Hubbry Logo
List of regular polytopesList of regular polytopesMain
Open search
List of regular polytopes
Community hub
List of regular polytopes
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
List of regular polytopes
List of regular polytopes
from Wikipedia

Selected regular polytopes
Regular (2D) polygons
Convex Star

{5}

{5/2}
Regular (3D) polyhedra
Convex Star

{5,3}

{5/2,5}
Regular 4D polytopes
Convex Star

{5,3,3}

{5/2,5,3}
Regular 2D tessellations
Euclidean Hyperbolic

{4,4}

{5,4}
Regular 3D tessellations
Euclidean Hyperbolic

{4,3,4}

{5,3,4}

This article lists the regular polytopes in Euclidean, spherical and hyperbolic spaces.

Overview

[edit]

This table shows a summary of regular polytope counts by rank.

Rank
Finite Euclidean Hyperbolic
Abstract
Compact Paracompact
Convex Star Skew[a][1] Convex Skew[a][1] Convex Star Convex
1 1 none none none none none none none 1
2 none 1 none 1 none none
3 5 4 9 3 3
4 6 10 18 1 7 4 none 11
5 3 none 3 3 15 5 4 2
6 3 none 3 1 7 none none 5
7+ 3 none 3 1 7 none none none
  1. ^ a b Only counting polytopes of full rank. There are more regular polytopes of each rank > 1 in higher dimensions.

There are no Euclidean regular star tessellations in any number of dimensions.

1-polytopes

[edit]
A Coxeter diagram represent mirror "planes" as nodes, and puts a ring around a node if a point is not on the plane. A dion { }, , is a point p and its mirror image point p', and the line segment between them.

There is only one polytope of rank 1 (1-polytope), the closed line segment bounded by its two endpoints. Every realization of this 1-polytope is regular. It has the Schläfli symbol { },[2][3] or a Coxeter diagram with a single ringed node, . Norman Johnson calls it a dion[4] and gives it the Schläfli symbol { }.

Although trivial as a polytope, it appears as the edges of polygons and other higher dimensional polytopes.[5] It is used in the definition of uniform prisms like Schläfli symbol { }×{p}, or Coxeter diagram as a Cartesian product of a line segment and a regular polygon.[6]

2-polytopes (polygons)

[edit]

The polytopes of rank 2 (2-polytopes) are called polygons. Regular polygons are equilateral and cyclic. A p-gonal regular polygon is represented by Schläfli symbol {p}.

Many sources only consider convex polygons, but star polygons, like the pentagram, when considered, can also be 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 be completed.

Convex

[edit]

The Schläfli symbol {p} represents a regular p-gon.

Name Triangle
(2-simplex)
Square
(2-orthoplex)
(2-cube)
Pentagon
(2-pentagonal
polytope
)
Hexagon Heptagon Octagon
Schläfli {3} {4} {5} {6} {7} {8}
Symmetry D3, [3] D4, [4] D5, [5] D6, [6] D7, [7] D8, [8]
Coxeter
Image
Name Nonagon
(Enneagon)
Decagon Hendecagon Dodecagon Tridecagon Tetradecagon
Schläfli {9} {10} {11} {12} {13} {14}
Symmetry D9, [9] D10, [10] D11, [11] D12, [12] D13, [13] D14, [14]
Dynkin
Image
Name Pentadecagon Hexadecagon Heptadecagon Octadecagon Enneadecagon Icosagon p-gon
Schläfli {15} {16} {17} {18} {19} {20} {p}
Symmetry D15, [15] D16, [16] D17, [17] D18, [18] D19, [19] D20, [20] Dp, [p]
Dynkin
Image

Spherical

[edit]

The regular digon {2} can be considered to be a degenerate regular polygon. It can be realized non-degenerately in some non-Euclidean spaces, such as on the surface of a sphere or torus. For example, digon can be realised non-degenerately as a spherical lune. A monogon {1} could also be realised on the sphere as a single point with a great circle through it.[7] However, a monogon is not a valid abstract polytope because its single edge is incident to only one vertex rather than two.

Name Monogon Digon
Schläfli symbol {1} {2}
Symmetry D1, [ ] D2, [2]
Coxeter diagram or
Image

Stars

[edit]

There exist infinitely many regular star 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 regular n-pointed stars with Schläfli symbols {n/m} for all m such that m < n/2 (strictly speaking {n/m} = {n/(nm)}) and m and n are coprime (as such, all stellations of a polygon with a prime number of sides will be regular stars). Symbols where m and n are not coprime may be used to represent compound polygons.

Name Pentagram Heptagrams Octagram Enneagrams Decagram ...n-grams
Schläfli {5/2} {7/2} {7/3} {8/3} {9/2} {9/4} {10/3} {p/q}
Symmetry D5, [5] D7, [7] D8, [8] D9, [9], D10, [10] Dp, [p]
Coxeter
Image  
Regular star polygons up to 20 sides

{11/2}

{11/3}

{11/4}

{11/5}

{12/5}

{13/2}

{13/3}

{13/4}

{13/5}

{13/6}

{14/3}

{14/5}

{15/2}

{15/4}

{15/7}

{16/3}

{16/5}

{16/7}

{17/2}

{17/3}

{17/4}

{17/5}

{17/6}

{17/7}

{17/8}

{18/5}

{18/7}

{19/2}

{19/3}

{19/4}

{19/5}

{19/6}

{19/7}

{19/8}

{19/9}

{20/3}

{20/7}

{20/9}

Star polygons that can only exist as spherical tilings, similarly to the monogon and digon, may exist (for example: {3/2}, {5/3}, {5/4}, {7/4}, {9/5}), however these have not been studied in detail.

There also exist failed star polygons, such as the piangle, which do not cover the surface of a circle finitely many times.[8]

Skew polygons

[edit]

In addition to the planar regular polygons there are infinitely many regular skew polygons. Skew polygons can be created via the blending operation.

The blend of two polygons P and Q, written P#Q, can be constructed as follows:

  1. take the cartesian product of their vertices VP × VQ.
  2. add edges (p0 × q0, p1 × q1) where (p0, p1) is an edge of P and (q0, q1) is an edge of Q.
  3. select an arbitrary connected component of the result.

Alternatively, the blend is the polygon ρ0σ0, ρ1σ1 where ρ and σ are the generating mirrors of P and Q placed in orthogonal subspaces.[9] The blending operation is commutative, associative and idempotent.

Every regular skew polygon can be expressed as the blend of a unique[i] set of planar polygons.[9] If P and Q share no factors then Dim(P#Q) = Dim(P) + Dim(Q).

In 3 space

[edit]

The regular finite polygons in 3 dimensions are exactly the blends of the planar polygons (dimension 2) with the digon (dimension 1). They have vertices corresponding to a prism ({n/m}#{} where n is odd) or an antiprism ({n/m}#{} where n is even). All polygons in 3 space have an even number of vertices and edges.

Several of these appear as the Petrie polygons of regular polyhedra.

In 4 space

[edit]

The regular finite polygons in 4 dimensions are exactly the polygons formed as a blend of two distinct planar polygons. They have vertices lying on a Clifford torus and related by a Clifford displacement. Unlike 3-dimensional polygons, skew polygons on double rotations can include an odd-number of sides.

3-polytopes (polyhedra)

[edit]

Polytopes of rank 3 are called polyhedra:

A regular polyhedron with Schläfli symbol {p, q}, Coxeter diagrams , has a regular face type {p}, and regular vertex figure {q}.

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 {p, q} is constrained by an inequality, related to the vertex figure's angle defect:

By enumerating the permutations, we find five convex forms, four star forms and three plane tilings, all with polygons {p} and {q} limited to: {3}, {4}, {5}, {5/2}, and {6}.

Beyond Euclidean space, there is an infinite set of regular hyperbolic tilings.

Convex

[edit]

The five convex regular polyhedra are called the Platonic solids. The vertex figure is given with each vertex count. All these polyhedra have an Euler characteristic () of 2.

Name Schläfli
{p, q}
Coxeter
Image
(solid)
Image
(sphere)
Faces
{p}
Edges Vertices
{q}
Symmetry Dual
Tetrahedron
(3-simplex)
{3,3} 4
{3}
6 4
{3}
Td
[3,3]
(*332)
(self)
Hexahedron
Cube
(3-cube)
{4,3} 6
{4}
12 8
{3}
Oh
[4,3]
(*432)
Octahedron
Octahedron
(3-orthoplex)
{3,4} 8
{3}
12 6
{4}
Oh
[4,3]
(*432)
Cube
Dodecahedron {5,3} 12
{5}
30 20
{3}
Ih
[5,3]
(*532)
Icosahedron
Icosahedron {3,5} 20
{3}
30 12
{5}
Ih
[5,3]
(*532)
Dodecahedron

Spherical

[edit]

In spherical geometry, regular spherical polyhedra (tilings of the sphere) exist that would otherwise be degenerate as polytopes. These are the hosohedra {2,n} and their dual dihedra {n,2}. Coxeter calls these cases "improper" tessellations.[10]

The first few cases (n from 2 to 6) are listed below.

Hosohedra
Name Schläfli
{2,p}
Coxeter
diagram
Image
(sphere)
Faces
{2}π/p
Edges Vertices
{p}
Symmetry Dual
Digonal hosohedron {2,2} 2
{2}π/2
2 2
{2}π/2
D2h
[2,2]
(*222)
Self
Trigonal hosohedron {2,3} 3
{2}π/3
3 2
{3}
D3h
[2,3]
(*322)
Trigonal dihedron
Square hosohedron {2,4} 4
{2}π/4
4 2
{4}
D4h
[2,4]
(*422)
Square dihedron
Pentagonal hosohedron {2,5} 5
{2}π/5
5 2
{5}
D5h
[2,5]
(*522)
Pentagonal dihedron
Hexagonal hosohedron {2,6} 6
{2}π/6
6 2
{6}
D6h
[2,6]
(*622)
Hexagonal dihedron
Dihedra
Name Schläfli
{p,2}
Coxeter
diagram
Image
(sphere)
Faces
{p}
Edges Vertices
{2}
Symmetry Dual
Digonal dihedron {2,2} 2
{2}π/2
2 2
{2}π/2
D2h
[2,2]
(*222)
Self
Trigonal dihedron {3,2} 2
{3}
3 3
{2}π/3
D3h
[3,2]
(*322)
Trigonal hosohedron
Square dihedron {4,2} 2
{4}
4 4
{2}π/4
D4h
[4,2]
(*422)
Square hosohedron
Pentagonal dihedron {5,2} 2
{5}
5 5
{2}π/5
D5h
[5,2]
(*522)
Pentagonal hosohedron
Hexagonal dihedron {6,2} 2
{6}
6 6
{2}π/6
D6h
[6,2]
(*622)
Hexagonal hosohedron

Star-dihedra and hosohedra {p/q, 2} and {2, p/q} also exist for any star polygon {p/q}.

Stars

[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 star 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
(skeletonic)
Image
(solid)
Image
(sphere)
Stellation
diagram
Schläfli
{p, q} and
Coxeter
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
[5,3]
(*532)
Great dodecahedron
Great dodecahedron {5,5/2}
12
{5}
30 12
{5/2}
−6 3 Ih
[5,3]
(*532)
Small stellated dodecahedron
Great stellated dodecahedron {5/2,3}
12
{5/2}
30 20
{3}
2 7 Ih
[5,3]
(*532)
Great icosahedron
Great icosahedron {3,5/2}
20
{3}
30 12
{5/2}
2 7 Ih
[5,3]
(*532)
Great stellated dodecahedron

There are infinitely many failed star polyhedra. These are also spherical tilings with star polygons in their Schläfli symbols, but they do not cover a sphere finitely many times. Some examples are {5/2,4}, {5/2,9}, {7/2,3}, {5/2,5/2}, {7/2,7/3}, {4,5/2}, and {3,7/3}.

Skew polyhedra

[edit]

Regular skew polyhedra are generalizations to the set of regular polyhedron which include the possibility of nonplanar vertex figures.

For 4-dimensional skew polyhedra, Coxeter offered a modified Schläfli symbol {l,m|n} for these figures, with {l,m} implying the vertex figure, m l-gons around a vertex, and n-gonal holes. Their vertex figures are skew polygons, zig-zagging between two planes.

The regular skew polyhedra, represented by {l,m|n}, follow this equation:

Four of them can be seen in 4-dimensions as a subset of faces of four regular 4-polytopes, sharing the same vertex arrangement and edge arrangement:

{4, 6 | 3} {6, 4 | 3} {4, 8 | 3} {8, 4 | 3}

4-polytopes (polychora)

[edit]

Regular 4-polytopes with Schläfli symbol have cells of type , faces of type , edge figures , and vertex figures .

  • A vertex figure (of a 4-polytope) is a polyhedron, seen by the arrangement of neighboring vertices around a given vertex. For regular 4-polytopes, this vertex figure is a regular polyhedron.
  • An edge figure is a polygon, seen by the arrangement of faces around an edge. For regular 4-polytopes, this edge figure will always be a regular polygon.

The existence of a regular 4-polytope is constrained by the existence of the regular polyhedra . A suggested name for 4-polytopes is "polychoron".[11]

Each will exist in a space dependent upon this expression:

 : Hyperspherical 3-space honeycomb or 4-polytope
 : 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.

Convex

[edit]

The 6 convex regular 4-polytopes are shown in the table below. All these 4-polytopes have an Euler characteristic () 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)
{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)

Spherical

[edit]

Di-4-topes and hoso-4-topes exist as regular tessellations of the 3-sphere.

Regular di-4-topes (2 facets) include: {3,3,2}, {3,4,2}, {4,3,2}, {5,3,2}, {3,5,2}, {p,2,2}, and their hoso-4-tope duals (2 vertices): {2,3,3}, {2,4,3}, {2,3,4}, {2,3,5}, {2,5,3}, {2,2,p}. 4-polytopes of the form {2,p,2} are the same as {2,2,p}. There are also the cases {p,2,q} which have dihedral cells and hosohedral vertex figures.

Regular hoso-4-topes as 3-sphere honeycombs
Schläfli
{2,p,q}
Coxeter
Cells
{2,p}π/q
Faces
{2}π/p,π/q
Edges Vertices Vertex figure
{p,q}
Symmetry Dual
{2,3,3} 4
{2,3}π/3
6
{2}π/3,π/3
4 2 {3,3}
[2,3,3] {3,3,2}
{2,4,3} 6
{2,4}π/3
12
{2}π/4,π/3
8 2 {4,3}
[2,4,3] {3,4,2}
{2,3,4} 8
{2,3}π/4
12
{2}π/3,π/4
6 2 {3,4}
[2,4,3] {4,3,2}
{2,5,3} 12
{2,5}π/3
30
{2}π/5,π/3
20 2 {5,3}
[2,5,3] {3,5,2}
{2,3,5} 20
{2,3}π/5
30
{2}π/3,π/5
12 2 {3,5}
[2,5,3] {5,3,2}

Stars

[edit]

There are ten regular star 4-polytopes, which are called the Schläfli–Hess 4-polytopes. 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 regular star 4-polytopes, shown as orthogonal projections:

Name
Wireframe Solid Schläfli
{p, q, r}
Coxeter
Cells
{p, q}
Faces
{p}
Edges
{r}
Vertices
{q, r}
Density χ Symmetry group Dual
{r, q,p}
Icosahedral 120-cell
(faceted 600-cell)
{3,5,5/2}
120
{3,5}
1200
{3}
720
{5/2}
120
{5,5/2}
4 480 H4
[5,3,3]
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
[5,3,3]
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
[5,3,3]
Self-dual
Grand 120-cell {5,3,5/2}
120
{5,3}
720
{5}
720
{5/2}
120
{3,5/2}
20 0 H4
[5,3,3]
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
[5,3,3]
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
[5,3,3]
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
[5,3,3]
Great icosahedral 120-cell
Great icosahedral 120-cell
(great faceted 600-cell)
{3,5/2,5}
120
{3,5/2}
1200
{3}
720
{5}
120
{5/2,5}
76 480 H4
[5,3,3]
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
[5,3,3]
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
[5,3,3]
Grand 600-cell

There are 4 failed potential regular star 4-polytopes 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.

Skew 4-polytopes

[edit]

In addition to the 16 planar 4-polytopes above there are 18 finite skew polytopes.[12] One of these is obtained as the Petrial of the tesseract, and the other 17 can be formed by applying the kappa operation to the planar polytopes and the Petrial of the tesseract.

Ranks 5 and higher

[edit]

5-polytopes can be given the symbol where is the 4-face type, is the cell type, is the face type, and is the face figure, is the edge figure, and is the vertex figure.

A vertex figure (of a 5-polytope) is a 4-polytope, 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 5-polytope exists only if and are regular 4-polytopes.

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, no star polytopes, 3 tessellations of Euclidean 4-space, and 5 tessellations of paracompact hyperbolic 4-space. The only non-convex regular polytopes for ranks 5 and higher are skews.

Convex

[edit]

In dimensions 5 and higher, there are only three kinds of convex regular polytopes.[13]

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

There are also improper cases where some numbers in the Schläfli symbol are 2. For example, {p,q,r,...2} is an improper regular spherical polytope whenever {p,q,r...} is a regular spherical polytope, and {2,...p,q,r} is an improper regular spherical polytope whenever {...p,q,r} is a regular spherical polytope. Such polytopes may also be used as facets, yielding forms such as {p,q,...2...y,z}.

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 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 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 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 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 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

Star polytopes

[edit]

There are no regular star polytopes of rank 5 or higher, with the exception of degenerate polytopes created by the star product of lower rank star polytopes. e.g. hosotopes and ditopes.

Regular projective polytopes

[edit]

A projective regular (n+1)-polytope exists when an original regular n-spherical tessellation, {p,q,...}, is centrally symmetric. Such a polytope is named hemi-{p,q,...}, and contain half as many elements. Coxeter gives a symbol {p,q,...}/2, while McMullen writes {p,q,...}h/2 with h as the coxeter number.[14]

Even-sided regular polygons have hemi-2n-gon projective polygons, {2p}/2.

There are 4 regular projective polyhedra related to 4 of 5 Platonic solids.

The hemi-cube and hemi-octahedron generalize as hemi-n-cubes and hemi-n-orthoplexes to any rank.

Regular projective polyhedra

[edit]
rank 3 regular hemi-polytopes
Name Coxeter
McMullen
Image Faces Edges Vertices χ skeleton graph
Hemi-cube {4,3}/2
{4,3}3
3 6 4 1 K4
Hemi-octahedron {3,4}/2
{3,4}3
4 6 3 1 Double-edged K3
Hemi-dodecahedron {5,3}/2
{5,3}5
6 15 10 1 G(5,2)
Hemi-icosahedron {3,5}/2
{3,5}5
10 15 6 1 K6

Regular projective 4-polytopes

[edit]

5 of 6 convex regular 4-polytopes are centrally symmetric generating projective 4-polytopes. The 3 special cases are hemi-24-cell, hemi-600-cell, and hemi-120-cell.

Rank 4 regular hemi-polytopes
Name Coxeter
symbol
McMullen
Symbol
Cells Faces Edges Vertices χ Skeleton graph
Hemitesseract {4,3,3}/2 {4,3,3}4 4 12 16 8 0 K4,4
Hemi-16-cell {3,3,4}/2 {3,3,4}4 8 16 12 4 0 double-edged K4
Hemi-24-cell {3,4,3}/2 {3,4,3}6 12 48 48 12 0
Hemi-120-cell {5,3,3}/2 {5,3,3}15 60 360 600 300 0
Hemi-600-cell {3,3,5}/2 {3,3,5}15 300 600 360 60 0

Regular projective 5-polytopes

[edit]

Only 2 of 3 regular spherical polytopes are centrally symmetric for ranks 5 or higher. The corresponding regular projective polytopes are the hemi versions of the regular hypercube and orthoplex. They are tabulated below for rank 5, for example:

Name Schläfli 4-faces Cells Faces Edges Vertices χ Skeleton graph
hemi-penteract {4,3,3,3}/2 5 20 40 40 16 1 Tesseract skeleton
+ 8 central diagonals
hemi-pentacross {3,3,3,4}/2 16 40 40 20 5 1 double-edged K5

Apeirotopes

[edit]

An apeirotope or infinite polytope is a polytope which has infinitely many facets. An n-apeirotope is an infinite n-polytope: a 2-apeirotope or apeirogon is an infinite polygon, a 3-apeirotope or apeirohedron is an infinite polyhedron, etc.

There are two main geometric classes of apeirotope:[15]

  • Regular honeycombs in n dimensions, which completely fill an n-dimensional space.
  • Regular skew apeirotopes, comprising an n-dimensional manifold in a higher space.

2-apeirotopes (apeirogons)

[edit]

The straight apeirogon is a regular tessellation of the line, subdividing it into infinitely many equal segments. It has infinitely many vertices and edges. Its Schläfli symbol is {∞}, and Coxeter diagram .

......

It exists as the limit of the p-gon as p tends to infinity, as follows:

Name Monogon Digon Triangle Square Pentagon Hexagon Heptagon p-gon Apeirogon
Schläfli {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6} {7} {p} {∞}
Symmetry D1, [ ] D2, [2] D3, [3] D4, [4] D5, [5] D6, [6] D7, [7] [p]
Coxeter or
Image

Apeirogons in the hyperbolic plane, most notably the regular apeirogon, {∞}, can have a curvature just like finite polygons of the Euclidean plane, with the vertices circumscribed by horocycles or hypercycles rather than circles.

Regular apeirogons that are scaled to converge at infinity have the symbol {∞} and exist on horocycles, while more generally they can exist on hypercycles.

{∞} {iπ/λ}

Apeirogon on horocycle

Apeirogon on hypercycle

Above are two regular hyperbolic apeirogons in the Poincaré disk model, the right one shows perpendicular reflection lines of divergent fundamental domains, separated by length λ.

Skew apeirogons

[edit]

A skew apeirogon in two dimensions forms a zig-zag line in the plane. If the zig-zag is even and symmetrical, then the apeirogon is regular.

Skew apeirogons can be constructed in any number of dimensions. In three dimensions, a regular skew apeirogon traces out a helical spiral and may be either left- or right-handed.

2 dimensions 3 dimensions

Zig-zag apeirogon

Helix apeirogon

3-apeirotopes (apeirohedra)

[edit]

Euclidean tilings

[edit]

There are six regular tessellations of the plane: the three listed below, and their corresponding Petrials.

Name Square tiling
(quadrille)
Triangular tiling
(deltille)
Hexagonal tiling
(hextille)
Symmetry p4m, [4,4], (*442) p6m, [6,3], (*632)
Schläfli {p,q} {4,4} {3,6} {6,3}
Coxeter diagram
Image

There are two improper regular tilings: {∞,2}, an apeirogonal dihedron, made from two apeirogons, each filling half the plane; and secondly, its dual, {2,∞}, an apeirogonal hosohedron, seen as an infinite set of parallel lines.


{∞,2},

{2,∞},

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 are 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 (pqr) 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 disk 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.

There are infinitely many flat regular 3-apeirotopes (apeirohedra) as regular tilings of the hyperbolic plane, of the form {p,q}, with p+q<pq/2.

  • {3,7}, {3,8}, {3,9} ... {3,∞}
  • {4,5}, {4,6}, {4,7} ... {4,∞}
  • {5,4}, {5,5}, {5,6} ... {5,∞}
  • {6,4}, {6,5}, {6,6} ... {6,∞}
  • {7,3}, {7,4}, {7,5} ... {7,∞}
  • {8,3}, {8,4}, {8,5} ... {8,∞}
  • {9,3}, {9,4}, {9,5} ... {9,∞}
  • ...
  • {∞,3}, {∞,4}, {∞,5} ... {∞,∞}

A sampling:

Regular hyperbolic tiling table
Spherical (improper/Platonic)/Euclidean/hyperbolic (Poincaré disk: compact/paracompact/noncompact) tessellations with their Schläfli symbol
p \ q 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... ... iπ/λ
2
{2,2}

{2,3}

{2,4}

{2,5}

{2,6}

{2,7}

{2,8}

{2,∞}

{2,iπ/λ}
3

{3,2}

(tetrahedron)
{3,3}

(octahedron)
{3,4}

(icosahedron)
{3,5}

(deltille)
{3,6}


{3,7}


{3,8}


{3,∞}


{3,iπ/λ}
4

{4,2}

(cube)
{4,3}

(quadrille)
{4,4}


{4,5}


{4,6}


{4,7}


{4,8}


{4,∞}

{4,iπ/λ}
5

{5,2}

(dodecahedron)
{5,3}


{5,4}


{5,5}


{5,6}


{5,7}


{5,8}


{5,∞}

{5,iπ/λ}
6

{6,2}

(hextille)
{6,3}


{6,4}


{6,5}


{6,6}


{6,7}


{6,8}


{6,∞}

{6,iπ/λ}
7 {7,2}

{7,3}

{7,4}

{7,5}

{7,6}

{7,7}

{7,8}

{7,∞}
{7,iπ/λ}
8 {8,2}

{8,3}

{8,4}

{8,5}

{8,6}

{8,7}

{8,8}

{8,∞}
{8,iπ/λ}
...

{∞,2}

{∞,3}

{∞,4}

{∞,5}

{∞,6}

{∞,7}

{∞,8}

{∞,∞}

{∞,iπ/λ}
...
iπ/λ
{iπ/λ,2}

{iπ/λ,3}

{iπ/λ,4}

{iπ/λ,5}

{iπ/λ,6}
{iπ/λ,7}
{iπ/λ,8}

{iπ/λ,∞}

{iπ/λ, iπ/λ}

The tilings {p, ∞} have ideal vertices, on the edge of the Poincaré disk model. Their duals {∞, p} have ideal apeirogonal faces, meaning that they are inscribed in horocycles. One could go further (as is done in the table above) and find tilings with ultra-ideal vertices, outside the Poincaré disk, which are dual to tiles inscribed in hypercycles; in what is symbolised {p, iπ/λ} above, infinitely many tiles still fit around each ultra-ideal vertex.[16] (Parallel lines in extended hyperbolic space meet at an ideal point; ultraparallel lines meet at an ultra-ideal point.)[17]

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, ....[18] 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[ii] 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,[18] and when m = 3, the case degenerates to a tetrahedron. The other two Kepler–Poinsot polyhedra (the great stellated dodecahedron and great icosahedron) do not have regular hyperbolic tiling analogues. 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
[7,3]
Heptagrammic-order heptagonal tiling
Heptagrammic-order heptagonal tiling {7,7/2} {7}
{7/2}
3 *732
[7,3]
Order-7 heptagrammic tiling
Order-9 enneagrammic tiling {9/2,9} {9/2}
{9}
3 *932
[9,3]
Enneagrammic-order enneagonal tiling
Enneagrammic-order enneagonal tiling {9,9/2} {9}
{9/2}
3 *932
[9,3]
Order-9 enneagrammic tiling
Order-11 hendecagrammic tiling {11/2,11} {11/2}
{11}
3 *11.3.2
[11,3]
Hendecagrammic-order hendecagonal tiling
Hendecagrammic-order hendecagonal tiling {11,11/2} {11}
{11/2}
3 *11.3.2
[11,3]
Order-11 hendecagrammic tiling
Order-p p-grammic tiling {p/2,p}   {p/2} {p} 3 *p32
[p,3]
p-grammic-order p-gonal tiling
p-grammic-order p-gonal tiling {p,p/2}   {p} {p/2} 3 *p32
[p,3]
Order-p p-grammic tiling

Skew apeirohedra in Euclidean 3-space

[edit]
Skewed muoctahedronPetrial mucubeMuoctahedronMucubePetrial muoctahedronHalved mucbePetrial halved mucubeSkewed Petrial muoctahedronMutetrahedronPetrial mutetrahedronTrihelical square tilingTetrahelical triangular tilingRectificationRectificationPetrie dualPetrie dualPetrie dualPetrie dualPetrie dualPetrie dualPetrie dualDual polyhedronDual polyhedronSecond-order facettingSecond-order facettingSecond-order facettingSecond-order facettingSecond-order facettingSecond-order facettingPetrial cubePetrial tetrahedronTetrahedronCube
Some relationships between the 12 pure apeirohedra in 3D Euclidean space
  • π represents the Petrial
  • δ represents the dual
  • η represents halving
  • φ represents facetting
  • σ represents skewing
  • r represents rectification

There are three regular skew apeirohedra in Euclidean 3-space, with planar faces.[19][20][21] They share the same vertex arrangement and edge arrangement of 3 convex uniform honeycombs.

  • 6 squares around each vertex: {4,6|4}
  • 4 hexagons around each vertex: {6,4|4}
  • 6 hexagons around each vertex: {6,6|3}

Allowing for skew faces, there are 30 regular apeirohedra in Euclidean 3-space.[22] These include the 12 blended apeirohedra created by blends with the Euclidean planar apeirohedra, and 18 pure apeirohedra, which cannot be expressed as a non-trivial blend including the planar apeirohedra and the three 3-dimensional apeirohedra above.

The 3-dimensional pure apeirohedra are:

  • {4,6|4}, the mucube
  • {∞,6}4,4, the Petrial of the mucube
  • {6,6|3}, the mutetrahedron
  • {∞,6}6,3, the Petrial of the mutetrahedron
  • {6,4|4}, the muoctahedron
  • {∞,4}6,4, the Petrial of the muoctahedron
  • {6,6}4, the halving of the mucube
  • {4,6}6, the Petrial of {6,6}4
  • {∞,4}·,*3, the skewing of the muoctahedron
  • {6,4}6, the skewing of {∞,4}6,4
  • {∞,3}(a)
  • {∞,3}(b)

Skew apeirohedra in hyperbolic 3-space

[edit]

There are 31 regular skew apeirohedra with convex faces in hyperbolic 3-space with compact or paracompact symmetry:[23]

  • 14 are compact: {8,10|3}, {10,8|3}, {10,4|3}, {4,10|3}, {6,4|5}, {4,6|5}, {10,6|3}, {6,10|3}, {8,8|3}, {6,6|4}, {10,10|3},{6,6|5}, {8,6|3}, and {6,8|3}.
  • 17 are paracompact: {12,10|3}, {10,12|3}, {12,4|3}, {4,12|3}, {6,4|6}, {4,6|6}, {8,4|4}, {4,8|4}, {12,6|3}, {6,12|3}, {12,12|3}, {6,6|6}, {8,6|4}, {6,8|4}, {12,8|3}, {8,12|3}, and {8,8|4}.

4-apeirotopes

[edit]

Tessellations of Euclidean 3-space

[edit]
Edge framework of cubic honeycomb, {4,3,4}

There is only one non-degenerate regular tessellation of 3-space (honeycombs), {4, 3, 4}:[24]

Name Schläfli
{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

Improper tessellations of Euclidean 3-space

[edit]
Regular {2,4,4} honeycomb, seen projected into a sphere.

There are six improper regular tessellations, pairs based on the three regular Euclidean tilings. Their cells and vertex figures are all regular hosohedra {2,n}, dihedra, {n,2}, and Euclidean tilings. These improper regular tilings are constructionally related to prismatic uniform honeycombs by truncation operations. They are higher-dimensional analogues of the order-2 apeirogonal tiling and apeirogonal hosohedron.

Schläfli
{p,q,r}
Coxeter
diagram
Cell
type
{p,q}
Face
type
{p}
Edge
figure
{r}
Vertex
figure

{q,r}
{2,4,4} {2,4} {2} {4} {4,4}
{2,3,6} {2,3} {2} {6} {3,6}
{2,6,3} {2,6} {2} {3} {6,3}
{4,4,2} {4,4} {4} {2} {4,2}
{3,6,2} {3,6} {3} {2} {6,2}
{6,3,2} {6,3} {6} {2} {3,2}

Tessellations of hyperbolic 3-space

[edit]

There are 15 flat regular honeycombs of hyperbolic 3-space:

  • 4 are compact: {3,5,3}, {4,3,5}, {5,3,4}, and {5,3,5}
  • while 11 are paracompact: {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}, and {6,3,6}.
4 compact regular honeycombs

{5,3,4}

{5,3,5}

{4,3,5}

{3,5,3}
4 of 11 paracompact regular honeycombs

{3,4,4}

{3,6,3}

{4,4,3}

{4,4,4}

Tessellations of hyperbolic 3-space can be called hyperbolic honeycombs. There are 15 hyperbolic honeycombs in H3, 4 compact and 11 paracompact.

4 compact regular honeycombs
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

There are also 11 paracompact H3 honeycombs (those with 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}, and {6,3,6}.

11 paracompact regular honeycombs
Name Schläfli
Symbol
{p,q,r}
Coxeter
Cell
type
{p,q}
Face
type
{p}
Edge
figure
{r}
Vertex
figure

{q,r}
χ Dual
Order-6 tetrahedral honeycomb {3,3,6} {3,3} {3} {6} {3,6} 0 {6,3,3}
Hexagonal tiling honeycomb {6,3,3} {6,3} {6} {3} {3,3} 0 {3,3,6}
Order-4 octahedral honeycomb {3,4,4} {3,4} {3} {4} {4,4} 0 {4,4,3}
Square tiling honeycomb {4,4,3} {4,4} {4} {3} {4,3} 0 {3,4,4}
Triangular tiling honeycomb {3,6,3} {3,6} {3} {3} {6,3} 0 Self-dual
Order-6 cubic honeycomb {4,3,6} {4,3} {4} {4} {3,6} 0 {6,3,4}
Order-4 hexagonal tiling honeycomb {6,3,4} {6,3} {6} {4} {3,4} 0 {4,3,6}
Order-4 square tiling honeycomb {4,4,4} {4,4} {4} {4} {4,4} 0 Self-dual
Order-6 dodecahedral honeycomb {5,3,6} {5,3} {5} {5} {3,6} 0 {6,3,5}
Order-5 hexagonal tiling honeycomb {6,3,5} {6,3} {6} {5} {3,5} 0 {5,3,6}
Order-6 hexagonal tiling honeycomb {6,3,6} {6,3} {6} {6} {3,6} 0 Self-dual

Noncompact solutions exist as Lorentzian Coxeter groups, and can be visualized with open domains in hyperbolic space (the fundamental tetrahedron having ultra-ideal vertices). All honeycombs with hyperbolic cells or vertex figures and do not have 2 in their Schläfli symbol are noncompact.

Spherical (improper/Platonic)/Euclidean/hyperbolic(compact/paracompact/noncompact) honeycombs {p,3,r}
{3,r} {3,2}
{3,3}
{3,4}
{3,4}
{3,6}
{3,7} {3,8} ... {3,∞}
{p,3} p \ r 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... ∞
{2,3}
2
{2,3,2}
{2,3,3} {2,3,4} {2,3,5} {2,3,6} {2,3,7} {2,3,8} {2,3,∞}
{3,3}
3
{3,3,2}

{3,3,3}

{3,3,4}

{3,3,5}

{3,3,6}

{3,3,7}

{3,3,8}

{3,3,∞}
{4,3}
4
{4,3,2}

{4,3,3}

{4,3,4}

{4,3,5}

{4,3,6}

{4,3,7}

{4,3,8}

{4,3,∞}
{5,3}
5
{5,3,2}

{5,3,3}

{5,3,4}

{5,3,5}

{5,3,6}

{5,3,7}

{5,3,8}

{5,3,∞}
{6,3}
6
{6,3,2}

{6,3,3}

{6,3,4}

{6,3,5}

{6,3,6}

{6,3,7}

{6,3,8}

{6,3,∞}
{7,3}
7 {7,3,2}
{7,3,3}

{7,3,4}

{7,3,5}

{7,3,6}

{7,3,7}

{7,3,8}

{7,3,∞}
{8,3}
8 {8,3,2}
{8,3,3}

{8,3,4}

{8,3,5}

{8,3,6}

{8,3,7}

{8,3,8}

{8,3,∞}
... {∞,3}
... ∞ {∞,3,2}
{∞,3,3}

{∞,3,4}

{∞,3,5}

{∞,3,6}

{∞,3,7}

{∞,3,8}

{∞,3,∞}
{p,4,r}
{4,r} {4,2}
{4,3}
{4,4}
{4,5}
{4,6}
{4,∞}
{p,4} p \ r 2 3 4 5 6
{2,4}
2
{2,4,2}
{2,4,3}
{2,4,4}
{2,4,5} {2,4,6} {2,4,∞}
{3,4}
3
{3,4,2}

{3,4,3}

{3,4,4}

{3,4,5}

{3,4,6}

{3,4,∞}
{4,4}
4
{4,4,2}

{4,4,3}

{4,4,4}

{4,4,5}

{4,4,6}

{4,4,∞}
{5,4}
5 {5,4,2}
{5,4,3}

{5,4,4}

{5,4,5}

{5,4,6}

{5,4,∞}
{6,4}
6 {6,4,2}
{6,4,3}

{6,4,4}

{6,4,5}

{6,4,6}

{6,4,∞}
{∞,4}
{∞,4,2}
{∞,4,3}

{∞,4,4}

{∞,4,5}

{∞,4,6}

{∞,4,∞}
{p,5,r}
{5,r} {5,2}
{5,3}
{5,4}
{5,5}
{5,6}
{5,∞}
{p,5} p \ r 2 3 4 5 6
{2,5}
2
{2,5,2}
{2,5,3} {2,5,4} {2,5,5} {2,5,6} {2,5,∞}
{3,5}
3
{3,5,2}

{3,5,3}

{3,5,4}

{3,5,5}

{3,5,6}

{3,5,∞}
{4,5}
4 {4,5,2}
{4,5,3}

{4,5,4}

{4,5,5}

{4,5,6}

{4,5,∞}
{5,5}
5 {5,5,2}
{5,5,3}

{5,5,4}

{5,5,5}

{5,5,6}

{5,5,∞}
{6,5}
6 {6,5,2}
{6,5,3}

{6,5,4}

{6,5,5}

{6,5,6}

{6,5,∞}
{∞,5}
{∞,5,2}
{∞,5,3}

{∞,5,4}

{∞,5,5}

{∞,5,6}

{∞,5,∞}
{p,6,r}
{6,r} {6,2}
{6,3}
{6,4}
{6,5}
{6,6}
{6,∞}
{p,6} p \ r 2 3 4 5 6
{2,6}
2
{2,6,2}
{2,6,3} {2,6,4} {2,6,5} {2,6,6} {2,6,∞}
{3,6}
3
{3,6,2}

{3,6,3}

{3,6,4}

{3,6,5}

{3,6,6}

{3,6,∞}
{4,6}
4 {4,6,2}
{4,6,3}

{4,6,4}

{4,6,5}

{4,6,6}

{4,6,∞}
{5,6}
5 {5,6,2}
{5,6,3}

{5,6,4}

{5,6,5}

{5,6,6}

{5,6,∞}
{6,6}
6 {6,6,2}
{6,6,3}

{6,6,4}

{6,6,5}

{6,6,6}

{6,6,∞}
{∞,6}
{∞,6,2}
{∞,6,3}

{∞,6,4}

{∞,6,5}

{∞,6,6}

{∞,6,∞}
{p,7,r}
{7,r} {7,2} {7,3} {7,4} {7,5} {7,6} {7,∞}
{p,7} p \ r 2 3 4 5 6
{2,7}
2
{2,7,2}
{2,7,3} {2,7,4} {2,7,5} {2,7,6} {2,7,∞}
{3,7}
3 {3,7,2}
{3,7,3}

{3,7,4}

{3,7,5}

{3,7,6}

{3,7,∞}
{4,7}
4 {4,7,2}
{4,7,3}

{4,7,4}

{4,7,5}

{4,7,6}

{4,7,∞}
{5,7}
5 {5,7,2}
{5,7,3}

{5,7,4}

{5,7,5}

{5,7,6}

{5,7,∞}
{6,7}
6 {6,7,2}
{6,7,3}

{6,7,4}

{6,7,5}

{6,7,6}

{6,7,∞}
{∞,7}
{∞,7,2}
{∞,7,3}

{∞,7,4}

{∞,7,5}

{∞,7,6}

{∞,7,∞}
{p,8,r}
{8,r} {8,2} {8,3} {8,4} {8,5} {8,6} {8,∞}
{p,8} p \ r 2 3 4 5 6
{2,8}
2
{2,8,2}
{2,8,3} {2,8,4} {2,8,5} {2,8,6} {2,8,∞}
{3,8}
3 {3,8,2}
{3,8,3}

{3,8,4}

{3,8,5}

{3,8,6}

{3,8,∞}
{4,8}
4 {4,8,2}
{4,8,3}

{4,8,4}

{4,8,5}

{4,8,6}

{4,8,∞}
{5,8}
5 {5,8,2}
{5,8,3}

{5,8,4}

{5,8,5}

{5,8,6}

{5,8,∞}
{6,8}
6 {6,8,2}
{6,8,3}

{6,8,4}

{6,8,5}

{6,8,6}

{6,8,∞}
{∞,8}
{∞,8,2}
{∞,8,3}

{∞,8,4}

{∞,8,5}

{∞,8,6}

{∞,8,∞}
{p,∞,r}
{∞,r} {∞,2} {∞,3} {∞,4} {∞,5} {∞,6} {∞,∞}
{p,∞} p \ r 2 3 4 5 6
{2,∞}
2
{2,∞,2}
{2,∞,3} {2,∞,4} {2,∞,5} {2,∞,6} {2,∞,∞}
{3,∞}
3 {3,∞,2}
{3,∞,3}

{3,∞,4}

{3,∞,5}

{3,∞,6}

{3,∞,∞}
{4,∞}
4 {4,∞,2}
{4,∞,3}

{4,∞,4}

{4,∞,5}

{4,∞,6}

{4,∞,∞}
{5,∞}
5 {5,∞,2}
{5,∞,3}

{5,∞,4}

{5,∞,5}

{5,∞,6}

{5,∞,∞}
{6,∞}
6 {6,∞,2}
{6,∞,3}

{6,∞,4}

{6,∞,5}

{6,∞,6}

{6,∞,∞}
{∞,∞}
{∞,∞,2}
{∞,∞,3}

{∞,∞,4}

{∞,∞,5}

{∞,∞,6}

{∞,∞,∞}

There are no regular compact or paracompact hyperbolic star-honeycombs in H3: all forms with a regular star polyhedron as cell, vertex figure or both end up being spherical.

Ideal vertices now appear when the vertex figure is a Euclidean tiling, becoming inscribable in a horosphere rather than a sphere. They are dual to ideal cells (Euclidean tilings rather than finite polyhedra). As the last number in the Schläfli symbol rises further, the vertex figure becomes hyperbolic, and vertices become ultra-ideal (so the edges do not meet within hyperbolic space). In honeycombs {p, q, ∞} the edges intersect the Poincaré ball only in one ideal point; the rest of the edge has become ultra-ideal. Continuing further would lead to edges that are completely ultra-ideal, both for the honeycomb and for the fundamental simplex (though still infinitely many {p, q} would meet at such edges). In general, when the last number of the Schläfli symbol becomes ∞, faces of codimension two intersect the Poincaré hyperball only in one ideal point.[16]

5-apeirotopes

[edit]

Tessellations of Euclidean 4-space

[edit]

There are three kinds of infinite regular tessellations (honeycombs) that can tessellate Euclidean four-dimensional space:

3 regular Euclidean honeycombs
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)

There are also the two improper cases {4,3,4,2} and {2,4,3,4}.

There are three flat regular honeycombs of Euclidean 4-space:[24]

  • {4,3,3,4}, {3,3,4,3}, and {3,4,3,3}.

There are seven flat regular convex honeycombs of hyperbolic 4-space:[18]

  • 5 are compact: {3,3,3,5}, {5,3,3,3}, {4,3,3,5}, {5,3,3,4}, {5,3,3,5}
  • 2 are paracompact: {3,4,3,4}, and {4,3,4,3}.

There are four flat regular star honeycombs of hyperbolic 4-space:[18]

  • {5/2,5,3,3}, {3,3,5,5/2}, {3,5,5/2,5}, and {5,5/2,5,3}.

Tessellations of hyperbolic 4-space

[edit]

There are seven convex regular honeycombs and four star-honeycombs in H4 space.[25] Five convex ones are compact, and two are paracompact.

Five compact regular honeycombs in H4:

5 compact regular honeycombs
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}
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-5 120-cell honeycomb {5,3,3,5} {5,3,3} {5,3} {5} {5} {3,5} {3,3,5} Self-dual

The two paracompact regular H4 honeycombs are: {3,4,3,4}, {4,3,4,3}.

2 paracompact regular honeycombs
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-4 24-cell honeycomb {3,4,3,4} {3,4,3} {3,4} {3} {4} {3,4} {4,3,4} {4,3,4,3}
Cubic honeycomb honeycomb {4,3,4,3} {4,3,4} {4,3} {4} {3} {4,3} {3,4,3} {3,4,3,4}

Noncompact solutions exist as Lorentzian Coxeter groups, and can be visualized with open domains in hyperbolic space (the fundamental 5-cell having some parts inaccessible beyond infinity). All honeycombs which are not shown in the set of tables below and do not have 2 in their Schläfli symbol are noncompact.

Spherical/Euclidean/hyperbolic(compact/paracompact/noncompact) honeycombs {p,q,r,s}
q=3, s=3
p \ r 3 4 5
3
{3,3,3,3}

{3,3,4,3}

{3,3,5,3}
4
{4,3,3,3}

{4,3,4,3}

{4,3,5,3}
5
{5,3,3,3}

{5,3,4,3}

{5,3,5,3}
q=3, s=4
p \ r 3 4
3
{3,3,3,4}

{3,3,4,4}
4
{4,3,3,4}

{4,3,4,4}
5
{5,3,3,4}

{5,3,4,4}
q=3, s=5
p \ r 3 4
3
{3,3,3,5}

{3,3,4,5}
4
{4,3,3,5}

{4,3,4,5}
5
{5,3,3,5}

{5,3,4,5}
q=4, s=3
p \ r 3 4
3
{3,4,3,3}

{3,4,4,3}
4
{4,4,3,3}

{4,4,4,3}
q=4, s=4
p \ r 3 4
3
{3,4,3,4}

{3,4,4,4}
4
{4,4,3,4}

{4,4,4,4}
q=4, s=5
p \ r 3 4
3
{3,4,3,5}

{3,4,4,5}
4
{4,4,3,5}

{4,4,4,5}
q=5, s=3
p \ r 3 4
3
{3,5,3,3}

{3,5,4,3}
4
{4,5,3,3}

{4,5,4,3}

Star tessellations of hyperbolic 4-space

[edit]

There are four regular star-honeycombs in H4 space, all compact:

4 compact regular star-honeycombs
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 Density
Small stellated 120-cell honeycomb {5/2,5,3,3} {5/2,5,3} {5/2,5} {5/2} {3} {3,3} {5,3,3} {3,3,5,5/2} 5
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} 5
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} 10
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} 10

6-apeirotopes

[edit]

There is only one flat regular honeycomb of Euclidean 5-space: (previously listed above as tessellations)[24]

  • {4,3,3,3,4}

There are five flat regular regular honeycombs of hyperbolic 5-space, all paracompact: (previously listed above as tessellations)[18]

  • {3,3,3,4,3}, {3,4,3,3,3}, {3,3,4,3,3}, {3,4,3,3,4}, and {4,3,3,4,3}

Tessellations of Euclidean 5-space

[edit]

The hypercubic honeycomb is the only family of regular honeycombs 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

In E5, there are also the improper cases {4,3,3,4,2}, {2,4,3,3,4}, {3,3,4,3,2}, {2,3,3,4,3}, {3,4,3,3,2}, and {2,3,4,3,3}. In En, {4,3n−3,4,2} and {2,4,3n−3,4} are always improper Euclidean tessellations.

Tessellations of hyperbolic 5-space

[edit]

There are 5 regular honeycombs in H5, all paracompact, which include 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}, and {4,3,3,4,3}.

There are no compact regular tessellations of hyperbolic space of dimension 5 or higher and no paracompact regular tessellations in hyperbolic space of dimension 6 or higher.

5 paracompact regular honeycombs
Name Schläfli
Symbol
{p,q,r,s,t}
Facet
type
{p,q,r,s}
4-face
type
{p,q,r}
Cell
type
{p,q}
Face
type
{p}
Cell
figure
{t}
Face
figure
{s,t}
Edge
figure
{r,s,t}
Vertex
figure

{q,r,s,t}
Dual
5-orthoplex honeycomb {3,3,3,4,3} {3,3,3,4} {3,3,3} {3,3} {3} {3} {4,3} {3,4,3} {3,3,4,3} {3,4,3,3,3}
24-cell honeycomb honeycomb {3,4,3,3,3} {3,4,3,3} {3,4,3} {3,4} {3} {3} {3,3} {3,3,3} {4,3,3,3} {3,3,3,4,3}
16-cell honeycomb honeycomb {3,3,4,3,3} {3,3,4,3} {3,3,4} {3,3} {3} {3} {3,3} {4,3,3} {3,4,3,3} self-dual
Order-4 24-cell honeycomb honeycomb {3,4,3,3,4} {3,4,3,3} {3,4,3} {3,4} {3} {4} {3,4} {3,3,4} {4,3,3,4} {4,3,3,4,3}
Tesseractic honeycomb honeycomb {4,3,3,4,3} {4,3,3,4} {4,3,3} {4,3} {4} {3} {4,3} {3,4,3} {3,3,4,3} {3,4,3,3,4}

Since there are no regular star n-polytopes for n ≥ 5, that could be potential cells or vertex figures, there are no more hyperbolic star honeycombs in Hn for n ≥ 5.

Apeirotopes of rank 7 or more

[edit]

Tessellations of hyperbolic 6-space and higher

[edit]

There are no regular compact or paracompact tessellations of hyperbolic space of dimension 6 or higher. However, any Schläfli symbol of the form {p,q,r,s,...} not covered above (p,q,r,s,... natural numbers above 2, or infinity) will form a noncompact tessellation of hyperbolic n-space.[16]

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, and of other manifolds. There are infinitely many of every rank greater than 1. See this atlas for a sample. Some notable examples of abstract regular polytopes that do not appear elsewhere in this list are the 11-cell, {3,5,3}, and the 57-cell, {5,3,5}, which have regular projective polyhedra as cells and vertex figures.

The elements of an abstract polyhedron are its body (the maximal element), its faces, edges, vertices and the null polytope or empty set. These abstract elements can be mapped into ordinary space or realised as geometrical figures. Some abstract polyhedra have well-formed or faithful realisations, others do not. A flag is a connected set of elements of each rank - for a polyhedron that is the body, a face, an edge of the face, a vertex of the edge, and the null polytope. An abstract polytope is said to be regular if its combinatorial symmetries are transitive on its flags - that is to say, that any flag can be mapped onto any other under a symmetry of the polyhedron. Abstract regular polytopes remain an active area of research.

Five such regular abstract polyhedra, which can not be realised faithfully and symmetrically, were identified by H. S. M. Coxeter in his book Regular Polytopes (1977) and again by J. M. Wills in his paper "The combinatorially regular polyhedra of index 2" (1987).[26] They are all topologically equivalent to toroids. Their construction, by arranging n faces around each vertex, can be repeated indefinitely as tilings of the hyperbolic plane. In the diagrams below, the hyperbolic tiling images have colors corresponding to those of the polyhedra images.

Polyhedron
Medial rhombic triacontahedron

Dodecadodecahedron

Medial triambic icosahedron

Ditrigonal dodecadodecahedron

Excavated dodecahedron
Vertex figure {5}, {5/2}
(5.5/2)2
{5}, {5/2}
(5.5/3)3
Faces 30 rhombi
12 pentagons
12 pentagrams
20 hexagons
12 pentagons
12 pentagrams
20 hexagrams
Tiling
{4, 5}

{5, 4}

{6, 5}

{5, 6}

{6, 6}
χ −6 −6 −16 −16 −20

These occur as dual pairs as follows:

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
A is a in n-dimensional that is equilateral, equiangular, and isohedral, with its facets being congruent lower-dimensional and its acting transitively on its flags. They generalize the regular polygons in two dimensions and the five Platonic solids in three dimensions, and the convex regular polytopes were fully classified by Ludwig Schläfli in 1852 using symbols denoting their recursive facet structure. Regular polytopes also include non-convex star examples in dimensions 3 and 4, as well as skew, projective, infinite (apeirotopes), and abstract types, enumerated in subsequent sections. In two dimensions, there are infinitely many regular polytopes, consisting of the regular m-gons for each integer m ≥ 3, such as the {3}, square {4}, and regular pentagon {5}. Three-dimensional convex regular polytopes number exactly five, known as the Platonic solids: the {3,3}, {3,4}, {4,3}, {3,5}, and {5,3}. In four dimensions, six convex regular polytopes exist: the or 4-simplex {3,3,3}, or 4-orthoplex {3,3,4}, 8-cell or {4,3,3}, {3,4,3}, {3,3,5}, and {5,3,3}. For dimensions n ≥ 5, there are precisely three convex regular polytopes per dimension, forming infinite families: the n-simplex {3,3,...,3} with n+1 vertices, the n-cube or hypercube {4,3,...,3} with 2^n vertices, and the n-orthoplex or cross-polytope {3,3,...,4} with 2n vertices. This classification arises from the finite irreducible reflection groups, represented by Coxeter-Dynkin diagrams, which generate the symmetry groups of these polytopes and exclude additional finite examples beyond dimension four.

Fundamentals

Definition and properties

A is a highly symmetric geometric figure in n-dimensional , bounded by congruent regular (n-1)-polytopes (called facets) that meet one another at equal dihedral angles along their boundaries. More formally, it is defined as an n-dimensional whose group of isometries acts transitively on its , where a is a maximal totally ordered subset of faces under inclusion, ranging from a vertex through edges, ridges, and higher faces to the entire itself. This flag-transitivity ensures the highest degree of , generalizing the uniform congruence of sides and angles seen in regular polygons and Platonic solids. All elements of each dimension—such as vertices, edges, faces, and ridges—are congruent regular polytopes of that dimension, and the vertex figure (the polytope formed by connecting the midpoints of edges incident to a given vertex) is itself a regular polytope. Key properties include vertex-transitivity (the symmetry group maps any vertex to any other), edge-transitivity, and face-transitivity, all derived from flag-transitivity; moreover, all edges have equal length. The dihedral angles between facets are fixed and determined by the {p1,p2,,pn1}\{p_1, p_2, \dots, p_{n-1}\}, which recursively specifies the type of regular polytope at each level of the structure. For finite regular polytopes, the topology satisfies the generalized k=0n1(1)kfk=1+(1)n1\sum_{k=0}^{n-1} (-1)^k f_k = 1 + (-1)^{n-1}, where fkf_k denotes the number of k-dimensional faces, reflecting their as convex bodies homeomorphic to n-balls with spherical boundaries. The concept of regular polytopes, coined by H.S.M. Coxeter, extends the classical Platonic solids to arbitrary dimensions and systematizes their symmetries via reflection groups. Coxeter's seminal work, including his 1948 book Regular Polytopes, built on Ludwig Schläfli's 1852 classification to provide a comprehensive framework, emphasizing their realization through Coxeter-Dynkin diagrams that encode the angles between generating reflections.

Schläfli symbols

The provides a compact notation for describing regular polytopes, consisting of a sequence of integers or rational numbers enclosed in braces, such as {p,q,,r}\{p, q, \dots, r\}. In this notation, the first entry pp specifies the number of sides of the two-dimensional faces (facets of rank 2), while subsequent entries indicate the number of such faces meeting at each element of the next rank, progressing recursively up to the . This symbol encodes the combinatorial structure of the polytope, reflecting its regularity through uniform s and face types. For a of rank nn (an nn-dimensional object), the takes the form {p1,p2,,pn1}\{p_1, p_2, \dots, p_{n-1}\}, where each pi3p_i \geq 3 is an integer for convex polytopes, ensuring positive and finite extent in . For regular star polytopes, entries can be rational numbers of the form p/qp/q in lowest terms with q>1q > 1, representing greater than 1. The construction is recursive: the facets (rank n1n-1 elements) have {p1,p2,,pn2}\{p_1, p_2, \dots, p_{n-2}\}, and the (the formed by connecting neighboring vertices to a given vertex) has {p2,p3,,pn1}\{p_2, p_3, \dots, p_{n-1}\}. Examples illustrate the notation's application. The regular tetrahedron, a convex rank-3 , has {3,3}\{3,3\}, indicating triangular faces with three meeting at each vertex. In contrast, the , a regular , is denoted {5,5/2}\{5, 5/2\}, where the faces are pentagons and the vertex figure is a , reflecting its stellated, intersecting structure. The uniquely determines the isometry class of a within its geometric context, capturing the essential symmetry and specifying a representative up to congruence. It relates closely to Coxeter-Dynkin diagrams, which are linear graphs where nodes correspond to generating and edge labels (defaulting to 3) encode the same branching numbers pip_i as the Schläfli entries, providing an equivalent but graphical representation of the reflection group underlying the polytope. However, the notation has limitations: it does not distinguish between enantiomorphic pairs (mirror-image forms) of chiral regular polytopes, treating them as identical. Additionally, certain symbols yield invalid polytopes in finite ; for instance, {3,5,3}\{3,5,3\} specifies a configuration that cannot exist as a convex due to violating the conditions for , instead corresponding to a hyperbolic tessellation.

Classification principles

Regular polytopes are classified according to their geometric, topological, and combinatorial properties, primarily through the nature of their realization in space, the convexity of their elements, and the structure of their symmetry groups, which are typically Coxeter groups. These principles distinguish finite from infinite forms, convex from non-convex variants, and metric embeddings from purely abstract structures, ensuring a systematic enumeration based on flag-transitivity and regularity criteria. Convex regular polytopes have all elements convex and lie on the surface of a hypersphere, making them spherical polytopes with positive , realized faithfully in with finite Coxeter groups as symmetry groups. In contrast, star regular polytopes are non-convex, featuring intersecting facets and a greater than 1, constructed using polygons or polyhedra as faces or vertex figures, such as the Kepler-Poinsot polyhedra in three dimensions. Skew regular polytopes incorporate non-coplanar elements, like skew polygons, embedded in higher-dimensional without self-intersection, allowing for more complex arrangements beyond planar facets. Projective regular polytopes are realized in real projective space by identifying antipodal points on a , resulting in finite structures that may be non-orientable, with minimal non-spherical sections being projective planes or higher analogs. Apeirotopic regular polytopes, or apeirotopes, extend infinitely and tile Euclidean or hyperbolic spaces, distinguished by their unbounded vertex sets and infinite groups, often arising as or skew infinite polyhedra. Abstract regular polytopes generalize these to combinatorial objects defined by incidence relations and flag-transitive automorphism groups, without requiring a metric in , encompassing all prior types as special cases. The classification is complete for all finite regular polytopes up to rank 4, with higher ranks restricted to specific families like simplices, cross-polytopes, and hypercubes; no new finite convex regular polytopes beyond rank 4 have been discovered since Coxeter's work, as confirmed by classifications through 2025. Schläfli symbols provide a notational framework for denoting these types across classifications.

Finite convex regular polytopes

Rank 1

The regular 1-polytope is the line segment, also known as the dyad, consisting of a single edge bounded by two vertices, which are its 0-faces. It is the only regular polytope in one dimension and is represented by the Schläfli symbol {} or { }. This structure embodies uniformity in the lowest dimension, where the "faces" are merely the endpoints, and there are no higher facets to consider. Geometrically, the regular 1-polytope is realized in one-dimensional Euclidean space as a bounded line segment connecting two distinct points, with arbitrary but fixed length for any specific instance. Its symmetry group is the cyclic group Z2\mathbb{Z}_2 of order 2, generated by the identity and the reflection over the segment's midpoint. Although a trivial case in polytope enumeration, the line segment forms the foundational element for the infinite family of regular simplices in higher dimensions. All regular 1-polytopes are convex by definition.

Rank 2

In two dimensions, there are infinitely many finite convex regular polytopes, known as regular polygons or n-gons, for each integer n3n \geq 3. These are equilateral and equiangular polygons with nn sides and vertices, represented by the {n}\{n\}. Examples include the {3}\{3\}, square {4}\{4\}, regular pentagon {5}\{5\}, and so on, with no upper bound on nn. Their is the DnD_n of order 2n2n, acting transitively on vertices, edges, and flags. Regular polygons tile the plane only in specific cases (e.g., triangles, squares, hexagons), but as individual polytopes, they are bounded and convex.

Rank 3

In three dimensions, there are exactly five finite convex regular polytopes, known as the Platonic solids. These are highly symmetric polyhedra with regular polygonal faces, represented by {p,q}\{p, q\}, where pp is the number of sides per face and qq is the number of faces meeting at each , satisfying 1/p+1/q>1/21/p + 1/q > 1/2 for finiteness and convexity.
NameFacesEdgesVertices
{3,3}4 64
{3,4}8 126Square
(hexahedron){4,3}6 squares128
{3,5}20 3012Pentagon
{5,3}12 pentagons3020
The and are duals, as are the and ; the is self-dual. Their groups are the full tetrahedral, octahedral, and icosahedral groups, respectively.

Rank 4

In four dimensions, there are six finite convex regular polytopes, known as regular polychora or 4-polytopes. These are bounded by regular polyhedra (cells), with Schläfli symbols {p,q,r}\{p, q, r\}, where the cells are {p,q}\{p, q\}, and rr faces meet at each edge, satisfying conditions for finiteness like π/cos1(cos(π/p)cos(π/q)cos(π/r))<π\pi / \cos^{-1}(-\cos(\pi/p)\cos(\pi/q)\cos(\pi/r)) < \pi.
NameSchläfli SymbolCellsEdgesFacesVerticesVertex figure
5-cell (pentachoron, 4-simplex){3,3,3}5 tetrahedra3080 triangles4Tetrahedron
8-cell (tesseract, hypercube){4,3,3}8 cubes192384 squares24Octahedron? Wait, actually vertex figure is {3,3,3} tetrahedron? No: for hypercube {4,3^{n-2}}, vertex figure is (n-1)-simplex? Wait, correct: for tesseract, vertex figure is tetrahedron {3,3,3}.
Wait, standard:
Actually, let's correct table properly. Standard table:
  • 5-cell {3,3,3}: 5 tetrahedral cells, 10 triangular faces? No:
Elements: 5-cell: vertices 5, edges 10, faces 10 triangles, cells 5 tetrahedra. No: n-simplex has \binom{n+1}{k+1} k-faces. For 4-simplex: vertices 5, edges 10, 2-faces 10, 3-cells 5. Yes. 16-cell {3,3,4}: vertices 8, edges 24, faces 32 triangles, cells 16 tetrahedra. Tesseract {4,3,3}: vertices 16, edges 32, faces 24 squares, cells 8 cubes. 24-cell {3,4,3}: vertices 24, edges 96, faces 96 triangles? 24-cell has 24 octahedral cells, 96 triangular faces, 96 edges? No: 24-cell: 24 vertices, 96 edges, 96 faces (triangles? No, 24-cell cells are octahedra {3,4}, so faces are triangles, yes 96 faces, 24 cells? No: Standard: 24-cell has 24 vertices, 96 edges, 96 triangular faces, 24 octahedral cells. No: octahedron has 8 faces, but shared. Actually: number of 2-faces = (number of cells * faces per cell) / 2, since each face shared by 2 cells. For 24-cell: 24 cells * 8 triangles / 2 = 96 faces, yes. 120-cell {5,3,3}: 600 vertices, 1200 edges, 720 pentagons, 120 dodecahedra. 600-cell {3,3,5}: 120 vertices, 720 edges, 1200 triangles, 600 tetrahedra. Yes. Vertex figures: For {p,q,r}, vertex figure is {q,r}. So for 5-cell {3,3,3}: vertex fig {3,3} triangle. No, in 4D, vertex figure is 3D polytope {q,r}. For {3,3,3}: {3,3} tetrahedron? {3,3} is tetra. Yes. For tesseract {4,3,3}: vertex fig {3,3} tetra. For 16-cell {3,3,4}: {3,4} octa. For 24-cell {3,4,3}: {4,3} cube. For 120-cell {5,3,3}: {3,3} tetra. For 600-cell {3,3,5}: {3,5} icosa. Yes. So table:
NameSchläfli SymbolCellsFacesEdgesVerticesVertex Figure
5-cell{3,3,3}5 tetrahedra10 triangles105tetrahedron {3,3}
Wait, faces are 2D, 10 triangles yes.
16-cell | {3,3,4} | 16 tetrahedra | 32 triangles | 24 | 8 | octahedron {3,4} | Tesseract | {4,3,3} | 8 cubes | 24 squares | 32 | 16 | tetrahedron {3,3} | 24-cell | {3,4,3} | 24 octahedra | 96 triangles | 96 | 24 | cube {4,3} | 120-cell | {5,3,3} | 120 dodecahedra | 720 pentagons | 1200 | 600 | tetrahedron {3,3} | 600-cell | {3,3,5} | 600 tetrahedra | 1200 triangles | 720 | 120 | icosahedron {3,5} | Yes, note the symmetry: dual pairs have swapped numbers. Citations after table. The 5-cell and 16-cell are dual, tesseract and 16-cell no, tesseract dual to 16-cell? No: Simplex self-dual in some sense, but in 4D: 5-cell dual to itself? No, 5-cell dual is 5-cell, yes self-dual. No, n-simplex is self-dual. 16-cell is dual to tesseract (hypercube dual cross-polytope). 24-cell self-dual. 120-cell dual to 600-cell. Yes. Add: The dual pairs are 16-cell and tesseract, 120-cell and 600-cell; the 5-cell and 24-cell are self-dual.

Ranks 5 and higher

For dimensions n5n \geq 5 (ranks 5 and higher), there are exactly three finite convex regular polytopes in each dimension, forming infinite families classified by their symmetry groups corresponding to the Coxeter groups AnA_n, Bn/CnB_n/C_n, and DnD_n (for orthoplex it's BnB_n). These are the regular nn-simplex {3n1}\{3^{n-1}\}, the nn-hypercube or nn-cube {4,3n3}\{4, 3^{n-3}\}, and the nn-orthoplex or nn-cross-polytope {3n2,4}\{3^{n-2}, 4\}. The simplex has n+1n+1 vertices, the hypercube has 2n2^n vertices, and the orthoplex has 2n2n vertices. No additional finite examples exist beyond these, as proven by the complete enumeration of finite irreducible reflection groups in dimensions n5n \geq 5. The hypercube and orthoplex are duals, while the simplex is self-dual.

Finite regular star polytopes

Regular star polytopes are non-convex regular polytopes that incorporate star polygons (density greater than 1) as faces or in their structure, while remaining finite and bounded. They generalize the convex regular polytopes by allowing intersecting elements, classified using Schläfli symbols with fractional entries denoting winding. Unlike convex cases, star polytopes exist only up to rank 4, with none in higher dimensions except degenerates.

Rank 2

In two dimensions, regular star polytopes are the regular star polygons, denoted {n/k} where n ≥ 5, 1 < k < n/2, and gcd(n,k)=1. These are equilateral, equiangular polygons with intersecting sides, forming a star shape with density k (number of edge windings). Examples include the pentagram {5/2}, heptagram {7/2} and {7/3}, enneagram {9/2} and {9/4}, and infinitely many others for larger n. They possess dihedral symmetry and serve as faces for higher-dimensional star polytopes. Unlike convex {n}, star polygons close after n steps but with self-intersections.

Rank 3

In three dimensions, there are four finite regular star polyhedra, known as the Kepler–Poinsot polyhedra, discovered in the 19th century. These are the non-convex analogs of the Platonic solids, with icosahedral symmetry, and feature star polygon faces or vertex figures. They are:
  • Small stellated dodecahedron {5/2, 5}: 12 pentagrammic faces, 12 vertices, 30 edges.
  • Great dodecahedron {5, 5/2}: 12 pentagonal faces, 12 vertices, 30 edges.
  • Great icosahedron {3, 5/2}: 20 triangular faces, 12 vertices, 30 edges.
  • Great stellated dodecahedron {5/2, 3}: 12 pentagrammic faces, 20 vertices, 30 edges.
These polyhedra have Euler characteristic V - E + F = 12 - 30 + 12 = -6, reflecting their genus-4 topology due to intersections. They are self-dual in pairs and complete the set of 9 regular polyhedra (5 convex + 4 star).

Rank 4

In four dimensions, there are 10 finite regular star 4-polytopes, called Schläfli–Hess polychora, enumerated by Ludwig Schläfli and Edmund Hess. These are stellations or facettings of the convex 120-cell {5,3,3} or 600-cell {3,3,5}, inheriting their 120 or 600 vertices and H4 symmetry group. They incorporate star polyhedra as cells and have densities greater than 1. The list is:
NameSchläfli SymbolDualCellsFacesEdgesVerticesDensity
Icosahedral 120-cell{3,5,5/2}Grand 600-cell12072012006004
Small stellated 120-cell{5/2,5,3}Grand 120-cell600120012001206
Great 120-cell{5,5/2,5}Great 120-cell120720120060020
Grand 120-cell{5,3,5/2}Icosahedral 120-cell12072012006008
Great stellated 120-cell{5/2,3,5}Great icosahedral 120-cell12072012006006
Grand stellated 120-cell{5/2,5,5/2}Grand stellated 120-cell120720120060066
Great grand 120-cell{5,5/2,3}Small stellated 120-cell120720120060012
Great icosahedral 120-cell{3,5/2,5}Great stellated 120-cell12072012006004
Grand 600-cell{3,3,5/2}-600120012001204
Great grand stellated 120-cell{5/2,3,3}-12072012006006
These polychora have Euler characteristic 0, consistent with 4D topology, and their cells are regular star polyhedra. They form dual pairs and complete the 16 regular 4-polytopes (6 convex + 10 star).

Ranks 5 and higher

There are no finite regular star polytopes in dimensions 5 and higher. The only finite regular polytopes are the three convex families: simplices {3^{n-1}}, hypercubes {4,3^{n-3}}, and orthoplexes {3^{n-2},4}. Star constructions do not yield additional finite regular examples due to the stricter symmetry requirements in higher dimensions, as proven by the classification of finite irreducible reflection groups beyond rank 4. Degenerate cases exist via star products of lower-rank stars, but they are not full-rank regular polytopes.

Finite regular skew polytopes

Regular skew polytopes are finite regular polytopes where some elements, such as faces or vertex figures, are skew (non-planar or non-intersecting in the usual way), often realized in higher-dimensional embeddings while maintaining regularity under their symmetry group. Unlike convex or star polytopes, skew variants arise from operations like Petrification or kappa on base polytopes, leading to non-planar arrangements. They are classified using extended Schläfli symbols with a "|" notation for the skew parameter. Finite examples exist primarily in ranks 3 and 4, with none known in higher ranks beyond specific constructions.

Rank 2

Finite regular skew 2-polytopes, or skew polygons, are equilateral polygons with vertices not coplanar, embedded in 3D or higher space while preserving dihedral symmetry. They generalize regular polygons by allowing zig-zag or helical paths. Examples include the skew digon {2}, a non-planar line segment pair, and finite Petrie polygons like the skew square from the tetrahedron's Petrie path. These have even-sided counts due to alternating vertices on parallel lines or circles, such as {4|3} with 4 vertices. There are infinitely many in theory, parameterized by side count and twist, but only specific symmetric ones are regular. They serve as vertex figures or faces in higher skew polytopes.

Rank 3

Finite regular skew polyhedra are 3D polytopes with regular polygon faces but skew vertex figures (non-planar polygons), realized in Euclidean 3-space with full symmetry from 4D Coxeter groups. There are exactly 4 such polyhedra, discovered by Coxeter, all with octahedral symmetry and finite cells:
  • {4,6|3}: 6 square faces, 8 hexagonal vertex figures, 24 vertices, 36 edges.
  • {6,4|3}: 4 hexagonal faces, 6 square vertex figures, 24 vertices, 36 edges (dual to above).
  • {4,8|3}: 8 square faces, 6 octagonal vertex figures, 48 vertices, 72 edges.
  • {8,4|3}: 4 octagonal faces, 8 square vertex figures, 48 vertices, 72 edges (dual to above).
These are non-convex but orientable, with density 1, and can be constructed as sections of uniform 4-polytopes. Broader enumerations include 36 finite skew polyhedra from Petrie duals of uniform polyhedra, though only the 4 above are fully regular with transitive flag action.

Rank 4

In 4 dimensions, finite regular skew 4-polytopes (skew polychora) feature skew 3D cells or vertex figures, often derived from Petrification of convex regulars or kappa operations on planar ones. There are 18 such polytopes, all realized on the in 4D space, with vertices related by Clifford displacements. One example is the Petrial tesseract {4,3,3}π, with triangular prism cells and skew vertex figures. The remaining 17 arise from applying the kappa operation (replacing edges with skew digons) to the 16 planar uniform 4-polytopes and the Petrial tesseract. These have odd-sided possibilities unlike 3D skew polyhedra and exhibit hypercubic or octahedral symmetries. No complete list of Schläfli symbols exists in simple form, but examples include {4,4|n} families with n² vertices. They are finite, bounded, and regular under their full symmetry groups.
OperationBase PolytopeResulting Skew 4-PolytopeVertices
PetrialTesseract {4,3,3}Petrial tesseract16
KappaPlanar square tiling {4,4}Skew square prism productVariable
KappaPetrial tesseractKappa Petrial tesseractVariable
(Note: Full enumeration requires specialized coordinates; see Coxeter's works for details.)

Ranks 5 and higher

No finite regular skew polytopes are known in ranks 5 and higher beyond embeddings of lower-dimensional ones or specific constructions like the icosahedron in the 6-demicube or dodecahedron in the 10-demicube, which are not full-rank regular. The three infinite families of convex regulars in n ≥ 5 do not yield finite skew variants, as skew operations typically produce infinite or unbounded structures in higher dimensions. Research focuses on abstract or chiral polytopes rather than geometric finite skew realizations.

Regular projective polytopes

Regular projective polytopes are finite regular polytopes that can be realized in real projective space RPn\mathbb{RP}^n. They arise as quotients of centrally symmetric spherical tessellations by the antipodal map, denoted by hemi-Schläfli symbols {p,q,...}/2, and have half the number of elements compared to their spherical double covers. These polytopes have Euler characteristic χ=1\chi = 1 or $0$ depending on the rank, and their symmetry groups are index-2 subgroups of the full spherical Coxeter groups.

Rank 3

There are four regular projective polyhedra, each corresponding to the centrally symmetric Platonic solids: the cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron (the tetrahedron is self-dual and not centrally symmetric in this context). These are realized as projective planes with regular polygonal faces.
PolyhedronSchläfli symbolFacesEdgesVerticesEuler characteristicSkeleton
Hemicube{4,3}/23641K4K_4
Hemi-octahedron{3,4}/24631Double-edged K3K_3
Hemi-dodecahedron{5,3}/2615101G(5,2)G(5,2)
Hemi-icosahedron{3,5}/2101561K6K_6

Rank 4

In four-dimensional projective space, there are five regular projective 4-polytopes, derived from the centrally symmetric 4D regular polytopes: the tesseract, 16-cell, 24-cell, 120-cell, and 600-cell.
PolychoronSchläfli symbolCellsFacesEdgesVerticesEuler characteristicSkeleton
Hemitesseract{4,3,3}/24121680K4,4K_{4,4}
Hemi-16-cell{3,3,4}/28161240Double-edged K4K_4
Hemi-24-cell{3,4,3}/2124848120-
Hemi-120-cell{5,3,3}/2603606003000-
Hemi-600-cell{3,3,5}/2300600360600-

Ranks 5 and higher

For ranks 5 and higher, regular projective polytopes exist only for the and families, as these are centrally symmetric. The hemi-n-cube {4,3^{n-2},3}/2 and hemi-n-orthoplex {3^{n-2},3,4}/2 are the only infinite families. For example:
  • In rank 5: Hemi-penteract {4,3,3,3}/2 (5 cells, 20 3-faces, 40 faces, 40 edges, 16 vertices, χ=1\chi=1, skeleton: + 8 central diagonals) and hemi-pentacross {3,3,3,4}/2 (16 cells, 40 3-faces, 40 faces, 20 edges, 5 vertices, χ=1\chi=1, skeleton: double-edged K5K_5).
No regular projective polytopes exist beyond these families in higher ranks, as other spherical tessellations lack central symmetry. These structures are abstractly regular but realized projectively, with facets being lower-dimensional projective polytopes.

Apeirotopes

Rank 2

Rank 2 regular apeirotopes, known as apeirogons, represent the infinite analogs of regular polygons and serve as the building blocks for higher-dimensional infinite polytopes. These structures possess infinitely many vertices and edges, extending indefinitely in one or more directions while maintaining uniform symmetry. The primary enumeration includes the linear apeirogon denoted by the Schläfli symbol {∞}, which realizes as a straight line divided into equal segments in one-dimensional Euclidean space. Unlike finite compounds such as {n, ∞}, which do not form regular rank 2 polytopes, skew variants emerge in higher embeddings as infinite zig-zag polygons with twisting or density parameters. In Euclidean geometry, the apeirogon {∞} manifests as an infinite zigzag pattern, often skew and non-planar, with vertices alternating between parallel lines or circles to preserve regularity. These skew apeirogons exhibit infinite dihedral symmetry, generated by translations and reflections along an infinite axis, ensuring vertex-transitivity and edge uniformity without a bounded interior. For instance, in two-dimensional Euclidean realizations, they tile lines or planes discretely, as seen in the Petrie apeirogon of uniform tilings, where consecutive edges lie on distinct faces but share vertices in a helical or zigzag fashion. Hyperbolic realizations of the apeirogon {∞} occur on horocycles within the hyperbolic plane, where vertices lie asymptotically toward the boundary at infinity, forming equilateral infinite-sided figures with finite angular defects. Such structures, inscribed in horocycles or hypercycles, maintain regular symmetry under the infinite dihedral group and appear in hyperbolic tilings as limiting cases of finite polygons. An example is the asymptotic apeirogon on the absolute conic, with zero interior angles and infinite inradius, highlighting their role in unbounded geometric configurations. In practical embeddings, skew apeirogons like those in the cubic honeycomb {4,3,4} trace Petrie paths, forming infinite square helices that intersect faces skewly, demonstrating their utility in describing skeletal elements of infinite honeycombs. These realizations in three-dimensional Euclidean space underscore the apeirogon's versatility, bridging one-dimensional linearity with higher-dimensional skew geometries while adhering to the principles of regularity.

Rank 3

Rank 3 regular apeirotopes, also known as apeirohedra or regular honeycombs, are infinite regular polytopes that tile three-dimensional space using regular polyhedra or apeirohedra as cells, with infinite cells meeting at vertices according to the symmetry of affine or hyperbolic Coxeter groups. These structures extend the concept of finite Platonic solids into infinite domains, filling Euclidean or hyperbolic 3-space without gaps or overlaps, and their cells are unbounded in extent but locally finite in arrangement. Unlike finite polyhedra, apeirohedra possess infinite vertex figures and exhibit translational symmetries, unifying planar apeirogons as potential faces in a three-dimensional context. In Euclidean 3-space, exactly three convex regular apeirohedra exist, each corresponding to an irreducible affine Coxeter group of rank 4. The cubic honeycomb, denoted by the Schläfli symbol {4,3,4}\{4,3,4\}, consists of regular cubes as cells, with four cubes meeting dihedrally at each edge and octahedral vertex figures; it is self-dual and tiles space via translations along cubic lattice directions. The hexagonal prismatic honeycomb {3,6,3}\{3,6,3\} features regular hexagonal prisms as cells, three meeting at each edge, with triangular tiling vertex figures, filling space through a combination of rotational and translational symmetries. The triangular prismatic honeycomb {6,3,3}\{6,3,3\} is its dual, using triangular prisms as cells, again three at each edge, with hexagonal tiling vertex figures, and completes the set of Euclidean cases where the dihedral angles allow flat tiling. Hyperbolic regular apeirohedra form infinite families in hyperbolic 3-space, governed by hyperbolic Coxeter groups, with Schläfli symbols {p,q,r}\{p,q,r\} where p,q,r3p,q,r \geq 3 are integers satisfying 1/p+1/q+1/r<1/21/p + 1/q + 1/r < 1/2, ensuring the structure curves negatively to accommodate the excess angle sum. Representative examples include the icosahedral-hexagonal tiling honeycomb {3,3,6}\{3,3,6\}, where six regular tetrahedra meet at each edge with hexagonal tiling vertex figures, and the order-7 tetrahedral honeycomb {3,7,3}\{3,7,3\}, featuring seven tetrahedra per edge and cubic vertex figures. These honeycombs have finite regular polyhedra as cells, whose existence follows from the properties of hyperbolic Coxeter groups. Star variants incorporate non-convex star polygon faces, such as the small stellated dodecahedral honeycomb {5/2,3,3}\{5/2,3,3\}, where pentagrammic {5/2}\{5/2\} faces form density-3 tilings integrated into the three-dimensional structure. Skew regular apeirohedra introduce non-planar faces or vertex figures, allowing zigzagging infinite polygons while maintaining regularity. In Euclidean 3-space, infinite families of skew apeirohedra arise, for instance, from of the , yielding structures like the mucube with skew square faces and six meeting at each vertex. Hyperbolic skew apeirohedra extend this to 31 distinct regular forms, blending skew elements within hyperbolic geometry. Unlike traditional separations of convex, star, and skew types, these rank 3 apeirohedra are unified under actions, with all convex hyperbolic cases complete per the classification of hyperbolic .

Rank 4

In four-dimensional Euclidean space, there are four regular honeycombs that tile the space completely, each corresponding to one of the irreducible affine Coxeter groups of rank 5. These honeycombs are infinite 4-polytopes known as apeirotopes, with regular polychora as cells and vertex figures. The 5-cell honeycomb, denoted by the Schläfli symbol {3,3,3,4}\{3,3,3,4\}, has regular 5-cells as its cells and 16-cells as its vertex figures, with four cells meeting around each ridge. The 16-cell honeycomb {3,3,4,3}\{3,3,4,3\} uses 16-cells as cells and 5-cells as vertex figures, with three cells around each ridge. The tesseract honeycomb {4,3,3,3}\{4,3,3,3\} consists of tesseracts as cells and 24-cells as vertex figures, with three cells around each ridge. The 24-cell honeycomb {3,4,3,3}\{3,4,3,3\} has 24-cells as both cells and vertex figures, with three cells around each ridge. These structures are self-dual in pairs, with the 5-cell and 16-cell honeycombs being dual to each other, and the tesseract and 24-cell honeycombs forming another dual pair.
Honeycomb NameSchläfli SymbolCell TypeVertex FigureCells per Ridge
5-cell honeycomb{3,3,3,4}\{3,3,3,4\}4
16-cell honeycomb{3,3,4,3}\{3,3,4,3\}3
Tesseract honeycomb{4,3,3,3}\{4,3,3,3\}3
24-cell honeycomb{3,4,3,3}\{3,4,3,3\}3
Improper Euclidean honeycombs of rank 4 include paracompact types, which have finite density in some directions but infinite in others, often arising from reducible affine groups or operations on compact ones. An example is the paracompact honeycomb {3,3,3,5/2}\{3,3,3,5/2\}, which incorporates star polytope elements with density 2 in the vertex figure, leading to infinite apeirohedral cells extending to infinity in certain directions. These are realized in Euclidean space but do not fill it compactly, instead forming layered or prismatic structures with unbounded vertex figures. In hyperbolic 4-space, regular rank 4 apeirotopes form infinite families of honeycombs {p,q,r,s}\{p,q,r,s\} where p,q,r,s3p,q,r,s \ge 3 satisfying conditions for hyperbolic Coxeter groups of rank 5, such as those derived from indefinite quadratic forms ensuring negative curvature. These tessellations fill hyperbolic 4-space with regular polyhedra as cells, with s5s \ge 5 determining the number of cells around each edge, leading to exponentially growing complexity and infinite distinct types parameterized by integer values meeting the condition. For instance, families like {3,3,3,s}\{3,3,3,s\} for s5s \ge 5 produce honeycombs with tetrahedral cells and increasingly dense vertex figures. The total count is infinite, as there are infinitely many such Coxeter diagrams with finite volume fundamental domains. Hyperbolic 4D tessellations by rank 4 apeirotopes involve even more extensive infinite families {p,q,r,s}\{p,q,r,s\} tiling H4\mathbb{H}^4, governed by hyperbolic Coxeter groups of rank 5 satisfying stricter density conditions for negative curvature. These include structures with 3D apeirohedra as cells, such as infinite extensions of finite polychora, and exhibit growth rates determined by the spectral radius of the group, often exceeding exponential volume expansion. The enumeration is underenumerated in classical literature due to the vast parameter space, but modern classifications confirm infinitely many via variable branch numbers in the Coxeter diagrams. Star hyperbolic rank 4 apeirotopes incorporate non-convex polytope elements, such as Kepler-Poinsot polyhedra or polychora in cells or vertex figures, while maintaining regularity under the abstract polytope framework. Examples include families like {5/2,5,3,s}\{5/2,5,3,s\} for suitable s>4s > 4, tiling hyperbolic spaces with stellated components and positive greater than 1, leading to overlapping but regular arrangements resolved in the hyperbolic metric. These extend the convex cases by allowing fractional Schläfli entries denoting winding or , with infinite varieties arising from combinations of factors satisfying hyperbolic inequalities. Properties include non-orientable realizations in some cases and connections to finite polytopes via quotient constructions. All rank 4 regular apeirotopes are infinite 4-polytopes with unbounded facets, realized via string Coxeter groups that are affine for Euclidean cases or hyperbolic otherwise, ensuring isometry groups act transitively on flags. The Euclidean examples derive from irreducible affine diagrams, while hyperbolic and star variants stem from infinite-volume fundamental domains, highlighting the role of growth rates in distinguishing compact from paracompact realizations.

Ranks 5 and higher

In ranks 5 and higher, convex regular apeirotopes correspond to regular tessellations of Euclidean or by congruent regular polytopes, extending the concept of infinite regular polytopes beyond finite bounds. These structures are infinite in all directions and are generated by reflection groups known as Coxeter groups of rank n+1, where n denotes the of the ambient . Unlike finite polytopes, apeirotopes fill the entire without gaps or overlaps, with vertex figures and cells being lower-dimensional regular polytopes or apeirotopes themselves. Here, rank refers to the of the tiled, consistent with lower-rank sections. For realizations in Euclidean n-space with n ≥ 4, regular convex apeirotopes exist in all dimensions via infinite classical families (simplicial {3^{n-1}}, hypercubic {4,3^{n-2},3}, {3^{n-2},4}) generated by affine Coxeter groups, including both irreducible and reducible cases. Additional irreducible exceptional types occur up to n=8, increasing the total: four in 4D, six in 5D, seven in 6D, eight in 7D, and three classical plus exceptional in 8D, but classical families continue indefinitely beyond 8D. For example, in 4D, the four include the {3,3,3,4}, tesseract {4,3,3,3}, {3,3,4,3}, and 24-cell {3,4,3,3}, featuring infinite regular 4-polytopes as cells meeting in configurations that flat space. Beyond 8 dimensions, only the three classical families persist, as proven through the exhaustion of possible affine Dynkin diagrams beyond affine E8. In hyperbolic n-space for n ≥ 5, infinitely many regular convex apeirotopes exist, arising from hyperbolic Coxeter groups. Prominent families include the {3^{n-1}, p} series, where p ≥ 5 is an , consisting of simplices {3^{n-1}} as cells with p meeting at each , and dual forms like {p, 3^{n-1}}; additional infinite families involve mixed entries such as {4, 3^{n-3}, 4} and others derived from indefinite quadratic forms. These hyperbolic tessellations exhibit in cell due to the negative , enabling arbitrarily many polytopes to meet at vertices without closing up. Regular star hyperbolic apeirotopes in ranks 5 and higher are comparatively sparse, with known examples limited to specific constructions incorporating star polygon facets, such as certain 5-dimensional (rank 5) tessellations featuring {5/2} pentagrammic elements in their cells or vertex figures. These rely on non-convex realizations within , preserving regularity through uniform density and symmetry, but their remains incomplete beyond low dimensions due to the complexity of star polytope extensions.

Abstract regular polytopes

Geometric realizations

Abstract regular polytopes provide a combinatorial framework for studying beyond traditional geometric constraints, defined as ranked partially ordered sets (posets) of faces ordered by inclusion, satisfying the diamond condition—ensuring that any two comparable elements have exactly two common covers and two common lowers—and being strongly connected between consecutive ranks. The of such a poset acts regularly on the flags, which are maximal chains from the empty face to the whole , meaning the action is transitive and free, with the group order equaling the number of flags. This definition generalizes classical regular polytopes while allowing for structures without immediate geometric embeddings. Geometric realizations embed these abstract structures into metric spaces, such as Euclidean or spherical geometries, where vertices map to points, edges to line segments, and higher faces to polytopes preserving incidence relations and symmetries. A realization is faithful if the automorphism group acts isometrically and injectively on the vertices and faces, ensuring no collapse of distinct elements and full preservation of the abstract symmetries; for finite abstract regular polytopes, the dimension of such a faithful realization is at least the polytope's rank. The universal regular polytope U({p1,p2,,pn1})U(\{p_1, p_2, \dots, p_{n-1}\}) of a given Schläfli type serves as the canonical cover encompassing all realizations of that type, generated by the full Coxeter group with relations dictated by the parameters, from which quotients yield specific geometric forms like convex polytopes or tilings. All finite geometric regular polytopes, such as the Platonic solids and their higher-dimensional analogs, are realizations of abstract regular polytopes, inheriting their combinatorial structure directly. However, abstract regular polytopes extend beyond these, admitting realizations in non-convex or infinite settings; for instance, the universal polytope {3,3,3}3\{3,3,3\}_3 of rank 4, characterized by triangular faces, tetrahedral vertex figures, and Petrie polygons of length 3, realizes as a hyperbolic tiling in two dimensions but lacks a faithful convex embedding in three-dimensional , highlighting the flexibility of abstract-to-geometric mappings. Key properties like s and hole sizes are defined purely combinatorially in the abstract setting, independent of : a is a closed edge path where every two consecutive edges lie in a common face but no three do, with all such polygons equivalent under the and their lengths specifying variants like {p,q}r\{p,q\}_r. Higher-order holes generalize this to skew cycles involving successive faces of multiple dimensions, quantifying "twists" in the structure; these persist in realizations, influencing skewness or projectivity, as seen in non-convex polyhedra. The framework integrating these concepts with realizations, including projective and skew types, was established by McMullen and Schulte in their 2002 monograph, bridging combinatorial abstraction to diverse geometric interpretations.

Non-geometric examples

Abstract regular polytopes encompass a vast class of combinatorial objects that generalize the symmetry of geometric regular polytopes, but many lack faithful realizations in of their rank. These non-geometric examples are defined purely by their incidence structure, often specified via Coxeter diagrams or the string C-groups that generate their groups. While some may admit realizations in hyperbolic, spherical, or other non-Euclidean geometries, they cannot be embedded as convex polytopes in the corresponding without distortion or degeneracy. This combinatorial freedom allows for structures far beyond the limited geometric cases, highlighting the richness of theory. In rank 4, there are only 6 convex regular 4-polytopes realizable in Euclidean 4-space—the , 8-cell (tesseract), , , , and —but the number of abstract regular 4-polytopes is dramatically larger, with 9248 enumerated in total, including 2912 non-degenerate ones across 817 distinct Schläfli types. These abstracts are systematically enumerated using string C-groups of rank 4, which correspond to finite Coxeter groups modulo relations ensuring the polytope's partial order properties. Computations from the and beyond, leveraging group-theoretic algorithms, have revealed thousands more than initial manual classifications, though the full count remains open for infinite families in higher ranks. For instance, the Schläfli type {3,6,6} yields 25 distinct abstract regular 4-polytopes, each with triangular 3-cells meeting 6 around each edge and hexagonal vertex figures, but none embed convexly in Euclidean 4-space due to the hyperbolic nature of the underlying diagram. Prominent non-geometric examples in rank 4 include the 11-cell {3,5,3} and the 57-cell {5,3,5}, both self-dual abstract regular 4-polytopes discovered through group-theoretic constructions in the late 20th century. The 11-cell consists of 11 hemi-icosahedral cells (each a of the by its antipodal map), 11 vertices, and 55 edges, with its isomorphic to PSL(2,11) of order 660; it arises as a universal over the projective but defies Euclidean realization because its cells require non-Euclidean metrics for consistency. Similarly, the 57-cell features 57 hemi-dodecahedral cells, 57 vertices, 171 edges, and 171 faces (pentagons), governed by the PSL(2,19) of order 3420; its intricate structure, including Petrie 4-gons of length 19, prevents a convex Euclidean , though partial realizations exist in hyperbolic 3-space for its facets. These examples illustrate how abstract polytopes can capture extreme symmetries unattainable geometrically, often linked to sporadic finite groups or exceptional Lie-type groups. In rank 3, non-geometric abstracts extend beyond the 5 Platonic solids to include infinite families like quotients of hyperbolic tilings, such as those of type {3,6,6} projected onto surfaces of higher , but finite examples are rarer and typically realized on non-orientable surfaces like the real . Higher ranks yield infinitely many abstracts due to the proliferation of Coxeter diagrams with branches exceeding Euclidean constraints, enumerated via computational searches over C-groups up to bounded group orders. The small cubicuboctahedron, denoted in some contexts as {3,4|4} in abstract rank 4, represents a combinatorial analogue inspired by the uniform 3-polyhedron but extended to a non-embeddable with octahedral vertex figures and cubic cells, further exemplifying structures defined solely by group actions without spatial embedding. Overall, these non-geometric abstracts underscore the shift from geometric constraints to pure , enabling explorations in group theory and .

Higher-rank abstracts

In ranks 5 and higher, every geometric is necessarily an abstract , as the latter framework generalizes the combinatorial structure of the former without requiring an embedding in a . However, the vast majority of abstract in these dimensions lack any geometric realization, existing solely as combinatorial objects defined by their face lattices and flag-transitive groups. For instance, the abstract 5-polytope of Schläfli type {3,3,3,3,3} extends beyond the geometric , illustrating how abstract constructions permit structures unattainable in Euclidean, spherical, or hyperbolic geometries of the same rank. These polytopes are characterized by their Coxeter diagrams, which encode the branching relations among facets, and their groups act transitively on flags, ensuring maximal . Prominent examples include higher-rank toroidal abstracts, which arise as quotients of universal hyperbolic honeycombs by suitable discrete groups, yielding finite or infinite structures with toroidal cells. In rank 5, such polytopes of type {3,3,3,3,3} are locally toroidal, meaning their minimal non-spherical sections are regular toroids like {4,4}. Rank 6 examples encompass types {3,3,3,4,3}, {3,3,4,3,3}, and {3,4,3,3,4}, often derived from hyperbolic 6-honeycombs in H^5, with automorphism groups involving twisted Coxeter subgroups. Infinite families emerge from constructions like abelian covers of lower-rank regulars or centrally symmetric polytopes, producing regular hypertopes in ranks 5 through 7 via group-theoretic extensions. Some of these abstracts admit multiple realizations in non-Euclidean spaces, such as hyperbolic realizations where the polytope tiles the space periodically. Enumeration reveals infinitely many abstract regular polytopes per rank n ≥ 5, classified primarily by diagram types such as irreducible Coxeter groups, where finite irreducibles yield polytopes of intermediate ranks from 3 to n-1 or n depending on parity. For instance, exceptional Coxeter groups like those of types E_6, E_7, and E_8 support abstracts up to their full rank. Recent classifications, including those tied to sporadic simple groups, identify specific counts: four rank-5 polytopes for the Mathieu group M_{24} and similarly for the Higman-Sims group. In the 2020s, advances have expanded infinite families via coverings and unraveled structures, with computational atlases enumerating 352 nondegenerate rank-5 examples (up to 2000 flags) and 2 for rank 6, alongside degenerate cases suggesting broader abstract "star-like" variants through non-string diagrams. These developments underscore the predominance of abstract over geometric forms in high ranks, with ongoing work on branched Coxeter constructions.

References

Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.