Tilings with the neighborhood property

The neighborhood N(T) of a tile T is the set of all tiles which meet T in at least one point. If for each tile T there is a different tile T1 such that N(T)=N(T1) then we say the tiling has the neighborhood property (NEBP). Grünbaum and Shepard conjecture that it is impossible to have a monohedral t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Linda S. Fosnaugh, Earl S. Kramer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1996-01-01
Series:International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/S0161171296000063
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Summary:The neighborhood N(T) of a tile T is the set of all tiles which meet T in at least one point. If for each tile T there is a different tile T1 such that N(T)=N(T1) then we say the tiling has the neighborhood property (NEBP). Grünbaum and Shepard conjecture that it is impossible to have a monohedral tiling of the plane such that every tile T has two different tiles T1, T2 with N(T)=N(T1)=N(T2). If all tiles are convex we show this conjecture is true by characterizing the convex plane tilings with NEBP. More precisely we prove that a convex plane tiling with NEBP has only triangular tiles and each tile has a 3-valent vertex. Removing 3-valent vertices and the incident edges from such a tiling yields an edge-to-edge planar triangulation. Conversely, given any edge-to-edge planar triangulation followed by insertion of a vertex and three edges that triangulate each triangle yields a convex plane tiling with NEBP. We exhibit an infinite family of nonconvex monohedral plane tilings with NEBP. We briefly discuss tilings of R3 with NEBP and exhibit a monohedral tetrahedral tiling of R3 with NEBP.
ISSN:0161-1712
1687-0425