English

Cyclotomic Points and Algebraic Properties of Polygon Diagonals

Number Theory 2019-10-24 v1

Abstract

By viewing the regular NN-gon as the set of NNth roots of unity in the complex plane we transform several questions regarding polygon diagonals into when a polynomial vanishes when evaluated at roots of unity. To study these solutions we implement algorithms in Sage as well as examine a trigonometric diophantine equation. In doing so we classify when a metallic ratio can be realized as a ratio of polygon diagonals, answering a question raised in a PBS Infinite Series broadcast. We then generalize this idea by examining the degree of the number field generated by a given ratio of polygon diagonals.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1910.10325,
  title  = {Cyclotomic Points and Algebraic Properties of Polygon Diagonals},
  author = {Thomas Grubb and Christian Woll},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1910.10325},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

14 pages, 2 tables, 1 figure. Sage code included in ancillary file. Comments welcome!