On the areas of cyclic and semicyclic polygons (Q2483906)

The well-known Heron's formula for triangles and Brahmagupta's formula for quadrilaterals inscribed in a circle give the area of such polygons in terms of their side lengths. \textit{D. P. Robbins} [Discrete Comput. Geom. 12, No. 2, 223--236 (1994; Zbl 0806.52008)] proved that for each cyclic polygon, i.e. a convex polygon inscribed in a circle, there exists a unique (up to a sign) irreducible polynomial with integer coefficients which relates the squared area of the polygon to the squares of its side lengths. He also calculated these polynomials for cyclic pentagons and hexagons and proposed several conjectures for the general case. In the present paper, the authors generalize Robbins' arguments and prove a generating function identity which leads to explicit formulas for the areas of cyclic heptagons and octagons in terms of their side lengths. This analysis also extends to semicyclic polygons.