Hilbert's third problem

E911228

Hilbert's third problem is one of David Hilbert’s famous list of 23 problems, asking whether every polyhedron of a given volume is equidecomposable with any other of the same volume, a question that led to the development of the Dehn invariant and the discovery of counterexamples.

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Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Hilbert problem
mathematical problem
asksAbout decomposition of polyhedra into finitely many polyhedral pieces
reassembly of polyhedral pieces by isometries
assumes rigid motions and cut-and-paste operations of polyhedra
category problems in geometry
unsolved problems in mathematics (historical)
clarifiedBy Dehn's construction of non-equidecomposable polyhedra NERFINISHED
concernsDimension three-dimensional Euclidean space
field discrete geometry
geometry
polyhedral geometry
hasAnswer negative
hasCounterexample cube and regular tetrahedron of equal volume
pairs of polyhedra of equal volume that are not equidecomposable
hasImplication volume is not a complete invariant for scissors congruence of polyhedra in 3D
hasNegativeAnswerReason existence of Dehn invariant independent of volume
hasNumber 3
historicalSignificance first Hilbert problem to be solved
inspiredDevelopment study of scissors congruence classes of polyhedra
theory of Dehn invariants
introducedInvariant Dehn invariant NERFINISHED
involvesConcept Dehn invariant NERFINISHED
equidecomposability
polyhedron
scissors congruence
volume
languageOfOriginalStatement German
mainQuestion whether any two polyhedra of equal volume are equidecomposable
whether every polyhedron of a given volume is equidecomposable with any other of the same volume
motivated systematic study of invariants under polyhedral decomposition
originalTitle Drittes Problem NERFINISHED
partOf Hilbert's list of 23 problems NERFINISHED
Hilbert's problems NERFINISHED
publicationContext Hilbert's 1900 Paris lecture NERFINISHED
relatedTo Banach–Tarski paradox NERFINISHED
Hilbert's fourth problem NERFINISHED
scissors congruence problem NERFINISHED
solutionBy Max Dehn NERFINISHED
solutionYear 1900
1901
statedBy David Hilbert NERFINISHED
status solved

Referenced by (2)

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Dehn invariant relatedTo Hilbert's third problem
Dehn invariant solves Hilbert's third problem