Tilings of the sphere by congruent pentagons. III: Edge combination \(a^5\) (Q2064458)

This paper is the third in a series of articles where edge-to-edge tilings of the sphere by congruent pentagons are derived. In such a spherical tiling five edge combinations are possible for the pentagon. For three of the combinations, pentagonal spherical tilings were classified in two previous articles of the series (for Part I and II, see [the second and third author, Adv. Math. 394, Article ID 107866, 36 p. (2022; Zbl 1484.52016); ibid. 394, Article ID 107867, 68 p. (2022; Zbl 1484.52017)]). In the present article, tilings of the sphere by congruent pentagons are classified for the edge combination \(a^5\), i.e., with all edges of equal length. The obtained results are summarized as follows. There are exactly eight edge-to-edge tilings of the sphere by congruent equilateral pentagons: three pentagonal subdivision tilings with 12, 24 and 60 tiles; four earth map tilings with 16, 20, 24 and also 24 tiles; and one flip modification of the earth map tiling with 20 tiles. The pentagonal subdivision tiling was introduced in the first paper of the series. The earth map tiling was introduced earlier.