Cyclic configurations of spherical polygons (Q378167): Difference between revisions

Configurations of a geodesic polygonal linkage on the sphere (unit sphere of three dimensional Euclidean space), i.e. sets of points \(\{ v_i\}\) on the sphere \(S\) realizing given distances \(d(v_i,v_{i+1})=l_i\), where \(v_{n+1}=v_1\), are considered. It is assumed that they satify Euler type constraints, i.e. the sum of \(l_i\) is less than \(\pi\). The configuration is cyclic if all vertices lie on a circle. In a generic case they are nondegenerate critical points for a certain smooth function \(A\) defined on a moduli space (sum of oriented areas of triangles). Then the classical Morse index theory is applied. Proofs of the results are only outlined.