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A generalization of the hexastix arrangement to higher dimensions

Combinatorics 2024-08-15 v1 Metric Geometry

Abstract

Hexastix is an arrangement of non-overlapping infinite hexagonal prisms in four different directions that cover 34\frac{3}{4} of space. We consider a possible generalization to nn dimensions, based on the permutohedral lattice AnA^*_n. The central lines of the generalized prisms are going to be oriented in n+1n+1 different directions (parallel to the shortest non-zero vectors of AnA^*_n). The projection of the lines oriented in any direction along that direction to a hyperplane perpendicular to it is required to be a translation of the corresponding projection of AnA^*_n, and the minimal distance between lines oriented in any two given directions should be maximal. It is shown that this is possible if nn is a prime power. Also, the proportion of nn-space that is covered is calculated for n{4,5}n \in \{4, 5\}, and an alternative generalization is briefly considered.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2408.07112,
  title  = {A generalization of the hexastix arrangement to higher dimensions},
  author = {Jan Kristian Haugland},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.07112},
  year   = {2024}
}

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5 pages