The analytic continuation of volume and the Bellows conjecture in Lobachevsky spaces

TL;DR

This paper proves the Bellows conjecture for bounded flexible polyhedra in odd-dimensional Lobachevsky spaces by analyzing the analytic continuation of simplex volume as a function of hyperbolic cosines of edge lengths.

Contribution

It establishes the Bellows conjecture in odd-dimensional Lobachevsky spaces, extending previous results and addressing cases with counterexamples in hemispheres.

Findings

Bellows conjecture holds in odd-dimensional Lobachevsky spaces.

Volume of flexible polyhedra remains constant during flexion in these spaces.

Analytic continuation of simplex volume is key to the proof.

Abstract

A flexible polyhedron in an n-dimensional space of constant curvature, namely, in the Euclidean space, or in the Lobachevsky space, or in the sphere, is a polyhedron with rigid (n-1)-dimensional faces and hinges at (n-2)-dimensional faces. The Bellows conjecture claims that, for n greater than or equal to 3, the volume of any flexible polyhedron is constant during the flexion. The Bellows conjecture in Euclidean spaces was proved by Sabitov in dimension 3 (1996) and by the author in dimensions 4 and higher (2012). Counterexamples to the Bellows conjecture in open hemispheres were constructed by Alexandrov in dimension 3 (1997) and by the author in dimensions 4 and higher (2015). In this paper we prove the Bellows conjecture for bounded flexible polyhedra in odd-dimensional Lobachevsky spaces. The proof is based on the study of the analytic continuation of the volume of a simplex in the Lobachevsky space considered as a function of the hyperbolic cosines of its edge lengths.