Regular spatial heptagons based on symmetry (Q6546075)

Consider a closed polygonal line \(H\) made of seven line segments and contained in the \(3\)-dimensional Euclidean space. Under the assumption that these seven segments have the same length and the seven pairs of consecutive segments form the same angle \(\alpha\), \(H\) is called a \textit{regular heptagon}. Note that \(H\) is not necessarily embedded in the sense that the segments it is made of are allowed to intersect and more than two of them may share a vertex (such a vertex is called a \textit{double vertex}).\N\NA regular heptagon can be continuously deformed in such a way that all the polygonal lines obtained along that transformation remain regular heptagons. In particular, one can ask whether the configuration space of regular heptagons is connected. In this article,\N\N\begin{itemize}\N\item[(i)] the set of all regular heptagons that are symmetric with respect to a plane is explicitly described and shown to be made of two connected components each of which is parametrized by a continuous variable and a binary variable and\N\item[(ii)] the set of all regular heptagons with at least one double vertex such that \(\alpha\) is equal to \(\pi/3\) is also explicitly described.\N\end{itemize}\N\NIt is conjectured that all regular heptagons such that \(\alpha\) is equal to \(\pi/3\) have a double vertex [\textit{B. J. Cox}, Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 67, No. 3, Article ID 52, 17 p. (2016; Zbl 1349.92165)]. Under this conjecture, (ii) implies that the set of all regular heptagons such that \(\alpha\) is equal to \(\pi/3\) is also connected.\N\NNumerical evidence is further provided that the set of all regular heptagons that are symmetric with respect to a line and the set of all regular heptagons with a fixed \(\alpha\) (no necessarily equal to \(\pi/3\)) are connected. Proving these two statements would show that the configuration space of all regular hexagons is connected.