List of regular polytopes
This page lists the regular polytopes in Euclidean, spherical and hyperbolic spaces. Clicking on any picture will magnify it.
The Schläfli symbol notation describes every regular polytope, and is used widely below as a compact reference name for each.
The regular polytopes are grouped by dimension and subgrouped by convex, nonconvex and infinite forms. Nonconvex forms use the same vertices as the convex forms, but have intersecting facets. Infinite forms tessellate a one lower dimensional Euclidean space.
Infinite forms can be extended to tessellate a hyperbolic space. Hyperbolic space is like normal space at a small scale, but parallel lines diverge at a distance. This allows vertex figures to have negative angle defects, like making a vertex with 7 equilateral triangles and allowing it to lie flat. It cannot be done in a regular plane, but can be at the right scale of a hyperbolic plane.
Overview [edit]
This table shows a summary of regular polytope counts by dimension.
| Dimension | Convex | Nonconvex | Convex Euclidean tessellations |
Convex hyperbolic tessellations |
Nonconvex hyperbolic tessellations |
Hyperbolic Tessellations with infinite cells and/or vertex figures |
Abstract Polytopes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 line segment | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | ∞ polygons | ∞ star polygons | 3 tilings | 1 | 0 | 0 | ∞ |
| 3 | 5 Platonic solids | 4 Kepler–Poinsot solids | 1 honeycomb | ∞ | ∞ | 0 | ∞ |
| 4 | 6 convex polychora | 10 Schläfli–Hess polychora | 3 tessellations | 4 | 0 | 11 | ∞ |
| 5 | 3 convex 5-polytopes | 0 | 1 tessellation | 5 | 4 | 2 | ∞ |
| 6 | 3 convex 6-polytopes | 0 | 1 tessellation | 0 | 0 | 5 | ∞ |
| 7+ | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ∞ |
There are no nonconvex Euclidean regular tessellations in any number of dimensions.
Tessellations [edit]
The classical convex polytopes may be considered tessellations, or tilings, of spherical space. Tessellations of euclidean and hyperbolic space may also be considered regular polytopes. Note that an 'n'-dimensional polytope actually tessellates a space of one dimension less. For example, the (three dimensional) platonic solids tessellate the 'two'-dimensional 'surface' of the sphere.
One-dimensional regular polytope [edit]
There is only one polytope in 1 dimensions, whose boundaries are the two endpoints of a line segment, represented by the empty Schläfli symbol {}.
Two-dimensional regular polytopes [edit]
The two dimensional polytopes are called polygons. Regular polygons are equilateral and cyclic. A p-gonal regular polygon is represented by Schläfli symbol {p}.
Usually only convex polygons are considered regular, but star polygons, like the pentagram, can also be considered regular. They use the same vertices as the convex forms, but connect in an alternate connectivity which passes around the circle more than once to complete.
Star polygons should be called nonconvex rather than concave because the intersecting edges do not generate new vertices and all the vertices exist on a circle boundary.
Convex [edit]
The Schläfli symbol {p} represents a regular p-gon.
| Name | Triangle (2-simplex) |
Square (2-orthoplex) (2-cube) |
Pentagon | Hexagon | Heptagon | Octagon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schläfli | {3} | {4} | {5} | {6} | {7} | {8} | |
| Coxeter | |||||||
| Image | |||||||
| Name | Enneagon | Decagon | Hendecagon | Dodecagon | Tridecagon | Tetradecagon | |
| Schläfli | {9} | {10} | {11} | {12} | {13} | {14} | |
| Dynkin | |||||||
| Image | |||||||
| Name | Pentadecagon | Hexadecagon | Heptadecagon | Octadecagon | Enneadecagon | Icosagon | ...p-gon |
| Schläfli | {15} | {16} | {17} | {18} | {19} | {20} | {p} |
| Dynkin | |||||||
| Image |
Degenerate (spherical) [edit]
The regular henagon {1} and regular digon {2} can be considered degenerate regular polygons. They can exist nondegenerately in non-Euclidean spaces like on the surface of a sphere or torus.
| Name | Henagon | Digon |
|---|---|---|
| Schläfli symbol | {1} | {2} |
| Coxeter diagram | ||
| Image |
Non-convex [edit]
There exist infinitely many non-convex regular polytopes in two dimensions, whose Schläfli symbols consist of rational numbers {n/m}. They are called star polygons and share the same vertex arrangements of the convex regular polygons.
In general, for any natural number n, there are n-pointed non-convex regular polygonal stars with Schläfli symbols {n/m} for all m such that m < n/2 (strictly speaking {n/m}={n/(n−m)}) and m and n are coprime.
| Name | Pentagram | Heptagrams | Octagram | Enneagrams | Decagram | ...n-agrams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schläfli | {5/2} | {7/2} | {7/3} | {8/3} | {9/2} | {9/4} | {10/3} | {p/q} |
| Coxeter | ||||||||
| Image | ||||||||
Tessellation [edit]
There is one tessellation of the line, giving one polytope, the (two-dimensional) apeirogon. This has infinitely many vertices and edges. Its Schläfli symbol is {∞}, and Coxeter diagram ![]()
![]()
.
Three-dimensional regular polytopes [edit]
In three dimensions, polytopes are called polyhedra:
A regular polyhedron with Schläfli symbol
has a regular face type
, and regular vertex figure
.
A vertex figure (of a polyhedron) is a polygon, seen by connecting those vertices which are one edge away from a given vertex. For regular polyhedra, this vertex figure is always a regular (and planar) polygon.
Existence of a regular polyhedron
is constrained by an inequality, related to the vertex figure's angle defect:
: Polyhedron (existing in Euclidean 3-space)
: Euclidean plane tiling
: Hyperbolic plane tiling
By enumerating the permutations, we find 5 convex forms, 4 nonconvex forms and 3 plane tilings, all with polygons
and
limited to:
, and
.
Beyond Euclidean space, there is an infinite set of regular hyperbolic tilings.
Convex [edit]
The convex regular polyhedra are called the 5 Platonic solids. The vertex figure is given with each vertex count. All these polyhedra have an Euler characteristic (χ) of 2.
| Name | Schläfli {p,q} |
Coxeter |
Image (transparent) |
Image (solid) |
Image (sphere) |
Faces {p} |
Edges | Vertices {q} |
Symmetry | Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tetrahedron (3-simplex) (Triangular pyramid) |
{3,3} | 4 {3} |
6 | 4 {3} |
Td | (self) | ||||
| Cube (3-cube) (Hexahedron) |
{4,3} | 6 {4} |
12 | 8 {3} |
Oh | Octahedron | ||||
| Octahedron (3-orthoplex) |
{3,4} | 8 {3} |
12 | 6 {4} |
Oh | Cube | ||||
| Dodecahedron | {5,3} | 12 {5} |
30 | 20 {3} |
Ih | Icosahedron | ||||
| Icosahedron | {3,5} | 20 {3} |
30 | 12 {5} |
Ih | Dodecahedron |
Degenerate (spherical) [edit]
In spherical geometry, the hosohedra {2,n}, dihedra {n,2} and henagonal henahedron {1,1} can be considered regular polyhedra (tilings of the sphere).
Some include:
| Name | Schläfli {p,q} |
Coxeter diagram |
Image (sphere) |
Faces {p} |
Edges | Vertices {q} |
Symmetry | Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henagonal henahedron | {1,1} | 1 {1} |
0 | 1 {1} |
C1 (*1) |
Self | ||
| Henagonal dihedron | {1,2} | 2 {1} |
1 | 1 {2} |
C1v (*22) |
Henagonal hosohedron | ||
| Henagonal hosohedron | {2,1} | 1 {2} |
1 | 2 {1} |
C1v (*22) |
Henagonal dihedron | ||
| Digonal dihedron Digonal hosohedron |
{2,2} | 2 {2} |
2 | 2 {2} |
D2h (*222) |
Self | ||
| Trigonal hosohedron | {2,3} | 3 {2} |
3 | 2 {3} |
D3h (*322) |
Trigonal dihedron | ||
| Trigonal dihedron | {3,2} | 2 {3} |
3 | 3 {2} |
D3h (*322) |
Trigonal hosohedron | ||
| Hexagonal hosohedron | {2,6} | 6 {2} |
6 | 2 {6} |
D6h (*622) |
Hexagonal dihedron | ||
| Hexagonal dihedron | {6,2} | 2 {6} |
6 | 6 {2} |
D6h (*622) |
Hexagonal hosohedron |
Non-convex [edit]
The regular star polyhedra are called the Kepler–Poinsot polyhedra and there are four of them, based on the vertex arrangements of the dodecahedron {5,3} and icosahedron {3,5}:
As spherical tilings, these nonconvex forms overlap the sphere multiple times, called its density, being 3 or 7 for these forms. The tiling images show a single spherical polygon face in yellow.
| Name | Image (transparent) |
Image (solid) |
Image (sphere) |
Stellation diagram |
Schläfli {p,q} and Coxeter-Dynkin |
Faces {p} |
Edges | Vertices {q} verf. |
χ | Density | Symmetry | Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small stellated dodecahedron | {5/2,5} |
12 {5/2} |
30 | 12 {5} |
−6 | 3 | Ih | Great dodecahedron | ||||
| Great dodecahedron | {5,5/2} |
12 {5} |
30 | 12 {5/2} |
−6 | 3 | Ih | Small stellated dodecahedron | ||||
| Great stellated dodecahedron | {5/2,3} |
12 {5/2} |
30 | 20 {3} |
2 | 7 | Ih | Great icosahedron | ||||
| Great icosahedron | {3,5/2} |
20 {3} |
30 | 12 {5/2} |
2 | 7 | Ih | Great stellated dodecahedron |
Tessellations [edit]
Euclidean tilings [edit]
There are three regular tessellations of the plane. All three have an Euler characteristic (χ) of 0.
| Name | Square tiling (Quadrille) |
Triangular tiling (Deltille) |
Hexagonal tiling (Hextille) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schläfli {p,q} | {4,4} | {3,6} | {6,3} |
| Coxeter diagram | |||
| Image | |||
| Symmetry | *442 (p4m) |
*632 (p6m) |
|
There is one degenerate regular tiling, {∞,2}, made from two apeirogons, each filling half the plane. This tiling is related to a 2-faced dihedron, {p,2}, on the sphere.
Euclidean star-tilings [edit]
There are no regular plane tilings of star polygons. There are many enumerations that fit in the plane (1/p + 1/q = 1/2), like {8/3,8}, {10/3,5}, {5/2,10}, {12/5,12}, etc., but none repeat periodically.
Hyperbolic tilings [edit]
Tessellations of hyperbolic 2-space can be called hyperbolic tilings. There are infinitely many regular tilings in H2. As stated above, every positive integer pair {p,q} such that 1/p + 1/q < 1/2 gives a hyperbolic tiling. In fact, for the general Schwarz triangle (p, q, r) the same holds true for 1/p + 1/q + 1/r < 1.
There are a number of different ways to display the hyperbolic plane, including the Poincaré disc model which maps the plane into a circle, as shown below. It should be recognized that all of the polygon faces in the tilings below are equal-sized and only appear to get smaller near the edges due to the projection applied, very similar to the effect of a camera fisheye lens.
A sampling:
| p \ q | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ... | ∞ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | (tetrahedron) {3,3} |
(octahedron) {3,4} |
(icosahedron) {3,5} |
(deltille) {3,6} |
{3,7} |
{3,8} |
{3,∞} |
|
| 4 | (cube) {4,3} |
(quadrille) {4,4} |
{4,5} |
{4,6} |
{4,7} |
{4,8} |
{4,∞} |
|
| 5 | (dodecahedron) {5,3} |
{5,4} |
{5,5} |
{5,6} |
{5,7} |
{5,8} |
{5,∞} |
|
| 6 | (hextille) {6,3} |
{6,4} |
{6,5} |
{6,6} |
{6,7} |
{6,8} |
{6,∞} |
|
| 7 | {7,3} |
{7,4} |
{7,5} |
{7,6} |
{7,7} |
{7,8} |
{7,∞} |
|
| 8 | {8,3} |
{8,4} |
{8,5} |
{8,6} |
{8,7} |
{8,8} |
{8,∞} |
|
| ... | ||||||||
| ∞ | {∞,3} |
{∞,4} |
{∞,5} |
{∞,6} |
{∞,7} |
{∞,8} |
{∞,∞} |
|
Hyperbolic star-tilings [edit]
There are 2 infinite forms of hyperbolic tilings whose faces or vertex figures are star polygons: {m/2, m} and their duals {m, m/2} with m = 7, 9, 11, .... The {m/2, m} tilings are stellations of the {m, 3} tilings while the {m, m/2} dual tilings are facetings of the {3, m} tilings and greatenings of the {m, 3} tilings.
The patterns {m/2, m} and {m, m/2} continue for odd m < 7 as polyhedra: when m = 5, we obtain the small stellated dodecahedron and great dodecahedron, and when m = 3, we obtain the tetrahedron. If m is even, depending on how we choose to define {m/2}, we can either obtain degenerate double covers of other tilings or compound tilings.
| Name | Schläfli | Coxeter diagram | Image | Face type {p} |
Vertex figure {q} |
Density | Symmetry | Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order-7 heptagrammic tiling | {7/2,7} | {7/2} |
{7} |
3 | *732 | Heptagrammic-order heptagonal tiling | ||
| Heptagrammic-order heptagonal tiling | {7,7/2} | {7} |
{7/2} |
3 | *732 | Order-7 heptagrammic tiling | ||
| Order-9 enneagrammic tiling | {9/2,9} | {9/2} |
{9} |
3 | *932 | Enneagrammic-order enneagonal tiling | ||
| Enneagrammic-order enneagonal tiling | {9,9/2} | {9} |
{9/2} |
3 | *932 | Order-9 enneagrammic tiling | ||
| Order-p p-grammic tiling | {p/2,p} | {p/2} | {p} | 3 | *p32 | p-grammic-order p-gonal tiling | ||
| p-grammic-order p-gonal tiling | {p,p/2} | {p} | {p/2} | 3 | *p32 | Order-p p-grammic tiling |
Four-dimensional regular polytopes [edit]
Regular 4-polytopes (called polychora) with Schläfli symbol
have cells of type
, faces of type
, edge figures
, and vertex figures
.
- A vertex figure (of a polychoron) is a polyhedron, seen by the arrangement of neighboring vertices around a given vertex. For regular polychora, this vertex figure is a regular polyhedron.
- An edge figure is a polygon, seen by the arrangement of faces around an edge. For regular polychora, this edge figure will always be a regular polygon.
The existence of a regular polychoron
is constrained by the existence of the regular polyhedra
.
Each will exist in a space dependent upon this expression:
: Hyperspherical 3-space honeycomb or 4-space polychoron
: Euclidean 3-space honeycomb
: Hyperbolic 3-space honeycomb
These constraints allow for 21 forms: 6 are convex, 10 are nonconvex, one is a Euclidean 3-space honeycomb, and 4 are hyperbolic honeycombs.
The Euler characteristic
for polychora is
and is zero for all forms.
Convex [edit]
The 6 convex regular polychora are shown in the table below. All these polychora have an Euler characteristic (χ) of 0.
| Name |
Schläfli {p,q,r} |
Coxeter |
Cells {p,q} |
Faces {p} |
Edges {r} |
Vertices {q,r} |
Dual {r,q,p} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-cell (4-simplex) (Pentachoron) |
{3,3,3} | 5 {3,3} |
10 {3} |
10 {3} |
5 {3,3} |
(self) | |
| 8-cell (4-cube) (Tesseract) |
{4,3,3} | 8 {4,3} |
24 {4} |
32 {3} |
16 {3,3} |
16-cell | |
| 16-cell (4-orthoplex) |
{3,3,4} | 16 {3,3} |
32 {3} |
24 {4} |
8 {3,4} |
Tesseract | |
| 24-cell | {3,4,3} | 24 {3,4} |
96 {3} |
96 {3} |
24 {4,3} |
(self) | |
| 120-cell | {5,3,3} | 120 {5,3} |
720 {5} |
1200 {3} |
600 {3,3} |
600-cell | |
| 600-cell | {3,3,5} | 600 {3,3} |
1200 {3} |
720 {5} |
120 {3,5} |
120-cell |
| 5-cell | 8-cell | 16-cell | 24-cell | 120-cell | 600-cell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| {3,3,3} | {4,3,3} | {3,3,4} | {3,4,3} | {5,3,3} | {3,3,5} |
| Wireframe (Petrie polygon) skew orthographic projections | |||||
| Solid orthographic projections | |||||
tetrahedral envelope (cell/vertex-centered) |
cubic envelope (cell-centered) |
Cubic envelope (cell-centered) |
cuboctahedral envelope (cell-centered) |
truncated rhombic triacontahedron envelope (cell-centered) |
Pentakis icosidodecahedral envelope (vertex-centered) |
| Wireframe Schlegel diagrams (Perspective projection) | |||||
(Cell-centered) |
(Cell-centered) |
(Cell-centered) |
(Cell-centered) |
(Cell-centered) |
(Vertex-centered) |
| Wireframe stereographic projections (Hyperspherical) | |||||
Degenerate (spherical) [edit]
Dichora and hosochora exist as regular tessellations of the 3-sphere.
Regular dichora (2 facets) include: {3,3,2}, {3,4,2}, {4,3,2}, {5,3,2}, {3,5,2}, {p,2,2}, and their hosochora duals (2 vertices): {2,3,3}, {2,4,3}, {2,3,4}, {2,3,5}, {2,5,3}, {2,2,p}. Polychora of the form {2,p,2} are both dichora and hosochora.
Non-convex [edit]
There are ten regular star polychora, which can be called Schläfli–Hess polychoron. Their vertices are based on the convex 120-cell {5,3,3} and 600-cell {3,3,5}.
Ludwig Schläfli found four of them and skipped the last six because he would not allow forms that failed the Euler characteristic on cells or vertex figures (for zero-hole tori: F+V−E=2). Edmund Hess (1843–1903) completed the full list of ten in his German book Einleitung in die Lehre von der Kugelteilung mit besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer Anwendung auf die Theorie der Gleichflächigen und der gleicheckigen Polyeder (1883)[1].
There are 4 unique edge arrangements and 7 unique face arrangements from these 10 nonconvex polychora, shown as orthogonal projections:
| Name |
Wireframe | Solid | Schläfli {p, q, r} Coxeter–Dynkin |
Cells {p, q} |
Faces {p} |
Edges {r} |
Vertices {q, r} |
Density | χ | Symmetry group | Dual {r, q,p} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icosahedral 120-cell | {3,5,5/2} |
120 {3,5} |
1200 {3} |
720 {5/2} |
120 {5,5/2} |
4 | 480 | H4 | Small stellated 120-cell | ||
| Small stellated 120-cell | {5/2,5,3} |
120 {5/2,5} |
720 {5/2} |
1200 {3} |
120 {5,3} |
4 | −480 | H4 | Icosahedral 120-cell | ||
| Great 120-cell | {5,5/2,5} |
120 {5,5/2} |
720 {5} |
720 {5} |
120 {5/2,5} |
6 | 0 | H4 | Self-dual | ||
| Grand 120-cell | {5,3,5/2} |
120 {5,3} |
720 {5} |
720 {5/2} |
120 {3,5/2} |
20 | 0 | H4 | Great stellated 120-cell | ||
| Great stellated 120-cell | {5/2,3,5} |
120 {5/2,3} |
720 {5/2} |
720 {5} |
120 {3,5} |
20 | 0 | H4 | Grand 120-cell | ||
| Grand stellated 120-cell | {5/2,5,5/2} |
120 {5/2,5} |
720 {5/2} |
720 {5/2} |
120 {5,5/2} |
66 | 0 | H4 | Self-dual | ||
| Great grand 120-cell | {5,5/2,3} |
120 {5,5/2} |
720 {5} |
1200 {3} |
120 {5/2,3} |
76 | −480 | H4 | Great icosahedral 120-cell | ||
| Great icosahedral 120-cell | {3,5/2,5} |
120 {3,5/2} |
1200 {3} |
720 {5} |
120 {5/2,5} |
76 | 480 | H4 | Great grand 120-cell | ||
| Grand 600-cell | {3,3,5/2} |
600 {3,3} |
1200 {3} |
720 {5/2} |
120 {3,5/2} |
191 | 0 | H4 | Great grand stellated 120-cell | ||
| Great grand stellated 120-cell | {5/2,3,3} |
120 {5/2,3} |
720 {5/2} |
1200 {3} |
600 {3,3} |
191 | 0 | H4 | Grand 600-cell |
There are 4 failed potential nonconvex regular polychora permutations: {3,5/2,3}, {4,3,5/2}, {5/2,3,4}, {5/2,3,5/2}. Their cells and vertex figures exist, but they do not cover a hypersphere with a finite number of repetitions.
Tessellations of Euclidean 3-space [edit]
There is only one regular tessellation of 3-space (honeycombs):
| Name | Schläfli symbol {p,q,r} |
Coxeter |
Cell type {p,q} |
Face type {p} |
Edge figure {r} |
Vertex figure {q,r} |
χ | Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cubic honeycomb | {4,3,4} | {4,3} | {4} | {4} | {3,4} | 0 | Self-dual |
Tessellations of hyperbolic 3-space [edit]
Tessellations of hyperbolic 3-space can be called hyperbolic honeycombs. There are 4 regular honeycombs in H3:
| Name | Schläfli Symbol {p,q,r} |
Coxeter |
Cell type {p,q} |
Face type {p} |
Edge figure {r} |
Vertex figure {q,r} |
χ | Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icosahedral honeycomb | {3,5,3} | {3,5} | {3} | {3} | {5,3} | 0 | Self-dual | |
| Order-5 cubic honeycomb | {4,3,5} | {4,3} | {4} | {5} | {3,5} | 0 | {5,3,4} | |
| Order-4 dodecahedral honeycomb | {5,3,4} | {5,3} | {5} | {4} | {3,4} | 0 | {4,3,5} | |
| Order-5 dodecahedral honeycomb | {5,3,5} | {5,3} | {5} | {5} | {3,5} | 0 | Self-dual |
Here are some projected images: The first shows the perspective from the center of the disc in a Beltrami–Klein model, and the second and third from the outside with a Poincaré ball model.
{5,3,4} (8 dodecahedra at a vertex) |
{4,3,5} (20 cubes at a vertex) |
{3,5,3} (12 icosahedra at a vertex) |
There are also 11 H3 honeycombs which have infinite (Euclidean) cells and/or vertex figures: {3,3,6}, {6,3,3}, {3,4,4}, {4,4,3}, {3,6,3}, {4,3,6}, {6,3,4}, {4,4,4}, {5,3,6}, {6,3,5}, {6,3,6}. And infintely many honeycombs with hyperbolic cells and/or vertex figures:{7,3,3}, {5,4,3}, {5,4,4}, {7,3,7}, etc.
Five-dimensional regular polytopes and higher [edit]
In five dimensions, a regular polytope can be named as
where
is the hypercell (or teron) type,
is the cell type,
is the face type, and
is the face figure,
is the edge figure, and
is the vertex figure.
A 5-polytope has been called a polyteron, and if infinite (i.e. a honeycomb) a tetracomb.
- A vertex figure (of a 5-polytope) is a polychoron, seen by the arrangement of neighboring vertices to each vertex.
- An edge figure (of a 5-polytope) is a polyhedron, seen by the arrangement of faces around each edge.
- A face figure (of a 5-polytope) is a polygon, seen by the arrangement of cells around each face.
A regular polytope
exists only if
and
are regular polychora.
The space it fits in is based on the expression:
: Spherical 4-space tessellation or 5-space polytope
: Euclidean 4-space tessellation
: hyperbolic 4-space tessellation
Enumeration of these constraints produce 3 convex polytopes, zero nonconvex polytopes, 3 4-space tessellations, and 5 hyperbolic 4-space tessellations. There are no non-convex regular polytopes in five dimensions or higher.
Higher-dimensional polytopes have sometimes received names. 6-polytopes have sometimes been called polypeta, 7-polytopes polyexa, 8-polytopes polyzetta, and 9-polytopes polyyotta.
Convex [edit]
In dimensions 5 and higher, there are only three kinds of convex regular polytopes.[1]
| Name | Schläfli Symbol {p1,...,pn−1} |
Coxeter | k-faces | Facet type |
Vertex figure |
Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n-simplex | {3n−1} | ![]() |
{3n−2} | {3n−2} | Self-dual | |
| n-cube | {4,3n−2} | ![]() |
{4,3n−3} | {3n−2} | n-orthoplex | |
| n-orthoplex | {3n−2,4} | ![]() |
{3n−2} | {3n−3,4} | n-cube |
5 dimensions [edit]
| Name | Schläfli Symbol {p,q,r,s} Coxeter |
Facets {p,q,r} |
Cells {p,q} |
Faces {p} |
Edges | Vertices | Face figure {s} |
Edge figure {r,s} |
Vertex figure {q,r,s} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-simplex | {3,3,3,3} |
6 {3,3,3} |
15 {3,3} |
20 {3} |
15 | 6 | {3} | {3,3} | {3,3,3} |
| 5-cube | {4,3,3,3} |
10 {4,3,3} |
40 {4,3} |
80 {4} |
80 | 32 | {3} | {3,3} | {3,3,3} |
| 5-orthoplex | {3,3,3,4} |
32 {3,3,3} |
80 {3,3} |
80 {3} |
40 | 10 | {4} | {3,4} | {3,3,4} |
5-simplex |
5-cube |
5-orthoplex |
6 dimensions [edit]
| Name | Schläfli symbol |
Vertices | Edges | Faces | Cells | 4-faces | 5-faces | χ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6-simplex | {3,3,3,3,3} | 7 | 21 | 35 | 35 | 21 | 7 | 0 |
| 6-cube | {4,3,3,3,3} | 64 | 192 | 240 | 160 | 60 | 12 | 0 |
| 6-orthoplex | {3,3,3,3,4} | 12 | 60 | 160 | 240 | 192 | 64 | 0 |
6-simplex |
6-cube |
6-orthoplex |
7 dimensions [edit]
| Name | Schläfli symbol |
Vertices | Edges | Faces | Cells | 4-faces | 5-faces | 6-faces | χ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7-simplex | {3,3,3,3,3,3} | 8 | 28 | 56 | 70 | 56 | 28 | 8 | 2 |
| 7-cube | {4,3,3,3,3,3} | 128 | 448 | 672 | 560 | 280 | 84 | 14 | 2 |
| 7-orthoplex | {3,3,3,3,3,4} | 14 | 84 | 280 | 560 | 672 | 448 | 128 | 2 |
7-simplex |
7-cube |
7-orthoplex |
8 dimensions [edit]
| Name | Schläfli symbol |
Vertices | Edges | Faces | Cells | 4-faces | 5-faces | 6-faces | 7-faces | χ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8-simplex | {3,3,3,3,3,3,3} | 9 | 36 | 84 | 126 | 126 | 84 | 36 | 9 | 0 |
| 8-cube | {4,3,3,3,3,3,3} | 256 | 1024 | 1792 | 1792 | 1120 | 448 | 112 | 16 | 0 |
| 8-orthoplex | {3,3,3,3,3,3,4} | 16 | 112 | 448 | 1120 | 1792 | 1792 | 1024 | 256 | 0 |
8-simplex |
8-cube |
8-orthoplex |
9 dimensions [edit]
| Name | Schläfli symbol |
Vertices | Edges | Faces | Cells | 4-faces | 5-faces | 6-faces | 7-faces | 8-faces | χ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9-simplex | {38} | 10 | 45 | 120 | 210 | 252 | 210 | 120 | 45 | 10 | 2 |
| 9-cube | {4,37} | 512 | 2304 | 4608 | 5376 | 4032 | 2016 | 672 | 144 | 18 | 2 |
| 9-orthoplex | {37,4} | 18 | 144 | 672 | 2016 | 4032 | 5376 | 4608 | 2304 | 512 | 2 |
9-simplex |
9-cube |
9-orthoplex |
10 dimensions [edit]
| Name | Schläfli symbol |
Vertices | Edges | Faces | Cells | 4-faces | 5-faces | 6-faces | 7-faces | 8-faces | 9-faces | χ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-simplex | {39} | 11 | 55 | 165 | 330 | 462 | 462 | 330 | 165 | 55 | 11 | 0 |
| 10-cube | {4,38} | 1024 | 5120 | 11520 | 15360 | 13440 | 8064 | 3360 | 960 | 180 | 20 | 0 |
| 10-orthoplex | {38,4} | 20 | 180 | 960 | 3360 | 8064 | 13440 | 15360 | 11520 | 5120 | 1024 | 0 |
10-simplex |
10-cube |
10-orthoplex |
...
Non-convex [edit]
There are no non-convex regular polytopes in five dimensions or higher.
Tessellations of Euclidean space [edit]
Tessellations of Euclidean 4-space [edit]
There are three kinds of infinite regular tessellations (honeycombs) that can tessellate Euclidean four-dimensional space:
| Name | Schläfli Symbol {p,q,r,s} |
Facet type {p,q,r} |
Cell type {p,q} |
Face type {p} |
Face figure {s} |
Edge figure {r,s} |
Vertex figure {q,r,s} |
Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesseractic honeycomb | {4,3,3,4} | {4,3,3} | {4,3} | {4} | {4} | {3,4} | {3,3,4} | Self-dual |
| 16-cell honeycomb | {3,3,4,3} | {3,3,4} | {3,3} | {3} | {3} | {4,3} | {3,4,3} | {3,4,3,3} |
| 24-cell honeycomb | {3,4,3,3} | {3,4,3} | {3,4} | {3} | {3} | {3,3} | {4,3,3} | {3,3,4,3} |
Projected portion of {4,3,3,4} (Tesseractic honeycomb) |
Projected portion of {3,3,4,3} (16-cell honeycomb) |
Projected portion of {3,4,3,3} (24-cell honeycomb) |
Tessellations of Euclidean 5-space and higher [edit]
The hypercubic honeycomb is the only family of regular honeycomb that can tessellate each dimension, five or higher, formed by hypercube facets, four around every ridge.
| Name | Schläfli {p1, p2, ..., pn−1} |
Facet type |
Vertex figure |
Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square tiling | {4,4} | {4} | {4} | Self-dual |
| Cubic honeycomb | {4,3,4} | {4,3} | {3,4} | Self-dual |
| Tesseractic honeycomb | {4,32,4} | {4,32} | {32,4} | Self-dual |
| 5-cube honeycomb | {4,33,4} | {4,33} | {33,4} | Self-dual |
| 6-cube honeycomb | {4,34,4} | {4,34} | {34,4} | Self-dual |
| 7-cube honeycomb | {4,35,4} | {4,35} | {35,4} | Self-dual |
| 8-cube honeycomb | {4,36,4} | {4,36} | {36,4} | Self-dual |
| n-hypercubic honeycomb | {4,3n−2,4} | {4,3n−2} | {3n−2,4} | Self-dual |
Tessellations of hyperbolic space [edit]
Tessellations of hyperbolic 4-space [edit]
There are five kinds of convex regular honeycombs and four kinds of star-honeycombs in H4 space.[2]
Five convex regular honeycombs in H4:
| Name | Schläfli Symbol {p,q,r,s} |
Facet type {p,q,r} |
Cell type {p,q} |
Face type {p} |
Face figure {s} |
Edge figure {r,s} |
Vertex figure {q,r,s} |
Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order-5 5-cell honeycomb | {3,3,3,5} | {3,3,3} | {3,3} | {3} | {5} | {3,5} | {3,3,5} | {5,3,3,3} |
| Order-3 120-cell honeycomb | {5,3,3,3} | {5,3,3} | {5,3} | {5} | {3} | {3,3} | {3,3,3} | {3,3,3,5} |
| Order-5 tesseractic honeycomb | {4,3,3,5} | {4,3,3} | {4,3} | {4} | {5} | {3,5} | {3,3,5} | {5,3,3,4} |
| Order-4 120-cell honeycomb | {5,3,3,4} | {5,3,3} | {5,3} | {5} | {4} | {3,4} | {3,3,4} | {4,3,3,5} |
| Order-5 600-cell honeycomb | {5,3,3,5} | {5,3,3} | {5,3} | {5} | {5} | {3,5} | {3,3,5} | Self-dual |
There are four regular star-honeycombs in H4 space:
| Name | Schläfli Symbol {p,q,r,s} |
Facet type {p,q,r} |
Cell type {p,q} |
Face type {p} |
Face figure {s} |
Edge figure {r,s} |
Vertex figure {q,r,s} |
Dual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order-3 small stellated 120-cell honeycomb | {5/2,5,3,3} | {5/2,5,3} | {5/2,5} | {5} | {5} | {3,3} | {5,3,3} | {3,3,5,5/2} |
| Pentagrammic-order 600-cell honeycomb | {3,3,5,5/2} | {3,3,5} | {3,3} | {3} | {5/2} | {5,5/2} | {3,5,5/2} | {5/2,5,3,3} |
| Order-5 icosahedral 120-cell honeycomb | {3,5,5/2,5} | {3,5,5/2} | {3,5} | {3} | {5} | {5/2,5} | {5,5/2,5} | {5,5/2,5,3} |
| Order-3 great 120-cell honeycomb | {5,5/2,5,3} | {5,5/2,5} | {5,5/2} | {5} | {3} | {5,3} | {5/2,5,3} | {3,5,5/2,5} |
There are also 2 H4 honeycombs with infinite (Euclidean) facets or vertex figures: {3,4,3,4}, {4,3,4,3}.
Tessellations of hyperbolic 5-space [edit]
There are no finite-faceted regular tessellations of hyperbolic space of dimension 5 or higher.
There are 5 regular honeycombs in H5 with infinite (Euclidean) facets or vertex figures: {3,4,3,3,3}, {3,3,4,3,3}, {3,3,3,4,3}, {3,4,3,3,4}, {4,3,3,4,3}.
Tessellations of hyperbolic 6-space and higher [edit]
Even allowing for infinite (Euclidean) facets and/or vertex figures, there are no regular tessellations of hyperbolic space of dimension 6 or higher.
Apeirotopes [edit]
An apeirotope is, like any other polytope, an unbounded hyper-surface. The difference is that whereas a polytope's hyper-surface curls back on itself to close round a finite volume of hyperspace, an apeirotope does not curl back.
Some people regard apeirotopes as just a special kind of polytope, while others regard them as rather different things.
Two dimensions [edit]
A regular apeirogon is a regular division of an infinitely long line into equal segments, joined by vertices. It has regular embeddings in the plane, and in higher-dimensional spaces. In two dimensions it can form a straight line or a zig-zag. In three dimensions, it traces out a helical spiral. The zig-zag and spiral forms are said to be skew.
Three dimensions [edit]
An apeirohedron is an infinite polyhedral surface. Like an apeirogon, it can be flat or skew. A flat apeirohedron is just a tiling of the plane. A skew apeirohedron is an intricate honeycomb-like structure which divides space into two regions.
There are thirty regular apeirohedra in Euclidean space.[3] These include the tessellations of type {4,4}, {6,3}, {3,6} above, as well as (in the plane) polytopes of type: {∞,3}, {∞,4}, {∞,6} and in 3-dimensional space, blends of these with either an apeirogon or a line segment, and the "pure" 3-dimensional apeirohedra (12 in number)
See also regular skew polyhedron.
Four and higher dimensions [edit]
The apeirochora have not been completely classified as of 2006.
Abstract polytopes [edit]
The abstract polytopes arose out of an attempt to study polytopes apart from the geometrical space they are embedded in. They include the tessellations of spherical, euclidean and hyperbolic space, tessellations of other manifolds, and many other objects that do not have a well-defined topology, but instead may be characterised by their "local" topology. There are infinitely many in every dimension. See this atlas for a sample. Some notable examples of abstract polytopes that do not appear elsewhere in this list are the 11-cell and the 57-cell.
See also [edit]
- Polygon
- Polyhedron
- Regular polyhedron (5 regular Platonic solids and 4 Kepler–Poinsot solids)
- Polychoron
- Convex regular 4-polytope (6 regular polychora)
- Schläfli–Hess polychoron (10 regular star polychora)
- Tessellation
- Regular polytope
References [edit]
- ^ (Coxeter 1973, Table I: Regular polytopes, (iii) The three regular polytopes in n dimensions (n>=5), pp. 294–295)
- ^ Coxeter, The Beauty of Geometry: Twelve Essays, Chapter 10: Regular honeycombs in hyperbolic space, Summary tables IV p. 213
- ^ (McMullen & Schulte 2002, Section 7E)
- Coxeter, Regular Polytopes, 3rd. ed., Dover Publications, 1973. ISBN 0-486-61480-8. (Tables I and II: Regular polytopes and honeycombs, pp. 294–296)
- Coxeter, The Beauty of Geometry: Twelve Essays, Dover Publications, 1999 ISBN 0-486-40919-8 (Chapter 10: Regular honeycombs in hyperbolic space, Summary tables II,III,IV,V, pp. 212–213)
- D. M. Y. Sommerville, An Introduction to the Geometry of n Dimensions. New York, E. P. Dutton, 1930. 196 pp. (Dover Publications edition, 1958) Chapter X: The Regular Polytopes
External links [edit]
- The Platonic Solids
- Kepler-Poinsot Polyhedra
- Regular 4d Polytope Foldouts
- Multidimensional Glossary (Look up Hexacosichoron and Hecatonicosachoron)
- Polytope Viewer
- Polytopes and optimal packing of p points in n dimensional spheres
- An atlas of small regular polytopes
| Fundamental convex regular and uniform polytopes in dimensions 2–10 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family | An | BCn | Dn | E6 / E7 / E8 / F4 / G2 | Hn | |||||||
| Regular polygon | Triangle | Square | Hexagon | Pentagon | ||||||||
| Uniform polyhedron | Tetrahedron | Octahedron • Cube | Demicube | Dodecahedron • Icosahedron | ||||||||
| Uniform polychoron | 5-cell | 16-cell • Tesseract | Demitesseract | 24-cell | 120-cell • 600-cell | |||||||
| Uniform 5-polytope | 5-simplex | 5-orthoplex • 5-cube | 5-demicube | |||||||||
| Uniform 6-polytope | 6-simplex | 6-orthoplex • 6-cube | 6-demicube | 122 • 221 | ||||||||
| Uniform 7-polytope | 7-simplex | 7-orthoplex • 7-cube | 7-demicube | 132 • 231 • 321 | ||||||||
| Uniform 8-polytope | 8-simplex | 8-orthoplex • 8-cube | 8-demicube | 142 • 241 • 421 | ||||||||
| Uniform 9-polytope | 9-simplex | 9-orthoplex • 9-cube | 9-demicube | |||||||||
| Uniform 10-polytope | 10-simplex | 10-orthoplex • 10-cube | 10-demicube | |||||||||
| Uniform n-polytope | n-simplex | n-orthoplex • n-cube | n-demicube | 1k2 • 2k1 • k21 | n-pentagonal polytope | |||||||
| Topics: Polytope families • Regular polytope • List of regular polytopes | ||||||||||||
| Fundamental convex regular and uniform honeycombs in dimensions 2–11 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family | ![]() |
![]() |
/ ![]() |
/ / ![]() |
|
| Uniform tiling | Triangular | Square | Hexagonal | ||
| Uniform convex honeycomb | Tetrahedral-octahedral | Cubic honeycomb | Tetrahedral-octahedral | ||
| Uniform 5-honeycomb | 5-cell honeycomb | Tesseractic honeycomb | 16-cell honeycomb | 24-cell honeycomb | |
| Uniform 6-honeycomb | 5-simplex honeycomb | 5-cube honeycomb | 5-demicube honeycomb | ||
| Uniform 7-honeycomb | 6-simplex honeycomb | 6-cube honeycomb | 6-demicube honeycomb | 222 honeycomb | |
| Uniform 8-honeycomb | 7-simplex honeycomb | 7-cubic honeycomb | 7-demicube honeycomb | 133 • 331 honeycombs | |
| Uniform 9-honeycomb | 8-simplex honeycomb | 8-cubic honeycomb | 8-demicube honeycomb | 152 • 251 • 521 honeycombs | |
| Uniform 10-honeycomb | 9-simplex honeycomb | 9-cube honeycomb | 9-demicube honeycomb | ||
| Uniform 11-honeycomb | 10-simplex honeycomb | 10-cube honeycomb | 10-demicube honeycomb | ||
| Uniform n-honeycomb | n-simplectic honeycomb | n-cubic honeycomb | n-demicubic honeycomb | 1k2 • 2k1 • k21 figures | |
: Polyhedron (existing in Euclidean 3-space)
: Euclidean plane tiling
: Hyperbolic plane tiling
: Hyperspherical 3-space honeycomb or 4-space polychoron
: Euclidean 3-space honeycomb
: Hyperbolic 3-space honeycomb
: Spherical 4-space tessellation or 5-space polytope
: Euclidean 4-space tessellation
: hyperbolic 4-space tessellation




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