Merging in maps and in pavings (Q809631)

The author introduces the notion of paving, which gives a method for defining data structures for modeling a solid. Pavings allow an easy definition of incidence relations between vertices, edges, faces and pieces. The notion of paving is a generalization of the notion of map, which is directly associated to a subdivision of \({\mathcal E}^ 3\). After generalities on pavings the paper deals with merging in maps and merging in pavings. A fundamental relation between the characteristic of a paving and the genus of the underlying map is proved.