Belyi functions for Archimedean solids (Q1978185)

The notion of a Belyi function is a main technical tool relating the combinatorics of maps (i.e., graphs embedded into surfaces) to Galois theory, algebraic number theory, and the theory of Riemann surfaces. E.g., in the planar case a Belyi function is a rational function defined on the Riemann complex sphere which has at least three critical values, namely 0, 1, and \(\infty\). If \(f\) is a Belyi function, then \(f^{-1}([1, \infty])\) is a planar hypermap, i.e., a connected hypergraph drawn on the Riemann sphere of the variable \(z\), and the complement of this graph is a disjoint union of sets homeomorphic to the open disk which are the faces of the map. The authors compute Belyi functions for the class of semiregular maps which correspond to the Archimedean solids (and to the infinite sequences of semiregular prisms and antiprisms). So in a sense they continue investigations of Felix Klein since, under another name, the Belyi functions of the Platonic solids were computed by Klein already in 1875.