Swallowtail on the shore
Date
2014Series
Snapshots of modern mathematics from Oberwolfach; 7/2014Author
Buchweitz, Ragnar-Olaf
Faber, Eleonore
Metadata
Show full item recordSNAP-2014-007-EN
Abstract
Platonic solids, Felix Klein, H.S.M. Coxeter and a flap of a swallowtail: The five Platonic solids tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, icosahedron and dodecahedron have always attracted much curiosity from mathematicians, not only for their sheer beauty but also because of their many symmetry properties. In this snapshot we will start from these symmetries, move on to groups, singularities, and finally find the connection between a tetrahedron and a “swallowtail”. Our running example is the tetrahedron, but every construction can be carried out with any other of the Platonic solids.
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urn:nbn:de:101:1-201505123135Mathematical Subject
Algebra and Number TheoryGeometry and Topology