A dihedron is a type of

polyhedron In geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. A convex polyhedron is the convex hull of finitely many points, not all on ...

, made of two

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...

faces which share the same set of ''n'' edges. In three-dimensional

Euclidean space Euclidean space is the fundamental space of geometry, intended to represent physical space. Originally, that is, in Euclid's ''Elements'', it was the three-dimensional space of Euclidean geometry, but in modern mathematics there are Euclidean ...

, it is

degenerate Degeneracy, degenerate, or degeneration may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Degenerate (album), ''Degenerate'' (album), a 2010 album by the British band Trigger the Bloodshed * Degenerate art, a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party i ...

if its faces are flat, while in three-dimensional spherical space, a dihedron with flat faces can be thought of as a lens, an example of which is the fundamental domain of a lens space L(''p'',''q''). Dihedra have also been called bihedra, flat polyhedra, or doubly covered polygons. As a spherical tiling, a dihedron can exist as nondegenerate form, with two ''n''-sided faces covering the sphere, each face being a hemisphere, and vertices on a great circle. It is regular if the vertices are equally spaced. The dual of an ''n''-gonal dihedron is an ''n''-gonal hosohedron, where ''n''

digon In geometry, a digon is a polygon with two sides (edges) and two vertices. Its construction is degenerate in a Euclidean plane because either the two sides would coincide or one or both would have to be curved; however, it can be easily visu ...

faces share two vertices.

As a flat-faced polyhedron

A dihedron can be considered a degenerate

prism Prism usually refers to: * Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light * Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron Prism may also refer to: Science and mathematics * Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...

whose two (planar) ''n''-sided

bases are connected "back-to-back", so that the resulting object has no depth. The polygons must be congruent, but glued in such a way that one is the mirror image of the other. This applies only if the distance between the two faces is zero; for a distance larger than zero, the faces are infinite polygons (a bit like the apeirogonal hosohedron's digon faces, having a width larger than zero, are infinite stripes). Dihedra can arise from

Alexandrov's uniqueness theorem The Alexandrov uniqueness theorem is a rigidity theorem in mathematics, describing three-dimensional convex polyhedra in terms of the distances between points on their surfaces. It implies that convex polyhedra with distinct shapes from each oth ...

, which characterizes the distances on the surface of any convex polyhedron as being locally Euclidean except at a finite number of points with positive angular defect summing to 4π. This characterization holds also for the distances on the surface of a dihedron, so the statement of Alexandrov's theorem requires that dihedra be considered as convex polyhedra. Some dihedra can arise as lower limit members of other polyhedra families: a

with

bases would be a square dihedron, and a

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

with a digon base would be a triangular dihedron. A regular dihedron, with Schläfli symbol , is made of two

regular polygon In Euclidean geometry, a regular polygon is a polygon that is direct equiangular (all angles are equal in measure) and equilateral (all sides have the same length). Regular polygons may be either convex, star or skew. In the limit, a sequence ...

s, each with Schläfli symbol .

As a tiling of the sphere

A spherical dihedron is made of two spherical polygons which share the same set of ''n'' vertices, on a great circle equator; each polygon of a spherical dihedron fills a hemisphere. A regular spherical dihedron is made of two regular spherical polygons which share the same set of ''n'' vertices, equally spaced on a great circle equator. The regular polyhedron is self-dual, and is both a hosohedron and a dihedron.

Apeirogonal dihedron

As ''n'' tends to infinity, an ''n''-gonal dihedron becomes an apeirogonal dihedron as a 2-dimensional tessellation:
Apeirogonal tiling

Ditopes

A regular ''ditope'' is an ''n''-dimensional analogue of a dihedron, with Schläfli symbol . It has two

facets A facet is a flat surface of a geometric shape, e.g., of a cut gemstone. Facet may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Facets'' (album), an album by Jim Croce * ''Facets'', a 1980 album by jazz pianist Monty Alexander and his tri ...

, , which share all

ridges A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

, in common.

References

External links