A minmax relationship between embeddable and rigid graphs (Q1372309)

An embedding of the vertices of a graph into Euclidean space is infinitesimally rigid if every infinitesimal motion of the vertices which preserves the distance between each pair of adjacent vertices arises from an infinitesimal isometry of the space. An embedding of the vertices of a weighted graph is elastic if every sufficiently small perturbation of the distances between adjacent vertices can be realized by an embedding close to the given embedding. This paper points out a minimax relation between the generic rigidity and elasticity of graphs, that is, that a graph is edge-minimally generically rigid, i.e. isostatic, if and only if it is maximally elastic.