The Honeycomb Conjecture

Proving the universal optimality of the hexagonal lattice is one of the big open challenges of nowadays mathematics. We show that the hexagonal lattice outperforms certain "natural" classes of periodic configurations. Also, we rule out the option that the canonical non-lattice rival -- the honeycomb -- has lower energy than the hexagonal lattice at any scale.

The paper is devoted to some extremal problems, related to convex polygons in the Euclidean plane and their perimeters. We present a number of results that have simple formulations, but rather intricate proofs. Related and still unsolved problems are discussed too.

T. Keleti asked, whether the ratio of the perimeter and the area of a finite union of unit squares is always at most 4. In this paper we present an example where the ratio is greater than 4. We also answer the analogous question for regular triangles negatively and list a number of open problems.

We prove that the optimal cluster problem for the sum of the first Robin eigenvalue of the Laplacian, in the limit of a large number of convex cells, is asymptotically solved by (the Cheeger sets of) the honeycomb of regular hexagons. The same result is established for the Robin torsional rigidity.

Motivated by a question of R.\ Nandakumar, we show that the Euclidean plane can be dissected into mutually incongruent convex pentagons of the same area and the same perimeter.

A survey of tilings in the plane for a general audience.

The convex body isoperimetric conjecture in the plane asserts that the least perimeter to enclose given area inside a unit disk is greater than inside any other convex set of area $\pi$. In this note we confirm two cases of the conjecture: domains symmetric to both coordinate axes and perturbations of unit disk.

In the paper Planarity and Hyperbolicity in Graphs, the authors present the following conjecture: every tessellation of the Euclidean plane with convex tiles induces a non-hyperbolic graph. It is natural to think that this statement holds since the Euclidean plane is non-hyperbolic. Furthermore, there are several results supporting this conjecture. However, this work shows that the conjecture is false.

The open problem of whether or not every pair of equal-area polygons has a hinged dissection is discussed.

We study the presumably unnecessary convexity hypothesis in the theorem of Chung et al. [CFS] on perimeter-minimizing planar tilings by convex pentagons. We prove that the theorem holds without the convexity hypothesis in certain special cases, and we offer direction for future research.