English

Simple Closed Quasigeodesics on Tetrahedra

Metric Geometry 2022-03-10 v1 Computational Geometry

Abstract

Pogorelov proved in 1949 that every every convex polyhedron has at least three simple closed quasigeodesics. Whereas a geodesic has exactly pi surface angle to either side at each point, a quasigeodesic has at most pi surface angle to either side at each point. Pogorelov's existence proof did not suggest a way to identify the three quasigeodesics, and it is only recently that a finite algorithm has been proposed. Here we identify three simple closed quasigeodesics on any tetrahedron: at least one through 1 vertex, at least one through 2 vertices, and at least one through 3 vertices. The only exception is that isosceles tetrahedra have simple closed geodesics but do not have a 1-vertex quasigeodesic. We also identify an infinite class of tetrahedra that each have at least 34 simple closed quasigeodesics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2203.04745,
  title  = {Simple Closed Quasigeodesics on Tetrahedra},
  author = {Joseph O'Rourke and Costin Vilcu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.04745},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

34 pages, 17 figures, 16 references. Incorporates arXiv:2109.07444 in Section 5

R2 v1 2026-06-24T10:07:21.741Z