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