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Poncelet's theorem in space

Author(s): Emma Previato
Journal: Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 127 (1999), 2547-2556.
MSC (1991): Primary 14H40; Secondary 58F07
Posted: May 4, 1999
MathSciNet review: 1662198
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Abstract | References | Similar articles | Additional information

Abstract: A plane polygon $\mathcal{P}$ inscribed in a conic $C$ and circumscribed to a conic $D$ can be continuously `rotated', as it were. One of the many proofs consists in viewing each side of $\mathcal{P}$ as translation by a torsion point of an elliptic curve. In the $n$-space version, involving torsion points of hyperelliptic Jacobians, there is a $g=(n-1)$-dimensional family of rotations, where $g=\text{genus}$ of the hyperelliptic curve; the polygon is now inscribed in one and circumscribed to $n-1$ quadrics.

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Additional Information:

Emma Previato
Affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
Email: ep@math.bu.edu

DOI: 10.1090/S0002-9939-99-05307-1
PII: S 0002-9939(99)05307-1
Received by editor(s): May 20, 1997
Received by editor(s) in revised form: September 28, 1997
Posted: May 4, 1999
Additional Notes: The author's research was partly supported by NSA grant MDA904-95-H-1031
Communicated by: Ron Donagi
Copyright of article: Copyright 1999, American Mathematical Society




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