Abstract
A graph G is called generically minimally rigid in ℝ d if, for any choice of sufficiently generic edge lengths, it can be embedded in ℝ d in a finite number of distinct ways, modulo rigid transformations. Here, we deal with the problem of determining tight bounds on the number of such embeddings, as a function of the number of vertices. The study of rigid graphs is motivated by numerous applications, mostly in robotics, bioinformatics, sensor networks, and architecture. We capture embeddability by polynomial systems with suitable structure so that their mixed volume, which bounds the number of common roots, yields interesting upper bounds on the number of embeddings. We explore different polynomial formulations so as to reduce the corresponding mixed volume, namely by introducing new variables that remove certain spurious roots and by applying the theory of distance geometry. We focus on \({\mathbb{R}}^{2}\) and \({\mathbb{R}}^{3}\), where Laman graphs and 1-skeleta (or edge graphs) of convex simplicial polyhedra, respectively, admit inductive Henneberg constructions. Our implementation yields upper bounds for \(n \leq 10\) in \({\mathbb{R}}^{2}\) and \({\mathbb{R}}^{3}\), which reduce the existing gaps and lead to tight bounds for \(n \leq 7\) in both \({\mathbb{R}}^{2}\) and \({\mathbb{R}}^{3}\); in particular, we describe the recent settlement of the case of Laman graphs with seven vertices. Our approach also yields a new upper bound for Laman graphs with eight vertices, which is conjectured to be tight. We also establish the first lower bound in \({\mathbb{R}}^{3}\) of about 2. 52n, where n denotes the number of vertices.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This corrects the exponent of the original statement.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
Personal communication with Daniel Lazard.
References
Angeles, J.: Rational Kinematics. Springer, New York (1989)
Basu, S., Pollack, R., Roy, M-F.: Algorithms in real algebraic geometry. In: Algorithms and Computation in Mathematics, vol. 10 2nd edn. Springer, New york (2006)
Bernstein, D.N.: The number of roots of a system of equations. Funct. Anal. Appl. 9(2), 183–185 (1975)
Blumenthal, L.M.: Theory and Applications of Distance Geometry, vol. 15, 2nd edn. Chelsea Publishing Company, Bronx, NY (1970)
Borcea, C.: Point configurations and Cayley-Menger varieties, arXiv:math/0207110 (2002)
Borcea, C., Streinu, I.: The number of embeddings of minimally rigid graphs. Discrete Comput. Geom. 31(2), 287–303 (2004)
Bowen, R., Fisk, S.: Generation of triangulations of the sphere. Math. Comput. 21(98), 250–252 (1967)
Canny, J.F., Emiris, I.Z.: A subdivision-based algorithm for the sparse resultant. J. ACM 47(3), 417–451 (2000)
Cayley, A.: On a theorem in the geometry of position. Camb. Math. J.2, 267–271 (1841)
Collins, C.L.: Forward kinematics of planar parallel manipulators in the Clifford algebra of P 2. Mech. Mach. Theor. 37(8), 799–813 (2002)
Cox, D., Little, J., O’Shea, D.: Using Algebraic Geometry. Number 185 in GTM. 2nd edn. Springer, New York (2005)
Dattorro, J.: Convex Optimization and Euclidean Distance Geometry. Meboo, USA (2011)
Despotakis, S.C., Emiris, I.Z., Psarros, I.: An upper bound on Euclidean embeddings of rigid graphs with 8 vertices, Manuscript (2012)
Deza, M.M., Laurent, M.: Geometry of Cuts and Metrics. Springer, Berlin (1997)
Dietmeier, P.: The Stewart-Gough platform of general geometry can have 40 real postures, In: Lenarcic, J., Husty, M. (eds.) Advances in Robot Kinematics: Analysis and Control, pp. 7–16. Springer, New York (1998)
Dress, A.W.M., Havel, T.F.: Distance geometry and geometric algebra. Found. Phys. 23(10), 1357–1374 (1991)
Emiris, I.Z., Canny, J.F.: Efficient incremental algorithms for the sparse resultant and the mixed volume. J. Symbolic. Comput. 20(2), 117–149 (1995)
Emiris, I.Z., Moroz, G.: The assembly modes of rigid 11-bar linkages. In: Proceedings of IFToMM World Congress in Mechanism and Machine Science, Guanajuato, Mexico (2011)
Emiris, I.Z., Mourrain, B.: Computer algebra methods for studying and computing molecular conformations. Algorithmica, Special Issue on Algorithms for Computational Biology 25, 372–402 (1999)
Emiris, I.Z., Tsigaridas, E., Varvitsiotis, A.: Algebraic methods for counting Euclidean embeddings of rigid graphs. Lecture Notes in Computer Science “Graph drawing”, 5849, 195–200 (2009)
Emmerich, D.G.: Structures Tendues et Autotendantes, In Monographies de géométrie constructive, d. cole d’Architecture Paris-La-Villette, 1988
Eren, T., Goldenberg, D.K., Whiteley, W., Yang, Y.R., Morse, A.S., Anderson, B.D.O., Belhumeur, P.N.: Rigidity, computation and randomization in network localization. In: Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM’04, Hong Kong, 2673–2684 (2004)
Faugère, J.C., Lazard, D.: The combinatorial classes of parallel manipulators combinatorial classes of parallel manipulators. Mech. Mach. Theor. 30(6), 765–776 (1995)
Gluck, H.: Almost all simply connected closed surfaces are rigid. Lect. Notes. Math. 438, 225–240 (1975)
Gomez-Jauregui, V.: Tensegrity Structures and their Application to Architecture, MSc Thesis, School of Architecture, Queen’s University, Belfast (2004)
Gosselin, C.M., Sefrioui, J., Richard, M.J.: Solutions polynomiales au problème de la cinématique directe des manipulateurs parallèles plans à trois degrés de liberté. Mech. Mach. Theor. 27(2), 107–119 (1992)
Gower, J.C.: Euclidean distance geometry. J. Math. Sci. 1, 1–14 (1982)
Guentert, P., Mumenthaler, C., Wüthrich, K.: Torsion angle dynamics for NMR structure calculation with the new program Dyana. J. Mol. Biol. 273, 283–298 (1997)
Harris, J., Tu, L.W.: On symmetric and skew-symmetric determinantal varieties. Topology 23(1), 71–84 (1984)
Havel, T.F.: Distance geometry: Theory, algorithms, and chemical applications. In:von Ragué, P., Schreiner, P.R., Allinger, N.L., Clark, T., Gasteiger, J., Kollman, P.A., Schaefer III, H.F. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Computational Chemistry, pp. 723–742. Wiley, New York (1998)
Hunt, K.N.: Structural kinematics of in parallel actuated robot arms. Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of Mechanisms, Transmissions, Automation in Design, 705–712 (1983)
Jacobs, D.J., Rader, A.J., Kuhn, L.A., Thorpe, M.F.: Protein flexibility predictions using graph theory. Protein. Struct. Funct. Genet. 44(2), 150–165 (2001)
Krislock, N., Wolkowicz, H.: Explicit sensor network localization using semidefinite representations and facial reductions. SIAM J. Optim. 20(5), 2679–2708 (2010)
Laman, G.: On graphs and rigidity of plane skeletal structures. J. Eng. Math. 4, 331–340 (1970)
Lavor, C., Mucherino, A., Liberti, L., Maculan, N.: On the computation of protein backbones by using artificial backbones of hydrogens. Global J. Global Optim.50(2), 329–344 (2011)
Liberti, L., Lavor, C., Masson, B., Mucherino, A.: Polynomial cases of the discretizable molecular distance geometry problem, arXiv:1103.1264 (2011)
Malliavin, T., Dardel, F.: Structure des protéines par RMN, In:Sciences Fondamentales, volume AF, pp. 6608 (1–18). Techniques de l’Ingénieur, Paris (2002)
Maxwell, J.C.: On the calculation of the equilibrium and stiffness of frames, Phil. Mag. 27(182), 294–299 (1864)
Menger, , Géométrie Générale, Mem. Sci. Math., no. 124, Académie des Sciences de Paris (1954).
Schönberg, I.J.: Remarks to M. Frechet’s article “Sur la définition axiomatique d’une classe d’espaces vectoriels distanciés applicables vectoriellement sur l’espace de Hilbert”. Ann. Math. 36, 724–732 (1935)
Steffens, R., Theobald, T.: Mixed volume techniques for embeddings of Laman graphs. Comput. Geom.: Theor. Appl. 43(2), 84–93 (2010)
Thorpe, M.F., Duxbury, P.M. (eds.): Rigidity Theory and Applications. Fund. Materials Res. Ser., Kluwer, New York (1999)
Verschelde, J.: Algorithm 795: PHCpack: A general-purpose solver for polynomial systems by homotopy continuation. ACM Trans. Math. Software 25(2), 251–276 (1999)
Walter, D., Husty, M.: On a 9-bar linkage, its possible configurations and conditions for paradoxical mobility. In: Proceedings of IFToMM World Congress in Mechanism and Machine Science, Besançon, France (2007)
Walter, D., Husty, M.L.: A spatial 9-bar linkage, possible configurations and conditions for paradoxical mobility. In: Proceedings of NaCoMM, Bangalore, India, pp. 195–208 (2007)
Whiteley, W.: Rigidity and scene analysis, In: Goodman, J.E., O’Rourke, J. (eds.): Handbook of Discrete and Computational Geometry, 2nd edn. chapter 60, pp. 893–916. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida (2004)
Whiteley, W., Tay, T.S.: Generating isostatic frameworks. Struct. topology 11, 21–69 (1985)
Wunderlich, W.: Gefärlice annahmen der trilateration und bewegliche afchwerke I. Z. Angew. Math. Mech.57, 297–304 (1977)
Zhu, Z., So, A.M.C., Ye, Y.: Universal rigidity and edge sparsification for sensor network localization. SIAM J. Optim. 20(6), 3059–3081 (2010)
Acknowledgements
I.Z. Emiris is partially supported by FP7 contract PITN-GA-2008-214584 SAGA: Shapes, Algebra, and Geometry. Part of this work was done while he was on sabbatical at team Salsa of INRIA Rocquencourt. E. Tsigaridas is partially supported by an individual postdoctoral grant from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, and also acknowledges support from the Danish National Research Foundation and the National Science Foundation of China (under grant 61061130540) for the Sino-Danish Center for the Theory of Interactive Computation, within which part of this work was performed and from the EXACTA grant of the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC 60911130369) and the French National Research Agency (ANR-09-BLAN-0371-01). E. Tsigaridas performed part of this work while he was with the Aarhus University, Denmark. A. Varvitsiotis started work on this project as a graduate student at the University of Athens.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Emiris, I.Z., Tsigaridas, E.P., Varvitsiotis, A. (2013). Mixed Volume and Distance Geometry Techniques for Counting Euclidean Embeddings of Rigid Graphs. In: Mucherino, A., Lavor, C., Liberti, L., Maculan, N. (eds) Distance Geometry. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5128-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5128-0_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5127-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5128-0
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)