English

Old problem revisited: Which equilateral convex polygons tile the plane?

Metric Geometry 2025-11-11 v3 Combinatorics

Abstract

We present a simplified proof of a forty-year-old result concerning the tiling of the plane with equilateral convex polygons. Our approach is based on a theorem by M. Rao, who used an exhaustive computer search to confirm the completeness of the well-known list of fifteen pentagon types. Assuming the validity of Rao's result, we provide a concise and mainly geometric proof of a tiling theorem originally due to Hirschhorn and Hunt. Finally, a possible connection to quasicrystals is sketched.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2506.18473,
  title  = {Old problem revisited: Which equilateral convex polygons tile the plane?},
  author = {Bernhard Klaassen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.18473},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

Preprint, to appear in Journal for Geometry and Graphics, Vol. 29, Issue 2

R2 v1 2026-07-01T03:29:08.680Z