Reversibility and foldability of Conway tiles (Q2398822)

Let \(P\) and \(Q\) be two planar figures. Let us assume that a chain can made by \(n\) ordered planar pieces \(P_1,P_2,\dots,P_n\) obtained from a partition of \(P\), such that every two consecutive pieces are joint by a hinge-point on the boundary of \(P\). It is said that \(P\) is reversible to \(Q\) (and vice-versa) if \(P\) and \(Q\) can be obtained rotating the chain clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively. For example, an equilateral triangle is reversible to a square. The Conway criterion describes the following kind of planar pieces (Conway tiles) that can tile the plane using only translations and 180 degree rotations: closed topological disk with six consecutive points \(p_1, p_2, p_3, p_4, p_5\), and \(p_6\) (at least three of them must be distinct) on the boundary such that the boundary part from \(p_1\) to \(p_2\) is congruent by translation to the boundary part from \(p_5\) to \(p_6\), and each of the boundary parts from \(p_i\) to \(p_{i+1}\) (\(i=2,\dots,4\)) is invariant under a 180 degree rotation around its midpoint. The set of these midpoints is a \(4\)-base of the Conway tile. The first theorem in this paper proves that every Conway tile is reversible to another Conway tile. Theorem 2 identifies the pairs of reversible figures such that both of them tile the plane. A net of a three-dimensional object \(M\) is a two dimensional figure that can be folded into \(M\). Every net of an isotetrahedron is a Conway tile. Theorem 3 proves that if a net \(P\) of an isotetrahedron is reversible to some other figure \(Q\) using the \(4\)-base points as hinges, then \(Q\) is also a net of the isotetrahedron. Finally, theorem 4 describes a group of Conway tiles (called regular) that are foldable into an isotetrahedron. The paper presents a lot of figures that are very useful for understanding the results.