The Modified Bellows Conjecture for flexible spherical polyhedra

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Let P(u)P(u) be a flexible polyhedron in the sphere Sn\mathbb{S}^n, where n≥3n\ge 3. Replacing a vertex by its antipode means replacing that vertex of P(u)P(u) with its antipodal point in Sn\mathbb{S}^n. Modified Bellows Conjecture. Some vertices can be replaced by their antipodes so that the oriented volume of the resulting flexible polyhedron P′(u)P'(u) remains constant during the flexion. This conjecture is a spherical analogue of the Bellows Conjecture, which asserts constancy of oriented volume during flexion. It is refuted by exotic flexible cross-polytopes in Sn\mathbb{S}^n for all n≥4n\ge 4, while the source notes that it holds for the previously constructed counterexamples to the usual Bellows Conjecture.

References

Primary source

Alexander A. Gaifullin, “Exotic spherical flexible octahedra and counterexamples to the Modified Bellows Conjecture”, arXiv:2503.09582 (2026).

Additional references

2 papers in this index state this conjecture (2015–2025). The statement above is taken from the most recent of them; the others are arXiv:1501.06198.

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