In geometry, a tiling is a family of shapes – called tiles – that cover the plane (or any other geometric setting) without gaps or overlaps.[1] Such a tiling might be constructible from a single fundamental unit or primitive cell and is then called periodic.[2] An example of such a tiling is shown in the diagram to the right (see the image description for more information). Every periodic tiling has a primitive cell that can generate it. A tiling that cannot be constructed from a single primitive cell is called nonperiodic. If a given set of tiles allows only nonperiodic tilings, then this set of tiles is called aperiodic.[3] The tilings obtained from an aperiodic set of tiles can be called aperiodic tilings.
The first table explains the abbreviations used in the second table. The second table contains all known aperiodic sets of tiles and gives some additional basic information about each set. Please note that this list of tiles is still incomplete.
Contents |
Abbreviation | Meaning | Explanation |
---|---|---|
E2 | Euclidean plane | normal flat plane |
H2 | hyperbolic plane | plane, where the parallel postulate does not hold |
E3 | Euclidean 3 space | space defined by three perpendicular coordinate axes |
MLD | Mutually locally derivable | two tilings are said to be mutually locally derivable from each other, if one tiling can be obtained from the other by a simple local rule (such as deleting or inserting an edge) |
Image | Name | Number of tiles | Space | Publication Date | refs | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trilobite and cross tiles | 2 | E2 | 1999 | [4] | Tilings MLD from the chair tilings | |
Penrose P1 tiles | 6 | E2 | 1974[Note 1] | [5] | Tilings MLD from the tilings by P2 and P3, Robinson triangles, and "Starfish, ivy leaf, hex" | |
Penrose P2 tiles | 2 | E2 | 1977[Note 2] | [6] | Tilings MLD from the tilings by P1 and P3, Robinson triangles, and "Starfish, ivy leaf, hex" | |
Penrose P3 tiles | 2 | E2 | 1978[Note 3] | [7] | Tilings MLD from the tilings by P1 and P2, Robinson triangles, and "Starfish, ivy leaf, hex" | |
Binary tiles | 2 | E2 | 1988 | [8][9] | Although similar in shape to the P3 tiles, the tilings are not MLD from each other, developed in an attempt to model the atomic arrangement in binary alloys | |
Robinson tiles | 6 | E2 | 1971[Note 4] | [10] | Tiles enforce aperiodicity by forming an infinite hierarchy of square lattices | |
No image | Ammann A1 tiles | 6 | E2 | 1977[11] | [12] | Tiles enforce aperiodicity by forming an infinite hierarchal binary tree. |
Ammann A2 tiles | 2 | E2 | 1986[Note 5] | [13] | ||
Ammann A3 tiles | 3 | E2 | 1986[Note 5] | [13] | ||
Ammann A4 tiles | 2 | E2 | 1986[Note 5] | [13][14] | Tilings MLD with Ammann A5. | |
Ammann A5 tiles | 2 | E2 | 1982[Note 6] | [15][16] | Tilings MLD with Ammann A4. | |
No image | Penrose Hexagon-Triangle tiles | 2 | E2 | 1997[17] | [17][18] | |
No image | Golden Triangle tiles | 10 | E2 | 2001 [19] | [20] | date is for discovery of matching rules. Dual to Ammann A2 |
Socolar tiles | 3 | E2 | 1989[Note 7] | [21][22] | Tilings MLD from the tilings by the Shield tiles | |
Shield tiles | 4 | E2 | 1988[Note 8] | [23][24] | Tilings MLD from the tilings by the Socolar tiles | |
Square triangle tiles | 5 | E2 | 1986[25] | [26] | ||
No image | Sphinx tiles | 91 | E2 | [27] | ||
Starfish, ivy leaf and hex tiles | 3 | E2 | [28][29][30] | Tiling is MLD to Penrose P1, P2, P3, and Robinson triangles | ||
Robinson triangle | 4 | E2 | [12] | Tiling is MLD to Penrose P1, P2, P3, and "Starfish, ivy leaf, hex". | ||
Danzer triangles | 6 | E2 | 1996[31] | [32] | ||
Pinwheel tiles | E2 | 1994[33][34] | [35][36] | Date is for publication of matching rules. | ||
No image | Wang tiles | 104 | E2 | 2008[Note O] | [37] | |
No image | Wang tiles | 56 | E2 | 1971[Note 4] | [38] | Tiles enforce aperiodicity by forming an infinite hierarchy of square lattices |
Wang tiles | 32 | E2 | [39] | |||
Wang tiles | 16 | E2 | [40][41] | |||
Wang tiles | 14 | E2 | [42] | |||
Wang tiles | 13 | E2 | 1996 | [43][44] | ||
No image | Decagonal Sponge tile | 1 | E2 | 2002 | [45][46] | Porous tile consisting of non-overlapping point sets |
No image | Horocyclic tiles | 85 | H2 | 2005 | [47] | |
Goodman-Strauss hyperbolic tile | 1 | H2 | 2005 | [48] | Weakly aperiodic | |
No image | Goodman-Strauss strongly aperiodic tiles | 26 | H2 | 2005 | [48] | |
No image | Böröczky tile | 1 | Hn | 1974[49] | [50] | Not strongly aperiodic |
No image | Schmitt tile | 1 | E3 | 1988 | [51] | Screw-periodic |
Schmitt-Conway-Danzer tile | 1 | E3 | [51] | Screw-periodic and convex | ||
Socolar Taylor tile | 1 | E3 | 2010 | [52][53] | Periodic in third dimension | |
No image | Penrose rhombohedra | 2 | E3 | 1981[54] | [55][56][57][58][59][60][61] | |
No image | Wang cubes | 21 | E3 | [62] | ||
No image | Wang cubes | 18 | E3 | [63] | ||
No image | Wang cubes | 16 | E3 | [64] | ||
No image | Danzer tetrahedra | 4 | E3 | 1989[65] | [66] | |
I and L tiles | 2 | En for all n ≥ 3 | 1999 | [67] |
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