A proof of the molecular conjecture

Applications of graph theory (05C90) Polyhedra and polytopes; regular figures, division of spaces (51M20) Rigidity and flexibility of structures (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C25)

Abstract: A

d

-dimensional body-and-hinge framework is a structure consisting of rigid bodies connected by hinges in

d

-dimensional space. The generic infinitesimal rigidity of a body-and-hinge framework has been characterized in terms of the underlying multigraph independently by Tay and Whiteley as follows: A multigraph

G

can be realized as an infinitesimally rigid body-and-hinge framework by mapping each vertex to a body and each edge to a hinge if and only if ({d+1 choose 2}-1)G

c o n t a i n s

{d+1choose 2}

e d g e - d i s j o i n t s p a n n i n g t r e e s, w h e r e

({d+1 choose 2}-1)G

i s t h e g r a p h o b t a i n e d f r o m

G

b y r e p l a c i n g e a c h e d g e b y

({d+1choose 2}-1)

p a r a l l e l e d g e s . I n 1984 t h e y j o i n t l y p o s e d a q u e s t i o n a b o u t w h e t h e r t h e i r c o m b i n a t o r i a l c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n c a n b e f u r t h e r a p p l i e d t o a n o n g e n e r i c c a s e . S p e c i f i c a l l y, t h e y c o n j e c t u r e d t h a t

G

c a n b e r e a l i z e d a s a n i n f i n i t e s i m a l l y r i g i d b o d y - a n d - h i n g e f r a m e w o r k i f a n d o n l y i f

G$ can be realized as that with the additional ``hinge-coplanar property, i.e., all the hinges incident to each body are contained in a common hyperplane. This conjecture is called the Molecular Conjecture due to the equivalence between the infinitesimal rigidity of ``hinge-coplanar body-and-hinge frameworks and that of bar-and-joint frameworks derived from molecules in 3-dimension. In 2-dimensional case this conjecture has been proved by Jackson and Jord{'a}n in 2006. In this paper we prove this long standing conjecture affirmatively for general dimension.

Recommendations

Cites work

Cited in

(32)

This page was built for publication: A proof of the molecular conjecture

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q540449)