Characterizing the Delaunay decompositions of compact hyperbolic surfaces (Q1409069)

A result of \textit{E. M. Andreev} [Math. USSR, Sb. 10, 413-440 (1970; Zbl 0217.46801)] describes the possible (acute) dihedral angles of ideal hyperbolic polyhedra. Thurston used this theorem to find a new proof of the classical Koebe theorem on circle packings, and to extend it to circle packings on tori or surfaces of higher genus. Here the author considers configurations of circles which do not bound disjoint disks, but rather correspond to Delaunay decompositions of a hyperbolic surface. Given the combinatorics of such a Delaunay decomposition, he describes the possible intersection angles between the circles. The proof uses the geometry of a polyhedral object, in the quotient of \(H^3\) by a Fuchsian group, which can be associated to a Delaunay decomposition of a hyperbolic surface. The key point, an infinitesimal rigidity statement, is based on the convexity of the volume of some hyperbolic prisms (as a function of the dihedral angles). This line of thought could be compared with the results of \textit{I. Rivin} [Ann. Math. (2) 139, No. 3, 553-580 (1994; Zbl 0823.52009)], who used related arguments also based on the properties of the volume to describe the locally Euclidean structures on a surface of higher genus.