The smallest convex k-gon containing n congruent disks

DOI10.4171/EM/451MaRDI QIDQ2674985zbMATH OpenWikidataFDO

Authors Orgil-Erdene Erdenebaatar, Uuganbaatar Ninjbat

Publication date 20 September 2022

Published in Elemente der Mathematik (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.02568

zbMATH Keywords

Euclidean disks packing smallest-area convex \(k\)-gon

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Convex sets in (2) dimensions (including convex curves) (52A10)

Abstract: Consider the problem of fnding the smallest area convex

k

-gon containing

n i n m a t h b b N

congruent disks without an overlap. By using Wegner inequality in sphere packing theory we give a lower bound for the area of such polygons. For several cases where this bound is tight we construct corresponding optimal polygons. We also discuss its solution for some cases where this bound is not tight, e.g.

n = 2

and

k

is odd, and

n = 3

;

k = 4

. On the way to prove our results we prove a result on geometric invariants between two polygons whose sides are pairwise parallel, and give a new characterisation for the trisectrix of Maclaurin.

Review text

Let \(S\) be a set of \(n\) non-overlapping disks of radius 1 in the Euclidean plane. \(S\) is \textit{efficiently packed} if the following conditions hold: 1) the convex hull of the disk centers is either a line segment of length \(2(n-1)\) or can be triangulated into equilateral triangles of edge length 2 using the \(n\) centers as vertices; 2) the perimeter of the hull is \(2p\), where \(p\) is the smallest integer number greater than or equal to \(\sqrt{12n-3}-3\). Let \(H\) be the convex hull of \(S\). It is proved (Wegner inequality) that the area of \(H\) is greater than or equal to \(\sqrt{12}(n-1)+(2-\sqrt{3})p+\pi\), and the equality holds if and only if \(S\) is efficiently packed. The authors prove that if \(P\) is a convex \(k\)-gon containing \(S\), then the area of \(P\) is greater than or equal to \(\sqrt{12}(n-1)+(2-\sqrt{3})p+k\cdot \tan\frac{\pi}{k}\), and the equality holds for some efficiently packed sets which are precisely described in Theorem 4 of the paper. Theorem 5 presents the smallest-area convex \(k\)-gon containing \(S\) for some cases where the above inequality is tight. Theorem 6 demonstrates that some sets of disks non efficiently packed can be contained by a minimal-area polygon. The paper includes many figures that help the reader.

Recommendations

Cites work

Cited in

(4)

This page was built for publication: The smallest convex \(k\)-gon containing \(n\) congruent disks

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q2674985)