Tag: heesch

  • Heesch Numbers of Unmarked Polyforms

    After a few years of not writing about the subject here, I’m happy to offer an update on Heesch numbers! If you want to save time, you can skip right to the paper I wrote, or experiment with the associated dataset. Back in 2017, I wrote a series of four posts about Heesch numbers. If…

  • Heesch Numbers, Part 4: Edge-to-Edge Pentagons

    This post is the fourth and final one in a series about Heesch numbers.  Part 1 was a general introduction, and would be a good starting point if you’re unfamiliar with the topic. Part 2 covered exhaustive computations of Heesch numbers of polyominoes and polyiamonds, and likely isn’t needed to understand this final chapter. Part…

  • Heesch Numbers, Part 3: Bamboo Shoots and Ice Cream Cones

    This is the third post in a planned series of four about Heesch numbers. In the first post, I introduced some of the basic ideas behind Heesch numbers; if you’re not familiar with the topic, you may want to read it before coming back here. The second post was about Heesch numbers of simple polyforms…

  • Heesch Numbers, Part 2: Polyforms

    In the first post in this series, I introduced the concept of a shape’s Heesch number. In brief, if a shape doesn’t tile the plane, its Heesch number is a measure of the maximum number of times you can surround the shape with layers of copies of itself. (Shapes that do tile are defined to have…

  • Heesch numbers, Part 1

    I love tiling theory. It’s a branch of mathematics that brings together many beautiful ideas, and that offers a lot of open questions for exploration. And of course, it gives us tools to apply mathematics in the world of art and design. Normally, in my research as a computer scientist I apply tiling theory to create…