Some criteria for circle packing types and combinatorial Gauss-Bonnet Theorem

Abstract:

We investigate criteria for circle packing (CP) types of disk triangulation graphs embedded into simply connected domains in $\mathbb {C}$. In particular, by studying combinatorial curvature and the combinatorial Gauss-Bonnet theorem involving boundary turns, we show that a disk triangulation graph is CP parabolic if \[ \sum _{n=1}^\infty \frac {1}{\sum _{j=0}^{n-1} (k_j +6)} = \infty , \] where $k_n$ is the degree excess sequence defined by \[ k_n = \sum _{v \in B_n} (\deg v - 6) \] for combinatorial balls $B_n$ of radius $n$ and centered at a fixed vertex. It is also shown that the simple random walk on a disk triangulation graph is recurrent if \[ \sum _{n=1}^\infty \frac {1}{\sum _{j=0}^{n-1} (k_j +6)+\sum _{j=0}^{n} (k_j +6)} = \infty . \] These criteria are sharp, and generalize a conjecture by He and Schramm in their paper from 1995, which was later proved by Repp in 2001. We also give several criteria for CP hyperbolicity, one of which generalizes a theorem of He and Schramm, and present a necessary and sufficient condition for CP types of layered circle packings generalizing and confirming a criterion given by Siders in 1998.