Related papers: Chersiphron & Son Engineers
Given a family of complex affine planes, we show that it is trivial over a Zariski open subset of the base. The proof relies upon a relative version of the contraction theorem.
A series of peculiar, visual alignments between the pyramids of the pharaohs of the 4, 5 and 6 Egyptian dynasties exists. These alignments governed from the very beginning the planning of the funerary monuments of successive kings and, in…
The principle goal of computational mechanics is to define pattern and structure so that the organization of complex systems can be detected and quantified. Computational mechanics developed from efforts in the 1970s and early 1980s to…
The unplaced Fragment D of the Antikythera Mechanism with an unknown operation was a mystery ever since it was discovered. The gear r1, which was detected in Fragment D radiographies by C. Karakalos is preserved in excellent condition but…
In recent years, different scientific disciplines, from Physics to Egyptology, from Geology to Archaeoastronomy, evidenced a series of clues pointing to the possibility that the original project of the pyramid complex of Khufu at Giza…
The existence of the theory of `twisted cotangent bundles' (symplectic groupoids) allows to study classical mechanical systems which are generalized in the sense that their configurations form a Poisson manifold. It is natural to study from…
This is a revised version of a part of the author's preprint "On p-adic uniformization of fake projective planes" (preprint, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Mathematik, 1998 (121)). In this paper we construct explicitly a Shimura surface of…
MacGyvering is defined as creating or repairing something in an inventive or improvised way by utilizing objects that are available at hand. In this paper, we explore a subset of Macgyvering problems involving tool construction, i.e.,…
A novel method is proposed for moving large, pyramid construction size, stone blocks. The method is inspired by a well known introductory physics homework problem, and is implemented by tying 12 identical rods of appropriately chosen radius…
This paper presents the foundation of a modular robotic system comprised of several novel modules in the shape of a tetrahedron. Four single-propeller submodules are assembled to create the Tetracopter, a tetrahedron-shaped quad-rotorcraft…
A family of algebraic surfaces with many nondegenerate real singularities is introduced with the help of a construction, which has been used in previous works for the generation of substitution tilings.
The planar ornaments are created by repeating a base unit using a combination of four primitive geometric operations: translation, rotation, reflection, and glide reflection. According to group theory, different combinations of these four…
Among the first devices used to measure the time we find the sundials and the water-clocks, as told by Vitruvius in his book on the Architecture. The sundials work because of the shadows cast by a rod or pole, the gnomon, on their…
In this letter, we show that coherent structures are related to folds of horseshoes which are present in chaotic systems. We develop techniques that allow us to construct coherent structures by manipulating folds in three prototypical…
A survey of tilings in the plane for a general audience.
Tensegrity structures have been extensively studied over the last years due to their potential applications in modern engineering like metamaterials, deployable structures, planetary lander modules, etc. Many of the form-finding methods…
We show that many ancient Indian mythological legends are really allegorical depictions of astronomical and other physical phenomena of which the composers had a good idea. This detail enables us to also use techniques of astronomical…
Pythagoras' theorem, the area of a triangle as one half the base times the height, and Heron's formula are amongst the most important and useful results of ancient Greek geometry. Here we look at all three in a new and improved light, using…
The projection construction has been used to construct semifields of odd characteristic using a field and a twisted semifield [Commutative semifields from projection mappings, Designs, Codes and Cryptography, 61 (2011), 187--196]. We…
Interesting landforms created by an ancient network of earthworks are shown, using Google satellite imagery enhanced by an image processing. This network covers a large part of the land near the Titicaca Lake. Satellite images clearly…