Rigidity and Flexibility of Geometric Structures

The mathematical study of the rigidity and flexibility of discrete structures can be traced back to classical work of Euler, Cauchy and Maxwell on the rigidity of polyhedra and skeletal frames. The subject has increased its international visibility as an active research area over the last 5 years, drawing on diverse areas of mathematics and engaging with a growing range of applications. The activity is driven in part by the solution of some  longstanding open problems and by connections with nearby mathematical areas, such as distance geometry and topology.

Both theoretical (combinatorics, algorithms, discrete and algebraic geometry) and applied (materials geometry, robot kinematics, symbolic computation) aspects of rigidity and flexibility are flourishing and influencing each other.

In simple terms, the geometric and combinatorial rigidity community focuses on multiple approaches for detecting whether an input set of polynomial equations representing a geometric constraint system (a) has a solution (independence), (b) has continuous paths of solutions (flexibility), (c) has locally isolated solutions (rigidity), or (d) has exactly one solution up to a space of ``trivial'' transformations in the chosen geometry (global rigidity).

The workshop will focus on the following key topics:

- Flexibility of structures, linkages and their configuration spaces; - Combinatorial rigidity, algorithms and enumeration problems; - Global rigidity, graph realisations and applications.
Schedule (pdf)  Abstracts (pdf)

Coming soon.

There is currently no participant information available for this event.
At a glance
Type:
Workshop
When:
Sept. 24, 2018 — Sept. 28, 2018
Organizer(s):
Georg Nawratil (TU Vienna)
Anthony Nixon (LU)
Josef Schicho (JKU, Linz)
Brigitte Servatius (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
More:
Website