Previous |  Up |  Next

Article

Title: On the orbits of similarity classes of tetrahedra generated by the longest-edge bisection algorithm (English)
Author: Michaud, Jérôme
Author: Korotov, Sergey
Language: English
Journal: Applications of Mathematics
ISSN: 0862-7940 (print)
ISSN: 1572-9109 (online)
Volume: 71
Issue: 2
Year: 2026
Pages: 137-162
Summary lang: English
.
Category: math
.
Summary: We study the dynamics of similarity classes of tetrahedra generated by the longest-edge bisection (LEB) algorithm. Building on the normalization strategy introduced by F. Perdomo, Á. Plaza (2014) we construct a canonical representation of tetrahedra in a normalized space embedded in the product of the hyperbolic half-plane and the hyperbolic half-space model. This representation allows us to define the left and right refinement maps, $\Phi _L$ and $\Phi _R$, acting on the space of normalized tetrahedral shapes, and to study their iterative orbits as discrete dynamical systems. Using these maps, we show that the orbit of the space-filling Sommerville tetrahedron contains only 4 similarity classes, 3 of which form an attractive cycle corresponding to the orbit of the path tetrahedron. We also show that small perturbations of elements in those orbits still lead to finite orbits. In addition, we study small perturbations of the regular tetrahedron and show that their orbits are also finite. Extensive numerical exploration of orbits for the other types of tetrahedra suggests that the LEB algorithm does not produce degenerating tetrahedra. Our framework provides a geometric and dynamical foundation for analyzing the shape evolution of tetrahedral meshes and offers a possible route towards an analytic proof of the nondegeneracy property for the tetrahedral partitions generated by the LEB refinements. This property is highly desired in e.g., the finite element methods (FEMs). (English)
Keyword: bisection algorithm
Keyword: finite element method
Keyword: tetrahedral partition
Keyword: mesh regularity
Keyword: dynamical system
Keyword: hyperbolic geometry
MSC: 65M50
MSC: 65N30
MSC: 65N50
DOI: 10.21136/AM.2026.0277-25
.
Date available: 2026-07-31T06:54:29Z
Last updated: 2026-08-03
Stable URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10338.dmlcz/153660
.
Reference: [1] Adler, A.: On the bisection method for triangles.Math. Comput. 40 (1983), 571-574. Zbl 0523.65033, MR 0689473, 10.1090/S0025-5718-1994-1240660-4
Reference: [2] Aparicio, G., Casado, L. G., Hendrix, E. M. T., G.-Tóth, B., Garcia, I.: On the minimum number of simplex shapes in longest edge bisection refinement of a regular $n$-simplex.Informatica, Vilnius 26 (2015), 17-32. Zbl 1387.90275, MR 3341040, 10.15388/Informatica.2015.36
Reference: [3] Brandts, J., Korotov, S., Křížek, M.: On the equivalence of regularity criteria for triangular and tetrahedral finite element partitions.Comput. Math. Appl. 55 (2008), 2227-2233. Zbl 1142.65443, MR 2413688, 10.1016/j.camwa.2007.11.010
Reference: [4] Brandts, J., Korotov, S., Křížek, M.: Generalization of the Zlámal condition for simplicial finite elements in $\Bbb{R}^d$.Appl. Math., Praha 56 (2011), 417-424. Zbl 1240.65327, MR 2833170, 10.1007/s10492-011-0024-1
Reference: [5] Hannukainen, A., Korotov, S., Křížek, M.: On numerical regularity of the face-to-face longest-edge bisection algorithm for tetrahedral partitions.Sci. Comput. Program. 90 (2014), 34-41. 10.1016/j.scico.2013.05.002
Reference: [6] Hošek, R.: The role of Sommerville tetrahedra in numerical mathematics.Proceedings of the Programs and Algorithms of Numerical Mathematics 18 Institute of Mathematics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague (2017), 46-54. Zbl 1413.51011, MR 3791866, 10.21136/panm.2016.06
Reference: [7] Korotov, S., Křížek, M., Kropáč, A.: Strong regularity of a family of face-to-face partitions generated by the longest-edge bisection algorithm.Comput. Math. Math. Phys. 48 (2008), 1687-1698. Zbl 1549.65515, MR 2536610, 10.1134/S0965542508090170
Reference: [8] A. Meurer, C. P. Smith, M. Paprocki, O. Čertík, S. B. Kirpichev, M. Rocklin, A. Kumar, S. Ivanov, J. K. Moore, S. Singh, T. Rathnayake, S. Vig, B. E. Granger, R. P. Muller, F. Bonazzi, H. Gupta, S. Vats, F. Johansson, F. Pedregosa, M. J. Curry, A. R. Terrel, Š. Roučka, A. Saboo, I. Fernando, S. Kulal, R. Cimrman, A. Scopatz: SymPy: Symbolic computing in Python.PeerJ Comput. Sci. 3 (2017), Article ID e103, 27 pages. 10.7717/peerj-cs.103
Reference: [9] Michaud, J., Korotov, S.: On the orbits of similarity classes of tetrahedra generated by the longest-edge bisection algorithm.Available at https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.07315 (2025), 23 pages. 10.48550/arXiv.2512.07315
Reference: [10] Padrón, M. A., Plaza, Á., Suárez, J. P.: Similarity classes in the eight-tetrahedron longest-edge partition of a regular tetrahedron.Mathematics 11 (2023), Article ID 4456, 13 pages. 10.3390/math11214456
Reference: [11] Padrón, M. A., Trujillo-Pino, A., Suárez, J. P.: Convergence of the $R^1_+$ tetrahedra family in iterative Longest Edge Bisection.Math. Comput. Simul. 238 (2025), 555-567. MR 4931287, 10.1016/j.matcom.2025.06.023
Reference: [12] Perdomo, F., Plaza, Á.: Proving the non-degeneracy of the longest-edge trisection by a space of triangular shapes with hyperbolic metric.Appl. Math. Comput. 221 (2013), 424-432. Zbl 1332.51009, MR 3091939, 10.1016/j.amc.2013.06.075
Reference: [13] Perdomo, F., Plaza, Á.: Properties of triangulations obtained by the longest-edge bisection.Cent. Eur. J. Math. 12 (2014), 1796-1810. Zbl 1315.51018, MR 3232640, 10.2478/s11533-014-0448-4
Reference: [14] Rivara, M.-C.: Algorithms for refining triangular grids suitable for adaptive and multigrid techniques.Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 20 (1984), 745-756. Zbl 0536.65085, MR 0739618, 10.1002/nme.1620200412
Reference: [15] Rivara, M.-C.: New longest-edge algorithms for the refinement and/or improvement of unstructured triangulations.Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 40 (1997), 3313-3324. Zbl 0980.65144, MR 1471613, 10.1002/(sici)1097-0207(19970930)40:18<3313::aid-nme214>3.3.co;2-r
Reference: [16] Rosenberg, I. G., Stenger, F.: A lower bound on the angles of triangles constructed by bisection of the longest side.Math. Comput. 29 (1975), 390-395. Zbl 0302.65085, MR 0375068, 10.1090/S0025-5718-1975-0375068-5
Reference: [17] Shewchuk, J. R.: What is a good linear element? Interpolation, conditioning, anisotropy, and quality measures.Preprint of the University of California at Berkeley (2002), 66 pages.
Reference: [18] Sommerville, D. M. Y.: Space-filling tetrahedra in Euclidean space.Proc. Edinb. Math. Soc. 41 (1923), 49-57. 10.1017/S001309150007783X
Reference: [19] Stynes, M.: On faster convergence of the bisection method for certain triangles.Math. Comput. 33 (1979), 717-721. Zbl 0405.65010, MR 0521285, 10.1090/S0025-5718-1979-0521285-4
Reference: [20] Stynes, M.: On faster convergence of the bisection method for all triangles.Math. Comput. 35 (1980), 1195-1201. Zbl 0463.65005, MR 0583497, 10.1090/S0025-5718-1980-0583497-1
Reference: [21] Suárez, J. P., Trujillo, A., Moreno, T.: Computing the exact number of similarity classes in the longest edge bisection of tetrahedra.Mathematics 9 (2021), Article ID 1447, 13 pages. 10.3390/math9121447
Reference: [22] Trujillo-Pino, A., Suárez, J. P., Padrón, M. A.: Finite number of similarity classes in longest edge bisection of nearly equilateral tetrahedra.Appl. Math. Comput. 472 (2024), Article ID 128631, 13 pages. Zbl 1545.65098, MR 4712267, 10.1016/j.amc.2024.128631
Reference: [23] Zlámal, M.: On the finite element method.Numer. Math. 12 (1968), 394-409. Zbl 0176.16001, MR 0243753, 10.1007/BF02161362
.

Fulltext not available (moving wall 24 months)

Partner of
EuDML logo