Siebeck--Marden Theorems and Symmetric Parametrizations of Cyclic Polygons

Abstract

The classical Blaschke-product approach provides an elegant description of triangles inscribed in a circle and circumscribed about an ellipse. Motivated by the Siebeck--Marden theorem, we derive a symmetric parametrization for cyclic $p$-gons circumscribed about a Siebeck--Marden curve of class $p-1$, recovering the Blaschke product parametrization as the triangular case. We then use this parametrization to establish several geometric invariance results, including a characterization of when the sum of the squares of all sides and diagonals is invariant. We revisit Cayley's criterion for 3- and 4-Poncelet pairs and obtain a complete classification of the associated central conics solely in terms of their foci. In particular, we show that the formulas for the lengths of the major axis obtained under the assumption on the foci of the conic lying inside the circumcircle remain valid when one focus or both foci lie outside the circumcircle, thereby extending the classical theory from ellipses to all admissible central conics. Several geometric properties of the associated cyclic quadrilaterals are also obtained.

27 pages, 7 figures