Bisector fields of quadrilaterals, arXiv:2305.11762
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: Working over a field of characteristic other than 2, we examine a relationship between quadrilaterals and the pencil of conics passing through their vertices. Asymptotically, such a pencil of conics is what we call a bisector field, a set 𝔹 of paired lines such that each line ℓ in 𝔹 simultaneously bisects each pair in 𝔹 in the sense that ℓ crosses the pairs of lines in 𝔹 in pairs of points that all share the same midpoint. We show that a quadrilateral induces a geometry on the affine plane via an inner product, under which we examine pencils of conics and pairs of bisectors of a quadrilateral. We show also how bisectors give a new interpretation of some classically studied features of quadrangles, such as the nine-point conic. Submitted 19 May, 2023; originally announced May 2023.
[pdf, additional images)
Bisector fields and pencils of conics, arXiv:2305.08324
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: Working over a field of characteristic other than 2, we show that the degenerations of the conics in a nontrivial pencil of affine conics form an arrangement of pairs of lines that we call a bisector field, a maximal set B of paired lines such that each line in B simultaneously bisects each pair in B. Conversely, every bisector field arises this way from a pencil of affine conics.
Submitted 14 May, 2023; originally announced May 2023
[pdf, additional images)
Rectangles conformally inscribed in lines, J. Geom. 113, 9 (2022)
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: A parallelogram is conformally inscribed in four lines in the plane if it is inscribed in a scaled copy of the configuration of four lines. We describe the geometry of the three-dimensional Euclidean space whose points are the parallelograms conformally inscribed in sequence in these four lines. In doing so, we describe the flow of inscribed rectangles by introducing a compact model of the rectangle inscription problem.
Submitted 2 August, 2021; originally announced August 2021.
[pdf, additional images)
Paths of rectangles inscribed in lines over fields, Beitr Algebra Geom (2022)
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: We study rectangles inscribed in lines in the plane by parametrizing these rectangles in two ways, one involving slope and the other aspect ratio. This produces two paths, one that finds rectangles with specified slope and the other rectangles with specified aspect ratio. We describe the geometry of these paths and its dependence on the choice of four lines. Our methods are algebraic and work over an arbitrary field. Submitted 16 December, 2020; v1 submitted 25 June, 2020; originally announced June 2020.
[pdf, additional images]
The conic geometry of rectangles inscribed in lines, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 149 (2021), 2625-2638
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: We develop a circle of ideas involving pairs of lines in the plane, intersections of hyperbolically rotated elliptical cones and the locus of the centers of rectangles inscribed in lines in the plane. Submitted 2 August, 2021; v1 submitted 15 August, 2019; originally announced August 2019.
[pdf, additional images]
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: Working over a field of characteristic other than 2, we examine a relationship between quadrilaterals and the pencil of conics passing through their vertices. Asymptotically, such a pencil of conics is what we call a bisector field, a set 𝔹 of paired lines such that each line ℓ in 𝔹 simultaneously bisects each pair in 𝔹 in the sense that ℓ crosses the pairs of lines in 𝔹 in pairs of points that all share the same midpoint. We show that a quadrilateral induces a geometry on the affine plane via an inner product, under which we examine pencils of conics and pairs of bisectors of a quadrilateral. We show also how bisectors give a new interpretation of some classically studied features of quadrangles, such as the nine-point conic. Submitted 19 May, 2023; originally announced May 2023.
[pdf, additional images)
Bisector fields and pencils of conics, arXiv:2305.08324
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: Working over a field of characteristic other than 2, we show that the degenerations of the conics in a nontrivial pencil of affine conics form an arrangement of pairs of lines that we call a bisector field, a maximal set B of paired lines such that each line in B simultaneously bisects each pair in B. Conversely, every bisector field arises this way from a pencil of affine conics.
Submitted 14 May, 2023; originally announced May 2023
[pdf, additional images)
Rectangles conformally inscribed in lines, J. Geom. 113, 9 (2022)
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: A parallelogram is conformally inscribed in four lines in the plane if it is inscribed in a scaled copy of the configuration of four lines. We describe the geometry of the three-dimensional Euclidean space whose points are the parallelograms conformally inscribed in sequence in these four lines. In doing so, we describe the flow of inscribed rectangles by introducing a compact model of the rectangle inscription problem.
Submitted 2 August, 2021; originally announced August 2021.
[pdf, additional images)
Paths of rectangles inscribed in lines over fields, Beitr Algebra Geom (2022)
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: We study rectangles inscribed in lines in the plane by parametrizing these rectangles in two ways, one involving slope and the other aspect ratio. This produces two paths, one that finds rectangles with specified slope and the other rectangles with specified aspect ratio. We describe the geometry of these paths and its dependence on the choice of four lines. Our methods are algebraic and work over an arbitrary field. Submitted 16 December, 2020; v1 submitted 25 June, 2020; originally announced June 2020.
[pdf, additional images]
The conic geometry of rectangles inscribed in lines, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 149 (2021), 2625-2638
Authors: Bruce Olberding, Elaine A. Walker
Abstract: We develop a circle of ideas involving pairs of lines in the plane, intersections of hyperbolically rotated elliptical cones and the locus of the centers of rectangles inscribed in lines in the plane. Submitted 2 August, 2021; v1 submitted 15 August, 2019; originally announced August 2019.
[pdf, additional images]