Angles and volumes of simplices, boxes, and crosspolytopes in constant curvature
Abstract
We determine, up to isometry, the Riemannian tangent and normal cones at arbitrary faces of boxes, acute orthocentric simplices, rectangular simplices, and asymmetric crosspolytopes in spaces of constant sectional curvature κ∈ℝ. Using these descriptions, we derive explicit one-dimensional integral formulas for their internal and external angles in arbitrary dimension. In particular, our results cover regular simplices, cubes, and crosspolytopes, the three families of regular polytopes existing in every dimension. We also establish a correspondence between regular simplices and cubes with isometric local cones at corresponding faces, provided their edge-length parameters are suitably matched. Combining our angle formulas with the Poincaré relation, we obtain volume formulas for simplices and crosspolytopes in even dimensions. For boxes, we derive volume formulas valid in every dimension. Among the new results are angle formulas for spherical and hyperbolic cubes and crosspolytopes, volume formulas for asymmetric crosspolytopes, and a one-dimensional integral representation for the internal angles of regular crosspolytopes that appears to be new even in the Euclidean case. The formulas involve the standard normal distribution function Φ(x) and its values at purely imaginary arguments Φ(i x). For example, if d≥ 2 is even, then the volume of the ideal regular simplex in the d-dimensional hyperbolic space of curvature κ=−1 is given by the absolutely convergent integral πd/2/(√2 id Γ((d+1)/2)) ∫−∞∞ [ Φ((i y)/√d)d+1 + Φ(−(i y)/√d)d+1 ] e−y2/2 dy.
Related
- The Bézout inequality for mixed volumes characterizes simplices
- On volumes of simplices in intermediate dimensions
- Area-preserving curvature flow for open curves with general contact angles on skew lines
- Approximation algorithm for mixed volumes of a constant number of convex bodies
- A proof of the Cartan-Hadamard conjecture for small volumes under a Ricci curvature lower bound
BibTeX
@misc{kabluchko2026angles,
title = {{Angles and volumes of simplices, boxes, and crosspolytopes in constant curvature}},
author = {Zakhar Kabluchko and Philipp Schange},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.21571},
eprint = {2609.21571},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.21571},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Angles and volumes of simplices, boxes, and crosspolytopes in constant curvature
AU - Zakhar Kabluchko
AU - Philipp Schange
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.21571
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.21571
AB - We determine, up to isometry, the Riemannian tangent and normal cones at arbitrary faces of boxes, acute orthocentric simplices, rectangular simplices, and asymmetric crosspolytopes in spaces of constant sectional curvature κ∈ℝ. Using these descriptions, we derive explicit one-dimensional integral formulas for their internal and external angles in arbitrary dimension. In particular, our results cover regular simplices, cubes, and crosspolytopes, the three families of regular polytopes existing in every dimension. We also establish a correspondence between regular simplices and cubes with isometric local cones at corresponding faces, provided their edge-length parameters are suitably matched. Combining our angle formulas with the Poincaré relation, we obtain volume formulas for simplices and crosspolytopes in even dimensions. For boxes, we derive volume formulas valid in every dimension. Among the new results are angle formulas for spherical and hyperbolic cubes and crosspolytopes, volume formulas for asymmetric crosspolytopes, and a one-dimensional integral representation for the internal angles of regular crosspolytopes that appears to be new even in the Euclidean case. The formulas involve the standard normal distribution function Φ(x) and its values at purely imaginary arguments Φ(i x). For example, if d≥ 2 is even, then the volume of the ideal regular simplex in the d-dimensional hyperbolic space of curvature κ=−1 is given by the absolutely convergent integral π^d/2/(√2 i^d Γ((d+1)/2)) ∫_−∞^∞ [ Φ((i y)/√d)^d+1 + Φ(−(i y)/√d)^d+1 ] e^−y^2/2 dy.
ER -