T. R. S.

W A L S H *

CHARACTERIZING THE VERTEX NEIGHBOURHOODS

OF SEMI-REGULAR POLYHEDRA

I. I N T R O D U C T I O N

A polyhedron [4, p. 4] or a plane tessellation [4, p. 58] is called semi-

regular if its faces are regular polygons (thus all its edges are equal) and its
vertices are all surrounded alike. This implies that the cyclic sequence
S= (Pl,P2, ...,P~) representing the degrees of the faces surrounding a
vertex must be the same for each vertex to within rotation and reflection.
In this paper, we show that the cyclic sequence S=(pl, P2,...,Pq) rep-
resents the degrees of the faces surrounding each vertex of a semi-regular
convex polyhedron or tessellation of the plane if and only if:
(1) q>~ 3, and every member of S is at least 3;
q

(2) . >/~ - 1, with equality in the case of a plane tessellation,"

i=l
(3) and for every odd number p in S, S contains a segment b, p, b.
Condition (1) is necessary because if q~<2, the figure consists of a single
polygon; while any polygon with straight sides must have at least 3 of them.
Condition (2) is necessary because the sum of the interior angles at a
vertex must be equal to one rotation if the figure is to lie in a plane, and
must be less than one rotation if the figure is to be strictly convex (convex
with no two adjacent faces lying in the same plane).
The usual way in which all the semi-regular convex polyhedra and plane
tessellations are found is to eliminate solutions of (1) and (2) using separate
arguments for each of several sets of solutions [6, pp. 116-26; 2, pp. 25-32;
3, p. 394; 7, pp. 202-3], and then to prove that the solutions not eliminated
represent semi-regular tessellations of the plane or sphere.
In [5], there appear: a short proof of the existence of these figures
[pp. 405-8], a table [p. 434] and pictures [p. 439] of all but one of the
semi-regular convex polyhedra (the remaining one appears in [1, p. 137])
as well as the known non-convex ones, and a table [p. 438] of all the semi-

* The author wishes to thank Prof. H. S. M. Coxeter for his numerous helpful suggestions
during the preparation of this paper, and M. Burt for his assistance in preparing the
plates.

Geometriae Dedicata 1 (1972) 117-123. All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 1972 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht-Holland
118 T.R.S. WALSH

regular plane tessellations. Pictures of all but two of the plane tessellations
appear in [7, pp. 199 and 204-7, figures 75, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 94].
In this paper, we introduce the concept of a semi-regular map. We deduce
the necessity of conditions (2) and (3) by showing that they hold for all
semi-regular maps on plane-like or sphere-like surfaces provided that
every face is of degree at least 3. We then find all solutions of (1), (2), (3)
and identify each with a known semi-regular convex polyhedron or plane
tessellation. The properties established in the course of this proof may be
useful for enumerating semi-regular maps on other types of surfaces.

II. S E M I - R E G U L A R MAPS

A map [cf. 4, p. 6] is a partition of a connected, unbounded two-dimensional

surface into simply-connected polygonal regions (faces) by means of pair-
wise disjoint simple curves (edges) joining pairs of points (vertices). Every
polyhedron is a map, while a map whose faces are plane polygons is a
polyhedron if the number of edges is finite, and a degenerate polyhedron
(like, for example, a plane tessellation) otherwise.
A map is called semi-regular if the cyclic order of the degrees of the faces
surrounding each vertex is the same to within rotation and reflection. This
cyclic order determines a cyclic sequence S = (Pl, P2 ..... p~), which we call
the cycle of the map.
Every vertex is incident with mp p-gons, where mp is the multiplicity of
p in S. Everyp-gun is incident with p vertices. So if v (the number of vertices)
is finite and fp is the number ofp-gons,

(4) fp = ( ~ ) v.

Every vertex is incident with q edges (where q is the length of S) and

every edge is incident with 2 vertices. So if e is the number of edges,

(5) e =(2)v.

I f f is the total number of faces,

(6) f-- f =v× .

peS i=1

A convex body is sphere-like, and its surface is, like the plane, simply-
 SEMI-REGULAR POLYHEDRA 119

connected. Hence we may restrict our attention to maps on a simply-

connected surface (an orientable surface of genus 0) and use Euler's formula
[4, p. 9] to find v:
q

(7) f-e+v=v ( 1-2+

i=l
=2.

(8) Letting D = 2
i=l
--,
Pi

we have either D > 0 and

2 q 2(mp/p)
(9) v = ~, e = ~, fP = D

as in the case of the convex polyhedra, or else D = 0 and o, e, fp are all

infinite, as in the case of the plane tessellations.
This proves the necessity of condition (2).

III. RESTRICTIONS O N T H E C Y C L E OF A S E M I - R E G U L A R MAP

Given any semi-regular map (not necessarily one which obeys Euler's
formula) with cycle S, consider any face (of degreep, say), and let b 1.... , bp be
the degrees of the faces which share consecutive edges with the p-gon.
The b~-gon, the p-gon, and the b~+x-gon are consecutive faces surrounding
their common vertex (see Figure 1);

\ p /0,

Fig. 1.

so S contains a segment bi, p, bi+ 1. This is true for 1 <~i<~p (bp+1 means,
of course, bl ), and for every p in S. So we have
120 T.R.S. WALSH

L E M M A 1 : If S is the cycle for a semi-regular map, then for any p in S, S

must contain the segments bx, p, b2; b2, p, ba ;... ; bp_ 1, P, bp; bp, p, b 1for some
bl, b2,..., bp in S.
These p segments are not necessarily distinct. In fact, i f p is even, it need
only be the middle term of a single segment bl, p, b2; letting b3 =bs . . . . .
=bp-1 = b l and b4=b 6 . . . . . bp=bz will satisfy Lemma 1. If S contains a
segment bl, p, b~, then letting b2=b a . . . . . bp=bl will satisfy Lemma 1
whether p is even or odd. But these are the only cases where a single segment
suffices.
If p is the middle term of exactly two distinct segments b~,p, bz and
bz, p, ba, then b4=b6 . . . . . bp=b2; so p must be even. Therefore, i f p is
odd and no segment b, p, b exists in S, p must be the middle term of at
least 3 distinct segments in S, which means that the multiplicity of p in S
is at least 3 [cf also 8, p. 161] and S m u s t contain at least two other numbers
distinct from each other and from p.
For example, the cycle of the semi-regular map in Figure 2 is (3, 4, 3, 2, 3),
in which no segment b, 3, b exists.

Fig. 2.

However, if we insist that every face must have at least 3 sides (which is
necessary if the sides are to be straight, and which implies that every member
of S is at least 3), then D is maximized by letting p = 3 occur three times and
the other two elements of S be 4 and 5. The sequence (3, 4, 3, 5, 3) satisfies
Lemma 1; however, D = - ~ o . So we have

L E M M A 2: l f S is the cycle of a semi-regular maps without faces of degree 1

or 2 on a simply-connected surface, then for every odd number p in S, S must
contain a segment b, p, b.
This proves the necessity of condition (3).
 SEMI-REGULAR POLYHEDRA 121

IV. T H E S O L U T I O N S OF (1), (2), (3)

We now find all the solutions of (1), (2), (3), and show that each solution is
the cycle of a known regular or semi-regular convex polyhedron or plane
tessellation. In the process, we reconstruct part of the tables in [5, pp. 434,
438] giving for each S the common name (for the convex polyhedra - no
commonly-accepted names exist for the plane tessellafions) and the common
symbol. The values of v, e, andfp can be computed from (8) and (9). Pictures
of these figures appear in the plate in the same order as they are introduced
below.
If q = 3, (2) becomes

i I 1 1
(lO) - - + - - + - - t> -
Pl P2 Pa 2
and (3) becomes: if S contains an odd number p, the other two elements of
S must be equal, and must be either equal to p or even.
If 3~S, S=(3, x, x), where by (10), x~<12; so we have
(3, 3, 3) tetrahedron {3, 3}
(3, 4, 4) triangular prism t{2, 3}
(3,6,6) truncated tetrahedron t{3, 3}
(3, 8, 8) truncated cube t{4, 3}
(3, 10, 10) truncated dodecahedron t {5, 3}
(3, 12, 12) (plane tessellation) t {6, 3}.
If 3 ¢ S and 4 occurs at least twice, we have
(4, 4, n) n-gonal prism t {2, n}
which satisfies (3) and (10) for every n, and reduces when n = 4 to
(4, 4, 4) cube {4, 3}.
If 4 occurs exactly once, the other two numbers must be even. If 6~S,
then by (10), the third number ~<12, and we have
(4, 6, 6) truncated octahedron t {3, 4}
(4, 6, 8) truncated cuboctahedron t {~}
(4, 6, 10) truncated icosidodecahedron t{~}
(4, 6, 12) (plane tessellation) t{6a}.
If 6¢S, the second largest term must be at least 8. But by (10), the remain-
ing term must then be at most 8; so we have only
(4, 8, 8) (plane tessellation) t {4, 4},
which exhausts the solutions of (10) which contain 3 or 4.
If 3 ¢ S and 4 ~ S but 5 s S, S = (5, x, x), x = 5 or an even number i> 6.
But by (10), x~<6~; so we have only
(5, 5, 5) dodecahedron {5, 3}
(5, 6, 6) truncated icosahedron t {3, 5}
122 T.R.S. W A L S H

Finally, if 5 ¢ S, the smallest number in S is at least 6. But then by (10),

the largest number in S must be at most 6; so the only remaining solution
of (10) is
(6, 6, 6) (plane tessellation) {6, 3}
If q = 4 , (2) becomes
1 1 1 1
(11) - - + - - + - - + - - I> 1.
Pl P:z P3 P4
If 3 occurs in S at least 3 times, we have
(3, 3, 3, n) n-gonal antiprism s {2}
which satisfies (3) and (11) for all n, and reduces when n = 3 to
(3, 3, 3, 3) octahedron {3, 4}.
If 3 occurs in S exactly twice, the two occurrences cannot be adjacent -
otherwise, neither 3 satisfies condition (3) - and the other two numbers
must be equal. So S=(3, x, 3, x), where x~>4. By (11), x~<6; so we have
(3, 4, 3, 4) cuboctahedron {4a}
(3, 5, 3, 5) icosidodecahedron {a}
(3, 6, 3, 6) (plane tessellation) {a}.
If 3 occurs in S exactly once, the two numbers adjacent to it must be
equal (and even: otherwise the remaining number must be a 3). So
S=(3, y, x,y), where y is even. If y~>6, then by (11), x ~ 3 ; so y = 4 and
S=(3, 4, x, 4). But then by (11), x~<6 and we have
(3, 4, 4, 4) rhombicuboctahedron r {a}
and pseudo-rhombicuboctahedron [1, p. 137]
(3, 4, 5, 4) rhombicosidodecahedron r{as}
(3, 4, 6, 4) (plane tessellation) r{a}.
If 3¢S, the smallest number in S must be i>4. But then by (11), the
remaining numbers must be ~<4; so the only remaining solution of (11) is
(4, 4, 4, 4) (plane tessellation) {4, 4}.
If q = 5, (2) becomes
1 1 1 1 1 3
( 1 2 ) - - + - - + - - + - - + - -

Pl P2 Pa P4 Ps 2
If 3 occurs in S at least 4 times, condition (3) is automatically satisfied.
S=(3, 3, 3, 3, x), and by (12), x~<6. So we have
(3, 3, 3, 3, 3) icosahedron {3, 5}
(3, 3, 3, 3, 4) snub cuboctahedron s{a}
(3, 3, 3, 3, 5) snub icosidodecahedron s{5a}
(3, 3, 3, 3, 6) (plane tessellation) s{~}.
The last three figures occur in left-handed and right-handed form.
If 3 occurs in S at most 3 times, the second smallest number must be at
 SEMI-REGULAR POLYHEDRA 123

least 4, and by (12), the remaining number must be at most 4; and 3 cannot
occur less than 3 times. So the only remaining solutions of (12) are
(3, 3, 3, 4, 4) (plane tessellation) no symbol
(3, 3, 4, 3, 4) (plane tessellation) s {~}
If q >/6, then since every element in S is at least 3, by (2) every element in
S is at most 3 and there are exactly 6 of them. Thus the only remaining
solution of (1) and (2) is
(3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3) (plane tessellation) {3, 6},
which also satisfies (3).
This exhausts the solutions of (1), (2), (3) and, together with Lemma 2
and the existence proof in [5, pp. 405-81, proves the result quoted in the
second paragraph.
Now suppose the restriction that every member of S is at least 3 is lifted.
The conclusion of Lemma 2 is no longer valid (see Figure 2), but Lemma 1
still holds. Some solutions of (2) which satisfy Lemma 1 cannot possibly
be the cycle of a semi-regular map because from (8) and (9), at least one of
v, e, and fp turns out not to be an integer. However, of all the solutions of
(2) so far investigated which satisfy Lemma 1 and make v, e, and fp integers,
every one represents at least one semi-regular map. Is this generally true;
and if not, is there a reasonably simple characterization of the vertex
neighbourhoods of any semi-regular planar map?

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] Ball, W. W. R., Mathematical Recreations and Essays (revised by H. S. M. Coxeter),
MacMillan, New York 1956.
[2] Catalan, E; 'M6moire sur la Th6orie des Poly~dres', J. l'l~cole Polytechnique (Paris)
41 (1865), 1-71.
[3] Coxeter, H. S. M., 'Regular and Semi-Regular Polytopes I', Math. Z. 46 (1940),
380-407.
[4] Coxeter, H. S. M., Regular Polytopes (2nd edition), Macmillan, New York 1963.
[5] Coxeter, H. S. M., Longuet-Higgins,M. S., and Miller, J. C. P., 'Uniform Polyhedra',
Proc. Roy. Soc. London 246 (1954), 401-50.
[6] Kepler, J., 'Harmonice Mtmdi', Opera Omnia, Vol. 5, Frankfurt 1864, pp. 75-334.
[7] Kra'itchik, M., Mathematical Recreations, Dover Publications Inc., New York 1942,
pp 199-207.
[8] Lines, L., Solid Geometry, Macmillan, London 1935.

Address of the author:

T. R. S. Walsh,
Faculty of Mathematics,
University of Waterloo,
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
(Received July 25, 1971)