We develop methods for constructing explicit generators, modulo torsion, of the $K_3$-groups of imaginary quadratic number fields. These methods are based on either tessellations of hyperbolic $3$-space or on direct calculations in suitable pre-Bloch groups and lead to the very first proven examples of explicit generators, modulo torsion, of any infinite $K_3$-group of a number field. As part of this approach, we make several improvements to the theory of Bloch groups for $ K_3 $ of any field, predict the precise power of $2$ that should occur in the Lichtenbaum conjecture at $ -1 $ and prove that this prediction is valid for all abelian number fields.

Frieze patterns, as introduced by Coxeter in the 1970s, are closely related to cluster algebras without coefficients. A suitable generalization of frieze patterns, linked to cluster algebras with coefficients, has only briefly appeared in an unpublished manuscript by Propp. In this paper, we study these frieze patterns with coefficients systematically and prove various fundamental results, generalizing classic results for frieze patterns. As a consequence, we see how frieze patterns with coefficients can be obtained from classic frieze patterns by cutting out subpolygons from the triangulated polygons associated with classic Conway–Coxeter frieze patterns. We address the question of which frieze patterns with coefficients can be obtained in this way and solve this problem completely for triangles. Finally, we prove a finiteness result for frieze patterns with coefficients by showing that for a given boundary sequence there are only finitely many (nonzero) frieze patterns with coefficients with entries in a subset of the complex numbers without an accumulation point.

In the classical setting, a convex polytope is said to be semiregular if its facets are regular and its symmetry group is transitive on vertices. This paper continues our study of alternating semiregular abstract polytopes, which have abstract regular facets, still with combinatorial automorphism group transitive on vertices and with two kinds of regular facets occurring in an alternating fashion.

Our main concern here is the universal polytope ${\mathcal{U}}_{{\mathcal{P}},{\mathcal{Q}}}$, an alternating semiregular $(n+1)$-polytope defined for any pair of regular $n$-polytopes ${\mathcal{P}},{\mathcal{Q}}$ with isomorphic facets. After a careful look at the local structure of these objects, we develop the combinatorial machinery needed to explain how ${\mathcal{U}}_{{\mathcal{P}},{\mathcal{Q}}}$ can be constructed by “freely assembling” unlimited copies of ${\mathcal{P}}$, ${\mathcal{Q}}$ along their facets in alternating fashion. We then examine the connection group of ${\mathcal{U}}_{{\mathcal{P}},{\mathcal{Q}}}$, and from that prove that ${\mathcal{U}}_{{\mathcal{P}},{\mathcal{Q}}}$ covers any $(n+1)$-polytope ${\mathcal{B}}$ whose facets alternate in any way between various quotients of ${\mathcal{P}}$ or ${\mathcal{Q}}$.

We construct a family of self-affine tiles in $\mathbb{R}^{d}$ ($d\geqslant 2$) with noncollinear digit sets, which naturally generalizes a class studied originally by Q.-R. Deng and K.-S. Lau in $\mathbb{R}^{2}$, and its extension to $\mathbb{R}^{3}$ by the authors. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the tiles to be connected and for their interiors to be contractible.

In 1885, Fedorov discovered that a convex domain can form a lattice tiling of the Euclidean plane if and only if it is a parallelogram or a centrally symmetric hexagon. This paper proves the following results. Except for parallelograms and centrally symmetric hexagons, there are no other convex domains that can form two-, three- or four-fold lattice tilings in the Euclidean plane. However, there are both octagons and decagons that can form five-fold lattice tilings. Whenever $n\geqslant 3$, there are non-parallelohedral polytopes that can form five-fold lattice tilings in the $n$-dimensional Euclidean space.

In the full rectangular version of Gilbert's planar tessellation (see Gilbert (1967), Mackisack and Miles (1996), and Burridge et al. (2013)), lines extend either horizontally (with east- and west-growing rays) or vertically (north- and south-growing rays) from seed points which form a stationary Poisson point process, each ray stopping when it meets another ray that has blocked its path. In the half-Gilbert rectangular version, east- and south-growing rays, whilst having the potential to block each other, do not interact with west and north rays, and vice versa. East- and south-growing rays have a reciprocality of blocking, as do west and north. In this paper we significantly expand and simplify the half-Gilbert analytic results that we gave in Burridge et al. (2013). We also show how the idea of reciprocality of blocking between rays can be used in a much wider context, with rays not necessarily orthogonal and with seeds that produce more than two rays.

We investigate the ray-length distributions for two different rectangular versions of Gilbert's tessellation (see Gilbert (1967)). In the full rectangular version, lines extend either horizontally (east- and west-growing rays) or vertically (north- and south-growing rays) from seed points which form a Poisson point process, each ray stopping when another ray is met. In the half rectangular version, east- and south-growing rays do not interact with west and north rays. For the half rectangular tessellation, we compute analytically, via recursion, a series expansion for the ray-length distribution, whilst, for the full rectangular version, we develop an accurate simulation technique, based in part on the stopping-set theory for Poisson processes (see Zuyev (1999)), to accomplish the same. We demonstrate the remarkable fact that plots of the two distributions appear to be identical when the intensity of seeds in the half model is twice that in the full model. In this paper we explore this coincidence, mindful of the fact that, for one model, our results are from a simulation (with inherent sampling error). We go on to develop further analytic theory for the half-Gilbert model using stopping-set ideas once again, with some novel features. Using our theory, we obtain exact expressions for the first and second moments of the ray length in the half-Gilbert model. For all practical purposes, these results can be applied to the full-Gilbert model—as much better approximations than those provided by Mackisack and Miles (1996).

In this article, we study the correspondence between the geometry of del Pezzo surfaces ${{s}_{r}}$ and the geometry of the $r$-dimensional Gosset polytopes (${{(r-4)}_{21}}$. We construct Gosset polytopes ${{(r-4)}_{21}}$ in Pic ${{S}_{r}}\,\otimes \,\mathbb{Q}$ whose vertices are lines, and we identify divisor classes in Pic ${{s}_{r}}$ corresponding to $(a-1)$-simplexes $(a\le r)$, $(r-1)$-simplexes and $(r-1)$-crosspolytopes of the polytope ${{(r-4)}_{21}}$. Then we explain how these classes correspond to skew $a$-lines$(a\le r)$, exceptional systems, and rulings, respectively.

As an application, we work on the monoidal transform for lines to study the local geometry of the polytope ${{(r-4)}_{21}}$. And we show that the Gieser transformation and the Bertini transformation induce a symmetry of polytopes ${{3}_{21}}$ and ${{4}_{21}}$, respectively.

Perfect colouring of isonemal fabrics by thick striping of warp and weft and the closely related topic of isonemal prefabrics that fall apart are reconsidered and their relation further explored. The catalogue of isonemal prefabrics of genus V that fall apart is extended to order 20 with designs that can be used to weave cubes with colour symmetry as well as weaving symmetry.

An abstract polytope of rank $n$ is said to be chiral if its automorphism group has precisely two orbits on the flags, such that adjacent flags belong to distinct orbits. This paper describes a general method for deriving new finite chiral polytopes from old finite chiral polytopes of the same rank. In particular, the technique is used to construct many new examples in ranks 3, 4, and 5.

Tessellations of R3 that use convex polyhedral cells to fill the space can be extremely complicated. This is especially so for tessellations which are not ‘facet-to-facet’, that is, for those where the facets of a cell do not necessarily coincide with the facets of that cell's neighbours. Adjacency concepts between neighbouring cells (or between neighbouring cell elements) are not easily formulated when facets do not coincide. In this paper we make the first systematic study of these topological relationships when a tessellation of R3 is not facet-to-facet. The results derived can also be applied to the simpler facet-to-facet case. Our study deals with both random tessellations and deterministic ‘tilings’. Some new theory for planar tessellations is also given.

For every polytope $\mathcal{P}$ there is the universal regular polytope of the same rank as $\mathcal{P}$ corresponding to the Coxeter group $\mathcal{C}\,=\,\left[ \infty ,\,.\,.\,.\,,\,\infty \right]$. For a given automorphism $d$ of $\mathcal{C}$, using monodromy groups, we construct a combinatorial structure ${{P}^{d}}$. When ${{P}^{d}}$ is a polytope isomorphic to $\mathcal{P}$ we say that $\mathcal{P}$ is self-invariant with respect to $d$, or $d$-invariant. We develop algebraic tools for investigating these operations on polytopes, and in particular give a criterion on the existence of a $d$-automorphism of a given order. As an application, we analyze properties of self-dual edge-transitive polyhedra and polyhedra with two flag-orbits. We investigate properties of medials of such polyhedra. Furthermore, we give an example of a self-dual equivelar polyhedron which contains no polarity (duality of order 2). We also extend the concept of Petrie dual to higher dimensions, and we show how it can be dealt with using self-invariance.

The paper studies modular reduction techniques for abstract regular and chiral polytopes, with two purposes in mind: first, to survey the literature about modular reduction in polytopes; and second, to apply modular reduction, with moduli given by primes in $\mathbb{Z}\left[ \tau \right]$ (with $\tau$ the golden ratio), to construct new regular 4-polytopes of hyperbolic types $\{3,\,5,\,3\}$ and $\{5,\,3,\,5\}$ with automorphism groups given by finite orthogonal groups.

A star is a planar set of three lines through a common point in which the angle between each pair is 60∘.A set of lines through a point in which the angle between each pair of lines is 60 or 90∘ is star-closed if for every pair of its lines at 60∘ the set contains the third line of the star. In 1976 Cameron, Goethals, Seidel and Shult showed that the indecomposable star-closed sets in Euclidean space are the root systems of types An, Dn, E6, E7 and E8. This result was a key part of their determination of all graphs with least eigenvalue −2. Subsequently, Cvetković, Rowlinson and Simić determined all star-closed extensions of these line systems. We generalize this result on extensions of line systems to complex n-space equipped with a hermitian inner product. There is one further infinite family, and two exceptional types arising from Burkhardt and Mitchell’s complex reflection groups in dimensions five and six. The proof is a geometric version of Mitchell’s classification of complex reflection groups in dimensions greater than four.

It is shown here that, for $n\ge 2$, the $n$-torus is the only $n$-dimensional compact euclidean space-form which can admit a regular or chiral tessellation. Further, such a tessellation can only be chiral if $n\,=\,2$.

We determine and completely describe all pure realizations of the finite regular toroidal polyhedra of types {3, 6} and {6, 3}.

The regular star-polyhedron $\left\{ 5,\,\frac{5}{2} \right\}$ is isomorphic to the abstract polyhedron $\left\{ 5,\,5|3 \right\}$, where the last entry “3” in its symbol denotes the size of a hole, given by the imposition of a certain extra relation on the group of the hyperbolic honeycomb $\left\{ 5,\,5 \right\}$. Here, analogous formulations are found for the groups of the regular 4-dimensional star-polytopes, and for those of the non-discrete regular 4-dimensional honeycombs. In all cases, the extra group relations to be imposed on the corresponding Coxeter groups are those arising from “deep holes”; thus the abstract description of $\left\{ 5,\,{{3}^{k}},\,\frac{5}{2} \right\}\,\text{is}\,\left\{ 5,\,{{3}^{k}},\,5|3 \right\}\,\text{for}\,k\,=\,1\,\text{or}\,\text{2}$. The non-discrete quasi-regular honeycombs in ${{\mathbb{E}}^{3}}$, on the other hand, are not determined in an analogous way.

A planar graph contains faces which can be classified into types depending on the number of edges on the face boundaries. Under various natural rules for randomly dividing faces by the addition of new edges, we investigate the limiting distribution of face type as the number of divisions increases.

Abstract polytopes are discrete geometric structures which generalize the classical notion of a convex polytope. Chiral polytopes are those abstract polytopes which have maximal symmetry by rotation, in contrast to the abstract regular polytopes which have maximal symmetry by reflection. Chirality is a fascinating phenomenon which does not occur in the classical theory. The paper proves the following general extension result for chiral polytopes. If 𝒦 is a chiral polytope with regular facets 𝓕 then among all chiral polytopes with facets 𝒦 there is a universal such polytope 𝓟, whose group is a certain amalgamated product of the groups of 𝒦 and 𝓕. Finite extensions are also discussed.

We define an arrangement of pseudohyperplanes as an image of a topological sphere arrangement with appropriate intersections, and prove that the complement components are then homologically trivial. We apply this to extend a formula of Winder and Zaslavsky.