The Limit Point of the Pentagram Map and Infinitesimal Monodromy

The pentagram map takes a planar polygon $P$ to a polygon $P^{\prime }$ whose vertices are the intersection points of the consecutive shortest diagonals of $P$. The orbit of a convex polygon under this map is a sequence of polygons that converges exponentially to a point. Furthermore, as recently proved by Glick, coordinates of that limit point can be computed as an eigenvector of a certain operator associated with the polygon. In the present paper, we show that Glick’s operator can be interpreted as the infinitesimal monodromy of the polygon. Namely, there exists a certain natural infinitesimal perturbation of a polygon, which is again a polygon but in general not closed; what Glick’s operator measures is the extent to which this perturbed polygon does not close up.

The Limit Point of the Pentagram Map

The pentagram map is a discrete dynamical system defined on the space of polygons in the plane. In the 1st paper on the subject, Schwartz proved that the pentagram map produces from each convex polygon a sequence of successively smaller polygons that converges exponentially to a point. We investigate the limit point itself, giving an explicit description of its Cartesian coordinates as roots of certain degree three polynomials.

$Y$ -meshes and generalized pentagram maps

International audience We introduce a rich family of generalizations of the pentagram map sharing the property that each generates an infinite configuration of points and lines with four points on each line. These systems all have a description as $Y$ -mutations in a cluster algebra and hence establish new connections between cluster theory and projective geometry. Nous introduisons une famille de généralisations de l’application pentagramme. Chacune produit une configuration infinie de points et de lignes avec quatre points sur chaque ligne. Ces systèmes ont une description des $Y$ -mutations dans une algèbre amassée, un nouveau lien entre la théorie d’algèbres amassées et la géométrie projective.