The Erdős--Nagy theorem and its ramifications (Q2486085)

The authors give the historical overview the necessity to solve the convexification problem which kept appearing in many areas of research. The convexification problem lies in the reconfiguration of a non convex polygon to a convex one. The basic solution was proposed by Paul Erdős and Béla Nagy. Erdős conjectured that the simple (non self-crossing) polygon would become convex after a finite number of simultaneous flipping of all the pockets of the polygon [cf. \textit{R. E. Gaines, P. Erdős, H. D. Grassman, V. Thebault}, and \textit{W. P. Ubinski}, Amer. Math. Monthly 42, No.~10, 625--627 (1935)]. Nagy proved that the polygon would become convex after a finite number of separate flipping of only one pocket at each step [cf. \textit{P. Erdős} and \textit{B. de Sz.-Nagy}, ibid. 46, No.~3, 176--177 (1939)]. The stronger version of the Erdős-Nagy theorem relates to the convexification of non-simple (self crossing) polygons. In the article, the proof of Erdős-Nagy theorem as well as the proofs of various stronger versions of the Erdős-Nagy theorem are given; e.g. convexification of self crossing polygon while keeping a specified edge fixed, convexification of star-shaped equilateral polygon, convexification of spatial polygons, etc. In conclusion, the authors also mention several open problems of convexification which have not been satisfactorily solved yet.