English

Snell meets Fagnano. Path optimization through an imperfect mirror

Dynamical Systems 2025-12-03 v1

Abstract

The renowned Fagnano problem asks for the inscribed triangle of minimal perimeter within a given reference triangle. Equivalently, it seeks a billiard trajectory inside the triangle that closes after three reflections. In this note, we consider a modification of this classical problem: finding the inscribed triangle of minimal weighted perimeter -- or, equivalently, the periodic trajectory of a Snell billiard.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.02236,
  title  = {Snell meets Fagnano. Path optimization through an imperfect mirror},
  author = {Maxim Arnold and Jaewoo Park},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.02236},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

11 pages, 8 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:04:44.283Z