Weavings, sections and projections of spherical polyhedra (Q1179191)

The author develops an accurate synthetic test (``section-projection figure'') for correct pictures of (topological) spherical polyhedra (in Euclidean 3-space), as well as for correct (plane) sections of the faces of such a polyhedron. In this context, he gives simultaneous answers to three questions: (a) When does a plane picture of lines, weaving over and under in the plane, lift and separate into a configuration of disjoint lines in 3-space? (b) When is a configuration of lines in the plane the cross-section of the extended faces of a spherical polyhedron in 3-space? (c) When is a picture of the edges and vertices of an abstract spherical polyhedron the (orthogonal) projection of an actual polyhedron in 3- space? To find the answer, the author uses methods from analytical geometry and the theory of vertical statics (vertical self-stresses of a plane configuration of lines can be connected with the plane sections of a polyhedral configuration in 3-space).