Tiling of rectangles with squares and related problems via Diophantine approximation

Abstract

This article shines new light on the classical problem of tiling rectangles with squares efficiently with a novel method. With a twist on the traditional approach of resistor networks, we provide new and improved results on the matter using the theory of Diophantine Approximation, hence overcoming long-established difficulties, such as generalizations to higher-dimensional analogues. The universality of the method is demonstrated through its applications to different tiling problems. These include tiling rectangles with other rectangles, with their respective higher-dimensional counterparts, as well as tiling equilateral triangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids with equilateral triangles.