120-cell

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120-cell
120-cell
Schlegel diagram
(vertices and edges)
Type Convex regular 4-polytope
Vertices 600
Edges 1200
Faces 720 {5}
Cell 120 (5.5.5)
Vertex figure
tetrahedron
Schläfli symbol {5,3,3}
Coxeter-Dynkin diagram Image:CDW_ring.pngImage:CDW_5.pngImage:CDW_dot.pngImage:CDW_3.pngImage:CDW_dot.pngImage:CDW_3b.pngImage:CDW_dot.png
Petrie polygon 30-gon
Coxeter group H4, [3,3,5]
Dual 600-cell
Properties convex
Uniform index 31 32 33
Vertex figure: tetrahedron
formed by 4 dodecahedral cells meeting at each vertex:

In geometry, the 120-cell (or hecatonicosachoron) is the convex regular 4-polytope with Schläfli symbol {5,3,3}.

The boundary of the 120-cell is composed of 120 dodecahedral cells with 4 meeting at each vertex.

It can be thought of as the 4-dimensional analog of the dodecahedron and has been called a dodecaplex (short for "dodecahedral complex") and polydodecahedron. Just as a dodecahedron can be built up as a model with 12 pentagons, 3 around each vertex, the dodecaplex can be built up from 120 dodecahedrons, with 3 around each edge.

Contents

[edit] Elements

  • There are 120 cells, 720 pentagonal faces, 1200 edges, and 600 vertices.
  • There are 4 dodecahedra, 6 pentagons, and 4 edges meeting at every vertex.
  • There are 3 dodecahedra and 3 pentagons meeting every edge.

[edit] Cartesian coordinates

The 600 vertices of the 120-cell include all permutations of

(0, 0, ±2, ±2)
(±1, ±1, ±1, ±√5)
(±φ-2, ±φ, ±φ, ±φ)
(±φ-1, ±φ-1, ±φ-1, ±φ2)

and all even permutations of

(0, ±φ-2, ±1, ±φ2)
(0, ±φ-1, ±φ, ±√5)
(±φ-1, ±1, ±φ, ±2)

where φ (also called τ) is the golden ratio, (1+√5)/2.

[edit] Projections

[edit] Projections into 2D

2D orthographic projections

Vertex-centered

Skew projection inside 30-gonal Petrie polygon

Centered on pentagon

[edit] Projections into 3D

Comparison with regular dodecahedron
Projection Dodecahedron Dodecaplex
Schlegel diagram
12 pentagon faces in the plane

120 dodecahedral cells in 3-space
Stereographic projection
With transparent faces
Perspective projection
Cell-first perspective projection at 5 times the distance from the center to a vertex, with these enhancements applied:
  • Nearest dodecahedron to the 4D viewpoint rendered in yellow
  • The 12 dodecahedra immediately adjoining it rendered in cyan;
  • The remaining dodecahedra rendered in green;
  • Cells facing away from the 4D viewpoint (those lying on the "far side" of the 120-cell) culled to minimize clutter in the final image.
Vertex-first perspective projection at 5 times the distance from center to a vertex, with these enhancements:
  • Four cells surrounding nearest vertex shown in 4 colors
  • Nearest vertex shown in white (center of image where 4 cells meet)
  • Remaining cells shown in transparent green
  • Cells facing away from 4D viewpoint culled for clarity

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • H. S. M. Coxeter, Regular Polytopes, 3rd. ed., Dover Publications, 1973. ISBN 0-486-61480-8.
  • Kaleidoscopes: Selected Writings of H.S.M. Coxeter, editied by F. Arthur Sherk, Peter McMullen, Anthony C. Thompson, Asia Ivic Weiss, Wiley-Interscience Publication, 1995, ISBN 978-0-471-01003-6 [1]
    • (Paper 22) H.S.M. Coxeter, Regular and Semi-Regular Polytopes I, [Math. Zeit. 46 (1940) 380-407, MR 2,10]
    • (Paper 23) H.S.M. Coxeter, Regular and Semi-Regular Polytopes II, [Math. Zeit. 188 (1985) 559-591]
    • (Paper 24) H.S.M. Coxeter, Regular and Semi-Regular Polytopes III, [Math. Zeit. 200 (1988) 3-45]
  • J.H. Conway and M.J.T. Guy: Four-Dimensional Archimedean Polytopes, Proceedings of the Colloquium on Convexity at Copenhagen, page 38 und 39, 1965
  • N.W. Johnson: The Theory of Uniform Polytopes and Honeycombs, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Toronto, 1966
  • M. Möller: Definitions and computations to the Platonic and Archimedean polyhedrons, thesis (diploma), University of Hamburg, 2001

[edit] External links

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