Repulsionhedra and the Thomson Problem
Repulsionhedra and the Thomson Problem
When repulsive particles are placed inside a ball, they settle into very interesting configurations to maximize stability. The polyhedra that they generate are approximations to solutions to the Thomson problem: to determine the optimal (lowest-energy) configurations of particles on the surface of a sphere. (In Thomson's "plum pudding" model of the atom at the time, the particles were negative electrons immersed in a positive sphere.)