Related papers: Poncelet's theorem and Billiard knots
We show that every knot can be realized as a billiard trajectory in a convex prism. This solves a conjecture of Jones and Przytycki.
Using Marden's Theorem from geometric theory of polynomials, we show that for every triangle there is a unique ellipse such that the triangle is a billiard trajectory within that ellipse. Since $3$-periodic trajectories of billiards within…
We prove the volume conjecture for any twist knots by using an equivalence relation, complex analysis, analytic continuation, and function of several complex variables on the basis of colored Jones polynomials.
We prove some recent experimental observations of D. Reznik concerning periodic billiard orbits in ellipses. For example, the sum of cosines of the angles of a periodic billiard polygon remains constant in the one-parameter family of such…
We define cylinder knots as billiard knots in a cylinder. We present a necessary condition for cylinder knots: after dividing cylinder knots by possible rotational symmetries we obtain ribbon knots. We obtain an upper bound for the number…
If there is one polygon inscribed into some smooth conic and circumscribed about another one, then there are infinitely many such polygons. This is Poncelet's theorem. The aim of this note is to collect some (mostly classical) versions of…
We deduce a recent theorem by R. Schwartz on the structure of the so-called Poncelet grid from complete integrability of the billiard in an ellipse
The Lax representations of the geodesic flow, the Jacobi-Rosochatius problem and its perturbations by means of separable polynomial potentials, on a ellipsoid are constructed. We prove complete integrability in the case of a generic…
We solve several open problems concerning integer points of polytopes arising in symplectic and algebraic geometry. In this direction we give the first proof of a broad case of Ewald's Conjecture (1988) concerning symmetric integral points…
A comprehensive analysis of periodic trajectories of billiards within ellipses in the Euclidean plane is presented. The novelty of the approach is based on a relationship recently established by the authors between periodic billiard…
Poncelet's theorem states that if there exists an n-sided polygon which is inscribed in a given conic C and circumscribed about another conic D, then there are infinitely many such n-gons. Proofs of this theorem that we are aware of,…
We offer some theorems, mainly of finiteness, for certain patterns in elliptical billiards, related to periodic trajectories. For instance, if two players hit a ball at a given position and with directions forming a fixed angle in…
In a recent talk of Robbert Fokkink, some conjectures related to the infinite Tribonacci word were stated by the speaker and the audience. In this note we show how to prove (or disprove) the claims easily in a "purely mechanical" fashion,…
The goal of this paper is an analysis of the geometry of billiards in ellipses, based on properties of confocal central conics. The extended sides of the billiards meet at points which are located on confocal ellipses and hyperbolas. They…
For billiards in an ellipse with an ellipse as caustic, there exist canonical coordinates such that the billiard transformation from vertex to vertex is equivalent to a shift of coordinates. A kinematic analysis of billiard motions paves…
The 1d family of Poncelet polygons interscribed between two circles is known as the Bicentric family. Using elliptic functions and Liouville's theorem, we show (i) that this family has invariant sum of internal angle cosines and (ii) that…
Mathematical billiards is much like the real game: a point mass, representing the ball, rolls in a straight line on a (perfectly friction-less) table, striking the sides according to the law of reflection. A billiard trajectory is then…
In this note we prove two ellipsoid characterization theorems. The first one is that if $K$ is a convex body in a normed space with unit ball $M$, and for any point $p \notin K$ and in any 2-dimensional plane $P$ intersecting $\inter K$ and…
We discuss a recent result by C. Culter: every polygonal outer billiard has a periodic trajectory.
Double twist knots $K_{m, n}$ are known to be rationally slice if $mn = 0$, $n = -m\pm 1$, or $n = -m$. In this paper, we prove the converse. It is done by showing that infinitely many prime power-fold cyclic branched covers of the other…