Andrew Pressley Elementary Differential Geometry a: ‘Diggioa 3 : i 8 SpringerAndrew Pressley Department of Mathematics, King’s College, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK Cover ilustration elements reproduced by kind permission of \ Aptech Systems Inc, Publisher of the GAUSS Mathematical and Statistical System, 23804 SE. Kent-Kangley Road, Maple Valley, WA 98038, ‘USA. Tel: (206) 432 - 7855 Pax (205) 432 - 7832 ermil:info@aprech.com URL: www-aptech com American Statitica] Association: Chance Vol 8 No 1, 1995 article by KS and KW Heiner ‘Tree Rings ofthe Northern Shawangunlu’ page 32 ig 2 Springer-Verlag: Mathematica in Education and Research Vol 4 Issue 3 1995 article by Roman E Maeder, Beauice Amthein and Oliver Gloor ‘lustrated Mathematics: Visualization of Mathematical Objects’ page 9 fig 1, originaly published as a CD ROM ‘ustrated Mathematics’ by TTELOS: ISBN 0-887-14222-3, german edition by Birkhatser: ISBN 3-7643-5100-4. Mathernatica in Education and Research Vol Issue 31995 article by Richard J Gaylord and Kezume Nishicate "Traffic Enginesting with Cellular ‘Automate! page 35 fig 2. Mathematica ip Education and Research Vol[5 Issue 2 1996 article by Michael Trott ‘The Implicitization of Trefoll ‘Knot’ page 14. Mathematica in Education and Research Vol 5 Issue 2 1996 article by Lee de Cole ‘Coins, Trees, Bare and Bells: Simulation of the Binomial Proc- 58 page 19 fg 3. Mathematica in Education and Research Vol 5 Issue 2 1996 article by Richard Gaylord and Kazume Nishidute ‘Contagious Spreading’ page 33 fig 1. Mathematica in Education and Research Vol 5 Issue 2 199% article by Joe Buhler and Stan Wagon ‘Secrets of the “Madelung Constant’ page 50 fig. Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series ISSN 1615-2085 ISBN 1-85233-152-6 Springer-Verlag London Berlin Heidelberg British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pressley, Andrew Elementary differential geometry / Andrew Pressley. p. cm. ~ (Springer undergraduate mathematics series, ISSN 1615-2085) Includes index. ISBN 1-85233-152-6 (alk. paper) I. Geometry, Differential. I. Title. 11. Series. QA641 P68 2000 516.3'6—de21 00-058345 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Coprehe Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers, © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2001 Printed in Great Britain The use of registered names, trademarks etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant laws and regulations and therefore free for general use, ‘The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. ‘Typesetting: Camera ready by author Printed and bound at the Atheneum Press Ltd., Gateshead, Tyne & Wear 12/3830-543210 Printed on acid-free paper SPIN 10711768 Preface The Differential Geometry in the title of this book is the study of the geometry of curves and surfaces in three-dimensional space using calculus techniques. This topic contains some of the most beautiful results in Mathematics, and yet most of them can be understood without extensive background knowledge. Thus, for virtually all of this book, the only pre-requisites are a good working knowledge of Calculus (including partial differentiation), Vectors and Linear Algebra (including matrices and determinants). Many of the results about curves and surfaces that we shall discuss are pro- totypes of more general results that apply in higher-dimensional situations. For example, the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, treated in Chapter 11, is the prototype of a large number of results that relate ‘local’ and ‘global’ properties of geometric objects. The study of such relationships has formed one of the major themes of 20th century Mathematics. ‘We want to emphasise, however, that the methods used in this book are not necessarily those which generalise to higher-dimensional situations. (For readers in the know, there is, for example, no mention of ‘connections’ in the remainder of this book.) Rather, we have tried at all times to use the simplest approach that will yield the desired results. Not only does this keep the pre- requisites to an absolute minimum, it also enables us to avoid some of the conceptual difficulties often encountered in the study of Differential Geometry in higher dimensions. We hope thai this approach will make this beautiful subject accessible to a wider audience. It is a cliché, but true nevertheless, that Mathematics can be learned only by doing it, and not just by reading about it. Accordingly, the book contains vVi Elementary Differential Geometry P over 200 exercises. Readers should attempt as many of these as their stamina permits. Full solutions to all the exercises are given at the end of the book, but Con ten ts these should be consulted only after the reader has obtained his or her own solution, or in case of desperation. We have tried to minimise the number of instances of the latter by including hints to many of the less routine exercises. Preface 2.00.62 eee en een ees v 1, Curves in the Plane and in Space 1 11 What is a Curve? 1 12 Arc-Length 7 13 Reparametrization .. 10 1.4 Level Curves vs. Parametrized Curves ... 16 2. How Much Does a Curve Curve? - 23 2.1 Curvature ......-..-..-- 23 2.2 Plane Curves ... 28 2.3. Space Curves 36 3. Global Properties of Curves ....... AT 3.1 Simple Closed Curves ...... 47 3.2 The Isoperimetric Inequality 51 3.3 The Four Vertex Theorem 55 4, Surfaces in Three Dimensions 59 4.1 What is a Surface? 59 4.2. Smooth Surfaces .. 66 4.3 Tangents, Normals and Orientability 74 44 Examples of Surfaces .............--5 73 45 Quadric Surfaces 84 46 Triply Orthogonal Systems 90 4.7 Applications of the Inverse Function Theorem ... 93 Vil