Tilings of the sphere by congruent pentagons V: Edge combination $a^{4}b$ with rational angles

Abstract

We classify edge-to-edge tilings of the sphere by congruent pentagons with the edge combination $a^4b$ and with rational angles in degree: they are a one-parameter family of symmetric $a^4b$-pentagonal subdivisions of the tetrahedron with $12$ tiles; a sequence of unique symmetric $a^4b$-pentagons admitting a symmetric $3$-layer earth map tiling by $4m$ tiles for any $m\ge4$, among which each odd $m$ case admits two standard flip modifications; and a unique non-symmetric and degenerate $a^4b$-pentagon admitting a non-symmetric $3$-layer earth map tiling and its standard flip modification with $20$ tiles. The full classification from this series and all induced non-edge-to-edge quadrilateral tilings from degenerate pentagons are summarized with their 3D pictures.