English

Universality theorems for linkages in the Minkowski plane

Metric Geometry 2015-02-18 v2 Differential Geometry Geometric Topology

Abstract

A mechanical linkage is a mechanism made of rigid rods linked together by flexible joints, in which some vertices are fixed and others may move. The partial configuration space of a linkage is the set of all the possible positions of a subset of the vertices. We characterize the possible partial configuration spaces of linkages in the Minkowski plane. We also give a proof of a differential universality theorem in the Minkowski plane: for any manifold M which is the interior of a compact manifold with boundary, there is a linkage which has a configuration space diffeomorphic to the disjoint union of a finite number of copies of M.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1401.1050,
  title  = {Universality theorems for linkages in the Minkowski plane},
  author = {Mickaël Kourganoff},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1401.1050},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

20 pages, merged with other similar results in "Universality theorems for linkages in homogeneous surfaces", arXiv:1407.6815

R2 v1 2026-06-22T02:39:39.313Z