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arxiv: 1610.04680 · v2 · pith:65R5QXPMnew · submitted 2016-10-15 · 🧮 math.GT · math.AT

How efficiently can one untangle a double-twist? Waving is believing!

classification 🧮 math.GT math.AT
keywords untanglingdouble-twistnullhomotopyrotationsspaceanalyzeanimatebeen
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It has long been known to mathematicians and physicists that while a full rotation in three-dimensional Euclidean space causes tangling, two rotations can be untangled. Formally, an untangling is a based nullhomotopy of the double-twist loop in the special orthogonal group of rotations. We study a particularly simple, geometrically defined untangling procedure, leading to new conclusions regarding the minimum possible complexity of untanglings. We animate and analyze how our untangling operates on frames in 3-space, and teach readers in a video how to wave the nullhomotopy with their hands.

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