The Euler and Grace-Danielsson inequalities for nested triangles and tetrahedra: a derivation and generalisation using quantum information theory
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Author(s)
Milne, A
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We derive several results in classical Euclidean elementary geometry using the steering ellipsoid formalism from quantum mechanics. This gives a physically motivated derivation of very non-trivial geometric results, some of which are entirely new. We consider a sphere of radius r contained inside another sphere of radius R, with the sphere centres separated by distance d. When does there exist a ‘nested’ tetrahedron circumscribed about the smaller sphere and inscribed in the larger? We derive the Grace-Danielsson inequality d2≤(R+r)(R−3r) as the sole necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a nested tetrahedron. Our method also gives the condition d2≤R(R−2r) for the existence of a nested triangle in the analogous two-dimensional scenario. These results imply the Euler inequality in two and three dimensions. Furthermore, we formulate a new inequality that applies to the more general case of ellipses and ellipsoids.
Date Issued
2014-12-18
Citation
Journal of Geometry, 2014
ISSN
0047-2468
Publisher
Springer
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Geometry
Copyright Statement
© the Authors 2014. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
Identifier
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00022-014-0257-8
Publication Status
Published