Polytope

In geometry polytope means, first, the generalization to any dimension of polygon in two dimensions, and polyhedron in three dimensions. Beyond that, the term is used for a variety of related mathematical concepts. This is analogous to the way the term square may be used to refer to a

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square-shaped region of the plane, or just to its boundary, or even to a mere list of its vertices and edges along with some information about the way they are connected. The term was coined by Alicia Boole, the daughter of logician George Boole.

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The Platonic solids, or regular polytopes in three dimensions, were a major focus of study of ancient Greek mathematicians (most notably Euclid's Elements), probably because of their intrinsic aesthetic qualities. In modern times, polytopes and related concepts have found important applications in Computer graphics, Optimization, and numerous other fields.

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Geometry: Geometry (Greek Γεωμετρια, geo = earth, metria = measure) arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. It was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers. In modern times, geometric c...

Polygon: :For other use please see Polygon (disambiguation)...

Polyhedron: A polyhedron is a geometric shape which in mathematics is defined by three related meanings. In the traditional meaning it is a 3-dimensional polytope, and in a newer meaning that exists alongside the older one it is a bounded or unbounded generalization of a polytope of any dimension. Further gen...