Packing of 180 equal circles on a sphere

Combinatorial aspects of packing and covering (05B40) Inequalities and extremum problems involving convexity in convex geometry (52A40) Packing and covering in (n) dimensions (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C17)

Review text

The present paper concerns the well-known problem of determining the maximal angular diameter of \(n\) equal circles (spherical caps) which can be packed on the surface of the unit sphere without overlapping; see \textit{L. Fejes Tóth}'s book [Lagerungen in der Ebene, auf der Kugel und in Raum. 2nd ed. Berlin etc.: Springer Verlag (1972; Zbl 0229.52009)]. The author constructs a packing of 180 equal circles of density 0.85617. The graph of the packing is derived from the regular tiling \(\{3,5+\}_{3,2}\) that covers the surface of the regular icosahedron \(\{3,5\}\). The above density is compared with the upper bound 0.89399 following from a general result by \textit{R. M. Robinson} [Math. Ann. 144, 17--48 (1961; Zbl 0107.39802); p. 47]. In a similar way packings of 36 and 72 circles are obtained with density 0.81914 and 0.84343, respectively.

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