A bar-joint framework $(G,p)$ in a (non-Euclidean) real normed plane $X$ is the combination of a finite, simple graph $G$ and a placement $p$ of the vertices in $X$. A framework $(G,p)$ is globally rigid in $X$ if every other framework $(G,q)$ in $X$
with the same edge lengths as $(G,p)$ arises from an isometry of $X$. The weaker property of local rigidity in normed planes (where only $(G,q)$ within a neighbourhood of $(G,p)$ are considered) has been studied by several researchers over the last 5 years after being introduced by Kitson and Power for $ell_p$-norms. However global rigidity is an unexplored area for general normed spaces, despite being intensely studied in the Euclidean context by many groups over the last 40 years. In order to understand global rigidity in $X$, we introduce new generalised rigid body motions in normed planes where the norm is determined by an analytic function. This theory allows us to deduce several geometric and combinatorial results concerning the global rigidity of bar-joint frameworks in $X$.
The maximum likelihood threshold (MLT) of a graph $G$ is the minimum number of samples to almost surely guarantee existence of the maximum likelihood estimate in the corresponding Gaussian graphical model. We give a new characterization of the MLT in
terms of rigidity-theoretic properties of $G$ and use this characterization to give new combinatorial lower bounds on the MLT of any graph. Our bounds, based on global rigidity, generalize existing bounds and are considerably sharper. We classify the graphs with MLT at most three, and compute the MLT of every graph with at most $9$ vertices. Additionally, for each $k$ and $nge k$, we describe graphs with $n$ vertices and MLT $k$, adding substantially to a previously small list of graphs with known MLT. We also give a purely geometric characterization of the MLT of a graph in terms of a new lifting problem for frameworks that is interesting in its own right. The lifting perspective yields a new connection between the weak MLT (where the maximum likelihood estimate exists only with positive probability) and the classical Hadwiger-Nelson problem.
We present three results which support the conjecture that a graph is minimally rigid in $d$-dimensional $ell_p$-space, where $pin (1,infty)$ and $p ot=2$, if and only if it is $(d,d)$-tight. Firstly, we introduce a graph bracing operation which pres
erves independence in the generic rigidity matroid when passing from $ell_p^d$ to $ell_p^{d+1}$. We then prove that every $(d,d)$-sparse graph with minimum degree at most $d+1$ and maximum degree at most $d+2$ is independent in $ell_p^d$. Finally, we prove that every triangulation of the projective plane is minimally rigid in $ell_p^3$. A catalogue of rigidity preserving graph moves is also provided for the more general class of strictly convex and smooth normed spaces and we show that every triangulation of the sphere is independent for 3-dimensional spaces in this class.
