Mining the Soma Cube for Gems: Isomorphic Subgraphs Reveal Equivalence Classes

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

article

Vogel, Edward¹ 

[1] Whittier Neighborhood Math Circle

关键词: graph;    group;    topology;    theory;    computer science;    mathematics;    hands on;    activities;   

DOI  :  10.5642/jhummath.ZBJJ9221

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Soma cubes are an example of a dissection puzzle, where an object is broken down into pieces, which must then be reassembled to form either the original shape or some new design. In this paper, we present some interesting discoveries regarding the Soma Cube. Equivalence classes form aesthetically pleasing shapes in the solution set of the puzzle. These gems are identified by subgraph isomorphisms using SNAP!/Edgy, a simple block-based computer programming language. Our preliminary findings offer several opportunities for researchers from middle school to undergraduate to utilize graphs, group theory, topology, and computer science to discover connections between computation and geometric patterns.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND