# 5-simplex

In five-dimensional geometry, a 5-simplex is a self-dual regular 5-polytope. It has six vertices, 15 edges, 20 triangle faces, 15 tetrahedral cells, and 6 5-cell facets. It has a dihedral angle of cos−1(1/5), or approximately 78.46°.

5-simplex
Hexateron (hix)
Type uniform 5-polytope
Schläfli symbol {34}
Coxeter diagram
4-faces66 {3,3,3}
Cells1515 {3,3}
Faces2020 {3}
Edges 15
Vertices 6
Vertex figure
5-cell
Coxeter group A5, [34], order 720
Dual self-dual
Base point (0,0,0,0,0,1)
Properties convex, isogonal regular, self-dual

The 5-simplex is a solution to the problem: Make 20 equilateral triangles using 15 matchsticks, where each side of every triangle is exactly one matchstick.

## Alternate names

It can also be called a hexateron, or hexa-5-tope, as a 6-facetted polytope in 5-dimensions. The name hexateron is derived from hexa- for having six facets and teron (with ter- being a corruption of tetra-) for having four-dimensional facets.

By Jonathan Bowers, a hexateron is given the acronym hix.[1]

## As a configuration

This configuration matrix represents the 5-simplex. The rows and columns correspond to vertices, edges, faces, cells and 4-faces. The diagonal numbers say how many of each element occur in the whole 5-simplex. The nondiagonal numbers say how many of the column's element occur in or at the row's element. This self-dual simplex's matrix is identical to its 180 degree rotation.[2][3]

${\displaystyle {\begin{bmatrix}{\begin{matrix}6&5&10&10&5\\2&15&4&6&4\\3&3&20&3&3\\4&6&4&15&2\\5&10&10&5&6\end{matrix}}\end{bmatrix}}}$

## Regular hexateron cartesian coordinates

The hexateron can be constructed from a 5-cell by adding a 6th vertex such that it is equidistant from all the other vertices of the 5-cell.

The Cartesian coordinates for the vertices of an origin-centered regular hexateron having edge length 2 are:

{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&\left({\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {15}}},\ {\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {10}}},\ {\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {6}}},\ {\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {3}}},\ \pm 1\right)\\[5pt]&\left({\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {15}}},\ {\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {10}}},\ {\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {6}}},\ -{\tfrac {2}{\sqrt {3}}},\ 0\right)\\[5pt]&\left({\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {15}}},\ {\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {10}}},\ -{\tfrac {\sqrt {3}}{\sqrt {2}}},\ 0,\ 0\right)\\[5pt]&\left({\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {15}}},\ -{\tfrac {2{\sqrt {2}}}{\sqrt {5}}},\ 0,\ 0,\ 0\right)\\[5pt]&\left(-{\tfrac {\sqrt {5}}{\sqrt {3}}},\ 0,\ 0,\ 0,\ 0\right)\end{aligned}}}

The vertices of the 5-simplex can be more simply positioned on a hyperplane in 6-space as permutations of (0,0,0,0,0,1) or (0,1,1,1,1,1). These construction can be seen as facets of the 6-orthoplex or rectified 6-cube respectively.

## Projected images

orthographic projections
Ak
Coxeter plane
A5 A4
Graph
Dihedral symmetry [6] [5]
Ak
Coxeter plane
A3 A2
Graph
Dihedral symmetry [4] [3]
 Stereographic projection 4D to 3D of Schlegel diagram 5D to 4D of hexateron.

## Lower symmetry forms

A lower symmetry form is a 5-cell pyramid ( )v{3,3,3}, with [3,3,3] symmetry order 120, constructed as a 5-cell base in a 4-space hyperplane, and an apex point above the hyperplane. The five sides of the pyramid are made of 5-cell cells. These are seen as vertex figures of truncated regular 6-polytopes, like a truncated 6-cube.

Another form is { }v{3,3}, with [2,3,3] symmetry order 48, the joining of an orthogonal digon and a tetrahedron, orthogonally offset, with all pairs of vertices connected between. Another form is {3}v{3}, with [3,2,3] symmetry order 36, and extended symmetry [[3,2,3]], order 72. It represents joining of 2 orthogonal triangles, orthogonally offset, with all pairs of vertices connected between.

These are seen in the vertex figures of bitruncated and tritruncated regular 6-polytopes, like a bitruncated 6-cube and a tritruncated 6-simplex. The edge labels here represent the types of face along that direction, and thus represent different edge lengths.

Vertex figures for truncated 6-simplexes
( )v{3,3,3}{ }v{3,3}{3}v{3}
truncated 6-simplex
truncated 6-cube
bitruncated 6-simplex
bitruncated 6-cube
tritruncated 6-simplex

## Compound

The compound of two 5-simplexes in dual configurations can be seen in this A6 Coxeter plane projection, with a red and blue 5-simplex vertices and edges. This compound has [[3,3,3,3]] symmetry, order 1440. The intersection of these two 5-simplexes is a uniform birectified 5-simplex. = .

It is first in a dimensional series of uniform polytopes and honeycombs, expressed by Coxeter as 13k series. A degenerate 4-dimensional case exists as 3-sphere tiling, a tetrahedral dihedron.

13k dimensional figures
Space Finite Euclidean Hyperbolic
n 4 5 6 7 8 9
Coxeter
group
A3A1 A5 D6 E7 ${\displaystyle {\tilde {E}}_{7}}$ =E7+ ${\displaystyle {\bar {T}}_{8}}$ =E7++
Coxeter
diagram
Symmetry [3−1,3,1] [30,3,1] [31,3,1] [32,3,1] [[3<sup>3,3,1</sup>]] [34,3,1]
Order 48 720 23,040 2,903,040
Graph - -
Name 13,-1 130 131 132 133 134

It is first in a dimensional series of uniform polytopes and honeycombs, expressed by Coxeter as 3k1 series. A degenerate 4-dimensional case exists as 3-sphere tiling, a tetrahedral hosohedron.

3k1 dimensional figures
Space Finite Euclidean Hyperbolic
n 4 5 6 7 8 9
Coxeter
group
A3A1 A5 D6 E7 ${\displaystyle {\tilde {E}}_{7}}$ =E7+ ${\displaystyle {\bar {T}}_{8}}$ =E7++
Coxeter
diagram
Symmetry [3−1,3,1] [30,3,1] [[3<sup>1,3,1</sup>]]
= [4,3,3,3,3]
[32,3,1] [33,3,1] [34,3,1]
Order 48 720 46,080 2,903,040
Graph - -
Name 31,-1 310 311 321 331 341

The 5-simplex, as 220 polytope is first in dimensional series 22k.

22k figures of n dimensions
Space Finite Euclidean Hyperbolic
n 4 5 6 7 8
Coxeter
group
A2A2 A5 E6 ${\displaystyle {\tilde {E}}_{6}}$ =E6+ E6++
Coxeter
diagram
Graph
Name 22,-1 220 221 222 223

The regular 5-simplex is one of 19 uniform polytera based on the [3,3,3,3] Coxeter group, all shown here in A5 Coxeter plane orthographic projections. (Vertices are colored by projection overlap order, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple having progressively more vertices)

## Notes

1. Klitzing, (x3o3o3o3o - hix)
2. Coxeter, Regular Polytopes, sec 1.8 Configurations
3. Coxeter, Complex Regular Polytopes, p.117

## References

• T. Gosset: On the Regular and Semi-Regular Figures in Space of n Dimensions, Messenger of Mathematics, Macmillan, 1900
• H.S.M. Coxeter:
• Coxeter, Regular Polytopes, (3rd edition, 1973), Dover edition, ISBN 0-486-61480-8, p.296, Table I (iii): Regular Polytopes, three regular polytopes in n-dimensions (n≥5)
• H.S.M. Coxeter, Regular Polytopes, 3rd Edition, Dover New York, 1973, p.296, Table I (iii): Regular Polytopes, three regular polytopes in n-dimensions (n≥5)
• Kaleidoscopes: Selected Writings of H.S.M. Coxeter, edited by F. Arthur Sherk, Peter McMullen, Anthony C. Thompson, Asia Ivic Weiss, Wiley-Interscience Publication, 1995, ISBN 978-0-471-01003-6
• (Paper 22) H.S.M. Coxeter, Regular and Semi Regular Polytopes I, [Math. Zeit. 46 (1940) 380-407, MR 2,10]
• (Paper 23) H.S.M. Coxeter, Regular and Semi-Regular Polytopes II, [Math. Zeit. 188 (1985) 559-591]
• (Paper 24) H.S.M. Coxeter, Regular and Semi-Regular Polytopes III, [Math. Zeit. 200 (1988) 3-45]
• John H. Conway, Heidi Burgiel, Chaim Goodman-Strass, The Symmetries of Things 2008, ISBN 978-1-56881-220-5 (Chapter 26. pp. 409: Hemicubes: 1n1)
• Norman Johnson Uniform Polytopes, Manuscript (1991)
• N.W. Johnson: The Theory of Uniform Polytopes and Honeycombs, Ph.D. (1966)
• Klitzing, Richard. "5D uniform polytopes (polytera) x3o3o3o3o - hix".