Abstract
A bar framework (G, p) in dimension r is a graph G whose nodes are points \(p^1,\ldots ,p^n\) in \(\mathbb {R}^r\) and whose edges are line segments between pairs of these points. Two frameworks (G, p) and (G, q) are equivalent if each edge of (G, p) has the same (Euclidean) length as the corresponding edge of (G, q). A pair of non-adjacent vertices i and j of (G, p) is universally linked if \(||p^i-p^j||\) = \(||q^i-q^j||\) in every framework (G, q) that is equivalent to (G, p). Framework (G, p) is universally rigid iff every pair of non-adjacent vertices of (G, p) is universally linked. In this paper, we present a unified treatment of the universal rigidity problem based on the geometry of spectrahedra. A spectrahedron is the intersection of the positive semidefinite cone with an affine space. This treatment makes it possible to tie together some known, yet scattered, results and to derive new ones. Among the new results presented in this paper are: (1) The first sufficient condition for a given pair of non-adjacent vertices of (G, p) to be universally linked. (2) A new, weaker, sufficient condition for a framework (G, p) to be universally rigid thus strengthening the existing known condition. An interpretation of this new condition in terms of the Strong Arnold Property is also presented.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alfakih, A.Y.: Graph rigidity via Euclidean distance matrices. Linear Algebra Appl. 310, 149–165 (2000)
Alfakih, A.Y.: On dimensional rigidity of bar-and-joint frameworks. Discrete Appl. Math. 155, 1244–1253 (2007)
Alfakih, A.Y.: On the universal rigidity of generic bar frameworks. Contrib. Disc. Math. 5, 7–17 (2010)
Alfakih, A.Y.: On bar frameworks, stress matrices and semidefinite programming. Math. Program. Ser. B 129, 113–128 (2011)
Alfakih, A.Y., Khandani, A., Wolkowicz, H.: Solving Euclidean distance matrix completion problems via semidefinite programming. Comput. Optim. Appl. 12, 13–30 (1999)
Alfakih, A.Y., Nyugen, V.-H.: On affine motions and universal rigidity of tensegrity frameworks. Linear Algebra Appl. 439, 3134–3147 (2013)
Alfakih, A.Y., Taheri, N., Ye, Y.: On stress matrices of (\(d+1\))-lateration frameworks in general position. Math. Program. 137, 1–17 (2013)
Alfakih, A.Y., Ye, Y.: On affine motions and bar frameworks in general positions. Linear Algebra Appl. 438, 31–36 (2013)
Alizadeh, F., Haeberly, J.A., Overton, M.L.: Complementarity and nondegeneracy in semidefinite programming. Math. Program. Ser. B 77, 111–128 (1997)
Barker, G.P., Carlson, D.: Cones of diagonally dominant matrices. Pac. J. Math. 57, 15–31 (1975)
Connelly, R.: Rigidity and energy. Invent. Math. 66, 11–33 (1982)
Connelly, R.: Generic global rigidity. Discrete Comput. Geom. 33, 549–563 (2005)
Connelly, R., Gortler, S.J.: Iterative universal rigidity. Discrete Comput. Geom. 53, 847–877 (2015)
Critchley, F.: On certain linear mappings between inner-product and squared distance matrices. Linear Algebra Appl. 105, 91–107 (1988)
Gale, D.: Neighboring vertices on a convex polyhedron. In Linear inequalities and related system, pp 255–263. Princeton University Press, Princeton(1956)
Gortler, S.J., Thurston, D.P.: Characterizing the universal rigidity of generic frameworks. Discrete Comput. Geom. 51, 1017–1036 (2014)
Gower, J.C.: Properties of Euclidean and non-Euclidean distance matrices. Linear Algebra Appl. 67, 81–97 (1985)
Grünbaum, B.: Convex polytopes. Wiley, New York (1967)
Jordán, T., Nguyen, V.-H.: On universally rigid frameworks on the line. Technical report, Egerváry Research Group (2012)
Laurent, M., Varvitsiotis, A.: Positive semidefinite matrix completion, universal rigidity and the strong Arnold property. Linear Algebra Appl. 452, 292–317 (2014)
Pataki, G.: The geometry of semidefinite programing. In: Wolkowicz, H., Saigal, R., Vandenberghe, L., (eds.) Handbook of Semidefinite Programming: Theory, Algorithms and Applications, pp. 29–65. Kluwer Academic publishers (2000)
Ramana, M., Goldman, A.J.: Some geometric results in semi-definite programming. J. Glob. Optim. 7, 33–50 (1995)
Rockafellar, R.T.: Convex Analysis. Princeton University Press, Princeton (1970)
Schoenberg, I.J.: Remarks to Maurice Fréchet’s article: Sur la définition axiomatique d’une classe d’espaces vectoriels distanciés applicables vectoriellement sur l’espace de Hilbert. Ann. Math. 36, 724–732 (1935)
Young, G., Householder, A.S.: Discussion of a set of points in terms of their mutual distances. Psychometrika 3, 19–22 (1938)
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the referees for their comments which improved the presentation of the paper. In particular we would like to thank referee 2 for useful insights and for suggesting an alternative proof of Theorem 4.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Research supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alfakih, A.Y. Universal rigidity of bar frameworks via the geometry of spectrahedra. J Glob Optim 67, 909–924 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10898-016-0448-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10898-016-0448-y
Keywords
- Semidefinite programming
- Universal rigidity
- Bar frameworks
- Spectrahedra
- Stress matrices
- Gale transform
- Cayley configuration space
- Distance geometry
- Strong Arnold Property