A polyomino tiling problem of Thurston and its configurational entropy (Q1801796)

Discussing combinatorial group-theoretic tiling invariants of J. H. Conway (which are also described by \textit{J. H. Conway} and the first author, J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 53, No. 2, 183-208 (1990; Zbl 0741.05019)], W. P. Thurston raised a problem on tiling certain triangular regions, which are unions of hexagons from the hexagonal lattice, with three-in-line tiles (``tribones'') leaving precisely one uncovered hexagonal cell [cf. Am. Math. Mon. 97, No. 8, 757-773 (1990; Zbl 0714.52007)]. Such a triangular region \(T_ N\) to be tiled is the triangular array containing \({N+1\choose 2}\) cells, where \(N\equiv 1\pmod 3\). Thus, the region \(T_ 4\) consists of 10 hexagonal cells. The authors prove that the triangular region \(T_{3N+1}\) in the hexagonal lattice can be packed with tribones in exactly \(2^ N\) ways by leaving precisely one uncovered cell (``defect''), which for all these packings is the central cell. The problem of counting the exact number of tilings of various regions by such simple ``polyominoes'' arises in a number of models in statistical mechanics. There the number of tilings (``configurations'') can be interpreted as a kind of entropy. Hence, the exact counting result mentioned above \((2^ N\) possibilities) is analogous to closed formulae referring to allowable configurations in such models. It implies that the configurational entropy (per site), namely \(H(R)={1\over M}\log(C(R))\), of a tiling \(T_{3N+1}\) with tribones and with one defect tends to 0 as \(N\to\infty\). (Here \(R\) is the region in a lattice of \(M\) cells (``sites''), and \(C(R)\) counts the number of tilings of \(R\) by a specified set of tiles).