Dissections of regular polygons into triangles of equal areas

Abstract

This paper answers the question, “If a regular polygon withn sides is dissected intom triangles of equal areas, mustm be a multiple ofn?” Forn=3 the answer is “no,” since a triangle can be cut into any positive integral number of triangles of equal areas. Forn=4 the answer is again “no,” since a square can be cut into two triangles of equal areas. However, Monsky showed that a square cannot be dissected into an odd number of triangles of equal areas.We show that ifn is at least 5, then the answer is “yes.” Our approach incorporates the techniques of Thomas, Monsky, and Mead, in particular, the use of Sperner's lemma and non-Archimedean valuations, but also makes use of affine transformations to distort a given regular polygon into one to which those techniques apply.