Related papers: The Kepler conjecture
Predicting theoretically the highest density, which a disordered packing of discs can achieve, has been a long-standing unresolved problem. Such predictions are hindered by two difficulties - the dependence of the density on the packing…
For each $d\geq 3$ we construct cube complexes homeomorphic to the $d$-sphere with $n$ vertices in which the number of facets (assuming $d$ constant) is $\Omega(n^{5/4})$. This disproves a conjecture of Kalai's stating that the number of…
We study the problem of high-dimensional multiple packing in Euclidean space. Multiple packing is a natural generalization of sphere packing and is defined as follows. Let $ N>0 $ and $ L\in\mathbb{Z}_{\ge2} $. A multiple packing is a set…
The sphere packing problem asks for the greatest density of a packing of congruent balls in Euclidean space. The current best upper bound in all sufficiently high dimensions is due to Kabatiansky and Levenshtein in 1978. We revisit their…
Let $\Delta$ be the optimal packing density of $\mathbb R^n$ by unit balls. We show the optimal packing density using two sizes of balls approaches $\Delta + (1 - \Delta) \Delta$ as the ratio of the radii tends to infinity. More generally,…
The question of determining the spatial geometry of the Universe is of greater relevance than ever, as precision cosmology promises to verify inflationary predictions about the curvature of the Universe. We revisit the question of what can…
The famous Kepler conjecture has a less spectacular, two-dimensional equivalent: The theorem of Thue states that the densest circle packing in the Euclidean plane has a hexagonal structure. A common proof uses Voronoi cells and analyzes…
In discrete differential geometry, it is widely believed that the discrete Gaussian curvature of a polyhedral vertex star equals the algebraic area of its Gauss image. However, no complete proof has yet been described. We present an…
Say that a subset S of the plane is a "circle-center set" if S is not a subset of a line, and whenever we choose three noncollinear points from S, the center of the unique circle through those three points is also an element of S. A problem…
We prove that the set $\{0, 1, 4, 6\}$ achieves the minimum packing density among all sets of integers with cardinality four, with a density of $\frac{1}{7}$.
We study, via the replica method of disordered systems, the packing problem of hard-spheres with a square-well attractive potential when the space dimensionality, d, becomes infinitely large. The phase diagram of the system exhibits…
We consider hard-disc mixtures with disc sizes within ratio $\sqrt{2}-1$, that is, the small disc exactly fits in the hole between four large discs. For each prescribed stoichiometry of large and small discs, the densest packings are…
Packings of identical objects have fascinated both scientists and laymen alike for centuries, in particular the sphere packings and the packings of identical regular tetrahedra. Mathematicians have tried for centuries to determine the…
We prove that for all fixed $p > 2$, the translative packing density of unit $\ell_p$-balls in $\mathbb{R}^n$ is at most $2^{(\gamma_p + o(1))n}$ with $\gamma_p < - 1/p$. This is the first exponential improvement in high dimensions since…
In the standard planar $k$-center clustering problem, one is given a set $P$ of $n$ points in the plane, and the goal is to select $k$ center points, so as to minimize the maximum distance over points in $P$ to their nearest center. Here we…
The determination of the mean density of the Universe is a long standing problem of modern cosmology. The number density evolution of x-ray clusters at a fixed temperature is a powerful cosmological test, new in nature (Oukbir and…
We provide, for any $r\in (0,1)$, lower and upper bounds on the maximal density of a packing in the Euclidean plane of discs of radius $1$ and $r$. The lower bounds are mostly folk, but the upper bounds improve the best previously known…
We study the time complexity of the discrete $k$-center problem and related (exact) geometric set cover problems when $k$ or the size of the cover is small. We obtain a plethora of new results: - We give the first subquadratic algorithm for…
How much matter is there in the universe? Does the universe have the critical density needed to stop its expansion, or is the universe underweight and destined to expand forever? We show that several independent measures, especially those…
This article sketches the proofs of two theorems about sphere packings in Euclidean 3-space. The first is K. Bezdek's strong dodecahedral conjecture: the surface area of every bounded Voronoi cell in a packing of balls of radius 1 is at…