Models of Locally Regular Heptagonal Dodecahedra
David I. McCooey

Proceedings of Bridges 2010: Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Culture
Pages 479–482
Short Papers

Abstract

We present models of polyhedra built from 12 heptagons meeting three per vertex. Unlike the analogous case with 12 pentagons, where there is a single unique combinatorial structure, there are six combinatorially distinct ways to combine 12 heptagons, meeting three per vertex, into a (possibly self-intersecting) polyhedron. We identified realizable (non-self-intersecting) examples for five of the six possible structures, and fabricated physical models of them. They all necessarily have genus 2 (topologically equivalent to a 2-holed donut), and they appear in a variety of aesthetically pleasing symmetries. These models demonstrate a form of art emerging from mathematics.

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