Plato's cube and the natural geometry of fragmentation

DOI10.1073/PNAS.2001037117zbMATH Open1485.74086arXiv1912.04628OpenAlexW3043748928WikidataQ97587297 ScholiaQ97587297MaRDI QIDQ5073115FDOQ5073115

Authors: Douglas J. Jerolmack, János Török, Gábor Domokos 

Publication date: 5 May 2022

Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Plato envisioned Earth's building blocks as cubes, a shape rarely found in nature. The solar system is littered, however, with distorted polyhedra -- shards of rock and ice produced by ubiquitous fragmentation. We apply the theory of convex mosaics to show that the average geometry of natural 2D fragments, from mud cracks to Earth's tectonic plates, has two attractors: "Platonic" quadrangles and "Voronoi" hexagons. In 3D the Platonic attractor is dominant: remarkably, the average shape of natural rock fragments is cuboid. When viewed through the lens of convex mosaics, natural fragments are indeed geometric shadows of Plato's forms. Simulations show that generic binary breakup drives all mosaics toward the Platonic attractor, explaining the ubiquity of cuboid averages. Deviations from binary fracture produce more exotic patterns that are genetically linked to the formative stress field. We compute the universal pattern generator establishing this link, for 2D and 3D fragmentation.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.04628

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Geometric probability and stochastic geometry (60D05) Tilings in (2) dimensions (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C20) Tilings in (n) dimensions (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C22) High-velocity fracture (74R15)

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Cited In (6)

• On the cracking patterns of brittle rings with elastic radial support under hydrostatic pressure
• A two-vertex theorem for normal tilings
• An evolution model for polygonal tessellations as models for crack networks and other natural patterns
• Balancing polyhedra
• The mystery of ten wooden blocks: Hjelmslev's geometry of reality
• On an abrasion-motivated fractal model

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