Compound of four octahedra with rotational freedom

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Short description: Polyhedral compound
Compound of four octahedra with rotational freedom
UC10-4 octahedra.png
Type Uniform compound
Index UC10
Polyhedra 4 octahedra
Faces 8+24 triangles
Edges 48
Vertices 24
Symmetry group pyritohedral (Th)
Subgroup restricting to one constituent 6-fold improper rotation (S6)

The compound of four octahedra with rotational freedom is a uniform polyhedron compound. It consists in a symmetric arrangement of 4 octahedra, considered as triangular antiprisms. It can be constructed by superimposing four identical octahedra, and then rotating each by an equal angle θ about a separate axis passing through the centres of two opposite octahedral faces, in such a way as to preserve pyritohedral symmetry.

Superimposing this compound with a second copy, in which the octahedra have been rotated by the same angle θ in the opposite direction, yields the compound of eight octahedra with rotational freedom.

When θ = 0, all four octahedra coincide. When θ is 60 degrees, the more symmetric compound of four octahedra (without rotational freedom) arises. In another notable case (pictured), when

[math]\displaystyle{ \theta = 2 \tan^{-1}\left(\sqrt{15}-2\sqrt{3}\right) \approx 44.47751^\circ, }[/math]

24 of the triangles form coplanar pairs, and the compound assumes the form of the compound of five octahedra with one of the octahedra removed.

Gallery

References

  • Skilling, John (1976), "Uniform Compounds of Uniform Polyhedra", Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 79 (3): 447–457, doi:10.1017/S0305004100052440 .