Polyiamond

Last updated

A polyiamond (also polyamond or simply iamond, or sometimes triangular polyomino [1] ) is a polyform whose base form is an equilateral triangle. The word polyiamond is a back-formation from diamond , because this word is often used to describe the shape of a pair of equilateral triangles placed base to base, and the initial 'di-' looks like a Greek prefix meaning 'two-' (though diamond actually derives from Greek ἀδάμας - also the basis for the word "adamant"). The name was suggested by recreational mathematics writer Thomas H. O'Beirne in New Scientist 1961 number 1, page 164.

Contents

Counting

The basic combinatorial question is, How many different polyiamonds exist with a given number of cells? Like polyominoes, polyiamonds may be either free or one-sided. Free polyiamonds are invariant under reflection as well as translation and rotation. One-sided polyiamonds distinguish reflections.

The number of free n-iamonds for n = 1, 2, 3, ... is:

1, 1, 1, 3, 4, 12, 24, 66, 160, ... (sequence A000577 in the OEIS ).

The number of free polyiamonds with holes is given by OEIS:  A070764 ; the number of free polyiamonds without holes is given by OEIS:  A070765 ; the number of fixed polyiamonds is given by OEIS:  A001420 ; the number of one-sided polyiamonds is given by OEIS:  A006534 .

NameNumber of formsForms
Moniamond1
Polyiamond-1-1.svg
Diamond1
Polyiamond-2-1.svg
Triamond1
Polyiamond-3-1.svg
Tetriamond3
Polyiamond-4-2.svg Polyiamond-4-1.svg Polyiamond-4-3.svg
Pentiamond4
Polyiamond-5-1.svg Polyiamond-5-2.svg Polyiamond-5-3.svg Polyiamond-5-4.svg
Hexiamond12
Polyiamond-6-1.svg Polyiamond-6-2.svg Polyiamond-6-3.svg Polyiamond-6-4.svg Polyiamond-6-5.svg Polyiamond-6-6.svg Polyiamond-6-7.svg Polyiamond-6-8.svg Polyiamond-6-9.svg Polyiamond-6-10.svg Polyiamond-6-11.svg Polyiamond-6-12.svg

Some authors also call the diamond (rhombus with a 60° angle) a calisson after the French sweet of similar shape. [2] [3]

Symmetries

Possible symmetries are mirror symmetry, 2-, 3-, and 6-fold rotational symmetry, and each combined with mirror symmetry.

2-fold rotational symmetry with and without mirror symmetry requires at least 2 and 4 triangles, respectively. 6-fold rotational symmetry with and without mirror symmetry requires at least 6 and 18 triangles, respectively. Asymmetry requires at least 5 triangles. 3-fold rotational symmetry without mirror symmetry requires at least 7 triangles.

In the case of only mirror symmetry we can distinguish having the symmetry axis aligned with the grid or rotated 30° (requires at least 4 and 3 triangles, respectively); ditto for 3-fold rotational symmetry, combined with mirror symmetry (requires at least 18 and 1 triangles, respectively).

Polyiamond Symmetries.svg

Generalizations

Like polyominoes, but unlike polyhexes, polyiamonds have three-dimensional counterparts, formed by aggregating tetrahedra. However, polytetrahedra do not tile 3-space in the way polyiamonds can tile 2-space.

Tessellations

Every polyiamond of order 8 or less tiles the plane, except for the V-heptiamond. [4]

Correspondence with polyhexes

Pentiamond with corresponding pentahex superimposed. Mondtohex.svg
Pentiamond with corresponding pentahex superimposed.

Every polyiamond corresponds to a polyhex, as illustrated at right. Conversely, every polyhex is also a polyiamond, because each hexagonal cell of a polyhex is the union of six adjacent equilateral triangles. Neither correspondence is one-to-one.

The set of 22 polyiamonds, from order 1 up to order 6, constitutes the shape of the playing pieces in the board game Blokus Trigon, where players attempt to tile a plane with as many polyiamonds as possible, subject to the game rules.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentomino</span> Geometric shape formed from five squares

Derived from the Greek word for '5', and "domino", a pentomino is a polyomino of order 5; that is, a polygon in the plane made of 5 equal-sized squares connected edge to edge. When rotations and reflections are not considered to be distinct shapes, there are 12 different free pentominoes. When reflections are considered distinct, there are 18 one-sided pentominoes. When rotations are also considered distinct, there are 63 fixed pentominoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hexagon</span> Shape with six sides

In geometry, a hexagon is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rectangle</span> Quadrilateral with four right angles

In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal ; or a parallelogram containing a right angle. A rectangle with four sides of equal length is a square. The term "oblong" is occasionally used to refer to a non-square rectangle. A rectangle with vertices ABCD would be denoted as  ABCD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyomino</span> Geometric shapes formed from squares

A polyomino is a plane geometric figure formed by joining one or more equal squares edge to edge. It is a polyform whose cells are squares. It may be regarded as a finite subset of the regular square tiling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tessellation</span> Tiling of a plane in mathematics

A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called tiles, with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety of geometries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heptagon</span> Shape with seven sides

In geometry, a heptagon or septagon is a seven-sided polygon or 7-gon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallpaper group</span> Classification of a two-dimensional repetitive pattern

A wallpaper is a mathematical object covering a whole Euclidean plane by repeating a motif indefinitely, in manner that certain isometries keep the drawing unchanged. For each wallpaper there corresponds a group of congruent transformations, with function composition as the group operation. Thus, a wallpaper group is a mathematical classification of a two‑dimensional repetitive pattern, based on the symmetries in the pattern. Such patterns occur frequently in architecture and decorative art, especially in textiles, tessellations, tiles and physical wallpaper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyform</span> 2D shape constructed by joining together identical basic polygons

In recreational mathematics, a polyform is a plane figure or solid compound constructed by joining together identical basic polygons. The basic polygon is often a convex plane-filling polygon, such as a square or a triangle. More specific names have been given to polyforms resulting from specific basic polygons, as detailed in the table below. For example, a square basic polygon results in the well-known polyominoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polydrafter</span> Geometric shape formed of right triangles

In recreational mathematics, a polydrafter is a polyform with a 30°–60°–90° right triangle as the base form. This triangle is also called a drafting triangle, hence the name. This triangle is also half of an equilateral triangle, and a polydrafter's cells must consist of halves of triangles in the triangular tiling of the plane; consequently, when two drafters share an edge that is the middle of their three edge lengths, they must be reflections rather than rotations of each other. Any contiguous subset of halves of triangles in this tiling is allowed, so unlike most polyforms, a polydrafter may have cells joined along unequal edges: a hypotenuse and a short leg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyabolo</span> Shape formed from isosceles right triangles

In recreational mathematics, a polyabolo is a shape formed by gluing isosceles right triangles edge-to-edge, making a polyform with the isosceles right triangle as the base form. Polyaboloes were introduced by Martin Gardner in his June 1967 "Mathematical Games column" in Scientific American.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyhex (mathematics)</span> Polyform with a regular hexagon as the base form

In recreational mathematics, a polyhex is a polyform with a regular hexagon as the base form, constructed by joining together 1 or more hexagons. Specific forms are named by their number of hexagons: monohex, dihex, trihex, tetrahex, etc. They were named by David Klarner who investigated them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polycube</span> Shape made from cubes joined together

A polycube is a solid figure formed by joining one or more equal cubes face to face. Polycubes are the three-dimensional analogues of the planar polyominoes. The Soma cube, the Bedlam cube, the Diabolical cube, the Slothouber–Graatsma puzzle, and the Conway puzzle are examples of packing problems based on polycubes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrakis hexahedron</span> Catalan solid with 24 faces

In geometry, a tetrakis hexahedron is a Catalan solid. Its dual is the truncated octahedron, an Archimedean solid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heptomino</span> Geometric shape formed from seven squares

A heptomino is a polyomino of order 7; that is, a polygon in the plane made of 7 equal-sized squares connected edge to edge. The name of this type of figure is formed with the prefix hept(a)-. When rotations and reflections are not considered to be distinct shapes, there are 108 different free heptominoes. When reflections are considered distinct, there are 196 one-sided heptominoes. When rotations are also considered distinct, there are 760 fixed heptominoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonomino</span> Geometric shape formed from nine squares

A nonomino is a polyomino of order 9; that is, a polygon in the plane made of 9 equal-sized squares connected edge to edge. The name of this type of figure is formed with the prefix non(a)-. When rotations and reflections are not considered to be distinct shapes, there are 1,285 different free nonominoes. When reflections are considered distinct, there are 2,500 one-sided nonominoes. When rotations are also considered distinct, there are 9,910 fixed nonominoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triangular tiling</span> Regular tiling of the plane

In geometry, the triangular tiling or triangular tessellation is one of the three regular tilings of the Euclidean plane, and is the only such tiling where the constituent shapes are not parallelogons. Because the internal angle of the equilateral triangle is 60 degrees, six triangles at a point occupy a full 360 degrees. The triangular tiling has Schläfli symbol of {3,6}.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentagonal tiling</span> A tiling of the plane by pentagons

In geometry, a pentagonal tiling is a tiling of the plane where each individual piece is in the shape of a pentagon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octomino</span> Geometric shape formed from eight squares

An octomino is a polyomino of order 8; that is, a polygon in the plane made of 8 equal-sized squares connected edge to edge. When rotations and reflections are not considered to be distinct shapes, there are 369 different free octominoes. When reflections are considered distinct, there are 704 one-sided octominoes. When rotations are also considered distinct, there are 2,725 fixed octominoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octadecagon</span> Polygon with 18 edges

In geometry, an octadecagon or 18-gon is an eighteen-sided polygon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rep-tile</span> Shape subdivided into copies of itself

In the geometry of tessellations, a rep-tile or reptile is a shape that can be dissected into smaller copies of the same shape. The term was coined as a pun on animal reptiles by recreational mathematician Solomon W. Golomb and popularized by Martin Gardner in his "Mathematical Games" column in the May 1963 issue of Scientific American. In 2012 a generalization of rep-tiles called self-tiling tile sets was introduced by Lee Sallows in Mathematics Magazine.

References