Wallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem

In geometry, the Wallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem, named after William Wallace, Farkas Bolyai and Paul Gerwien, is a theorem related to dissections of polygons. It answers the question when one polygon can be formed from another by cutting it into a finite number of pieces and recomposing these by translations and rotations. The Wallace-Bolyai-Gerwien theorem states that this can be done if and only if two polygons have the same area.

Farkas Bolyai first formulated the question. Gerwien proved the theorem in 1833, but in fact Wallace had proven the same result already in 1807.

According to other sources, Bolyai and Gerwien had independently proved the theorem in 1833 and 1835, respectively.

There are several ways in which this theorem may be formulated. The most common version uses the concept of "equidecomposability" of polygons: two polygons are equidecomposable if they can be split into finitely many triangles that only differ by some isometry (in fact only by a combination of a translation and a rotation). In this case the Wallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem states that two polygons are equidecomposable if and only if they have the same area.

Another formulation is in terms of scissors congruence: two polygons are scissors-congruent if they can be decomposed into finitely many polygons that are pairwise congruent. Scissors-congruence is an equivalence relation. In this case the Wallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem states that the equivalence classes of this relation contain precisely those polygons that have the same area.

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