English

A 2-chain can interlock with an open 10-chain

Computational Geometry 2013-08-21 v1

Abstract

It is an open problem, posed in \cite{SoCG}, to determine the minimal kk such that an open flexible kk-chain can interlock with a flexible 2-chain. It was first established in \cite{GLOSZ} that there is an open 16-chain in a trapezoid frame that achieves interlocking. This was subsequently improved in \cite{GLOZ} to establish interlocking between a 2-chain and an open 11-chain. Here we improve that result once more, establishing interlocking between a 2-chain and a 10-chain. We present arguments that indicate that 10 is likely the minimum.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1308.4186,
  title  = {A 2-chain can interlock with an open 10-chain},
  author = {Bin Lu and Joseph O'Rourke and Jianyuan K. Zhong},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1308.4186},
  year   = {2013}
}

Comments

9 pages, 6 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-22T01:11:53.390Z