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Conic tangency equations and Apollonius problems in biochemistry and pharmacology

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  • Lewis, Robert H.
  • Bridgett, Stephen

Abstract

The Apollonius Circle Problem dates to Greek antiquity, circa 250 b.c. Given three circles in the plane, find or construct a circle tangent to all three. This was generalized by replacing some circles with straight lines. Viéte [Canon mathematicus seu Ad triangula cum adpendicibus, Lutetiae: Apud Ioannem Mettayer, Mathematicis typographum regium, sub signo D. Ioannis, regione Collegij Laodicensis, p. 1579] solved the problem using circle inversions before 1580. Two generations later, Descartes considered a special case in which all four circles are mutually tangent to each other (i.e. pairwise). In this paper, we consider the general case in two and three dimensions, and further generalizations with ellipsoids and lines. We believe, we are the first to explicitly find the polynomial equations for the parameters of the solution sphere in these generalized cases. Doing so is quite a challenge for the best computer algebra systems. We report later some comparative times using various computer algebra systems on some of these problems. We also consider conic tangency equations for general conics in two and three dimensions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lewis, Robert H. & Bridgett, Stephen, 2003. "Conic tangency equations and Apollonius problems in biochemistry and pharmacology," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 101-114.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:matcom:v:61:y:2003:i:2:p:101-114
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