of uniform density which will float in water in every position, a sphere? So far it has only been verified for density 0 by \textit{L.~Montejano} [Stud. Appl. Math. 53, 243--248 (1974; Zbl 0418.52008)] and it was shown by \textit{H. Auerbach} [Studia Math. Lwow, 7, 121--142 (1938; JFM 64.0733.04)] that it is false in dimension 2 and density \(1/2\). In the paper of Auerbach it was also shown that the floating chords have constant length, that the curve of their midpoints has the corresponding chords as tangents and that these chords divide the perimeter in a fixed ratio, which is called the perimetral density. These densities are the background for the notion of carousels introduced by the authors. Here a carousel is a kind of dynamical system that describes the movement of an equilateral linkage in which the midpoint of each rod travels parallel to it. Based on properties of these carousels the authors prove that except from the circle, there are no figures that float in equilibrium in every position with perimetral density \(1/3\), \(1/4\), \(1/5\) and \(2/5\).