Rigidity and invariance properties of certain geometric frameworks

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mathematics, 2002. === Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-60). === Given a degenerate (n + 1)-simplex in a n-dimensional Euclidean space Rn, which is embedded in a (n + 1)-dimensional Euclidean space Rn+l. We allow all its...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zhang, Lizhao, 1973-
Other Authors: Daniel J. Kleitman.
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8337
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Summary:Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mathematics, 2002. === Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-60). === Given a degenerate (n + 1)-simplex in a n-dimensional Euclidean space Rn, which is embedded in a (n + 1)-dimensional Euclidean space Rn+l. We allow all its vertices to have continuous motion in the space, either in Rn+l or restricted in Rn. For a given k, based on certain rules, we separate all its k-faces into 2 groups. During the motion, we give the following restriction: the volume of the k-faces in the 1st group can not increase (these faces are called "k-cables"); the volume of the k-faces in the 2nd group can not decrease ("k-struts"). We will prove that, under more conditions, all the volumes of the k-faces will be preserved for any sufficiently small motion. We also partially generalize the above result to spherical space Sn and hyperbolic space Hn. === by Lizhao Zhang. === Ph.D.