Lecture Notes in Mathematics

An Introduction to Gaussian Geometry

Sigmundur Gudmundsson
(Lund University)

(version 2.040 - 2nd of February 2017)

The latest version of this document can be found at

http://www.matematik.lu.se/matematiklu/personal/sigma/

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 1

Preface

These lecture notes grew out of a course on elementary differential

geometry which I have given at Lund University for a number of years.

Their purpose is to introduce the beautiful theory of Gaussian ge-

ometry i.e. the theory of curves and surfaces in three dimensional
Euclidean space. This is a subject with no lack of interesting exam-
ples. They are indeed the key to a good understanding of it and will
therefore play a major role throughout this work.

The text is written for students with a good understanding of linear

algebra, real analysis of several variables and basic knowledge of the
classical theory of ordinary differential equations and some topology.

I am grateful to my enthusiastic students who have contributed to

the text by finding numerous typing errors and giving many helpful
comments on the presentation.

Norra Nöbbelöv the 1st of January 2017.

Sigmundur Gudmundsson

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 Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction 5
Chapter 2. Curves in the Euclidean Plane R2 7
Chapter 3. Curves in the Euclidean Space R3 15
Chapter 4. Surfaces in the Euclidean Space R3 23
Chapter 5. Curvature 39
Chapter 6. Theorema Egregium 51
Chapter 7. Geodesics 57
Chapter 8. The Gauss-Bonnet Theorems 73

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 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Around 300 BC Euclid wrote ”The Thirteen Books of the Ele-

ments”. These were used as the basic text on geometry throughout
the Western world for about 2000 years. Euclidean geometry is the
theory one yields when assuming Euclid’s five axioms, including the
parallel postulate.

Gaussian geometry is the study of curves and surfaces in three di-

mensional Euclidean space. This theory was initiated by the ingenious
Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) in his famous Disquisitiones generales
circa superficies curvas from 1827.

The work of Gauss, János Bolyai (1802-1860) and Nikolai Ivanovich

Lobachevsky (1792-1856) lead to their independent discovery of non-
Euclidean geometry. This solved the best known mathematical problem
ever and proved that the parallel postulate is indeed independent of the
other four axioms that Euclid used for his theory.

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 CHAPTER 2

Curves in the Euclidean Plane R2

In this chapter we study regular curves in the two dimensional Eu-

clidean plane. We define their curvature and show that this determines
the curves up to orientation preserving Euclidean motions. We then
prove the isoperimetric inequality for plane curves.

Let the n-dimensional real vector space Rn be equipped with its

standard Euclidean scalar product h·, ·i : Rn × Rn → R. This is
given by
hx, yi = x1 y1 + · · · + xn yn
and induces the norm | · | : Rn → R+ n
0 on R with
q
|x| = x21 + · · · + x2n .
Definition 2.1. A map Φ : Rn → Rn is said to be a Euclidean
motion of Rn if it is given by Φ : x 7→ A · x + b where b ∈ Rn and
A ∈ O(n) = {X ∈ Rn×n | X t · X = I}.
A Euclidean motion Φ is said to be rigid or orientation preserving
if
A ∈ SO(n) = {X ∈ O(n)| det X = 1}.
Definition 2.2. A differentiable parametrised curve in Rn is a
C -map γ : I → Rn from an open interval I on the real line R. The
1

image γ(I) in Rn is the corresponding geometric curve. We say that

the map γ : I → Rn parametrises γ(I). The derivative γ 0 (t) is called
the tangent of γ at the point γ(t) and
Z
L(γ) = |γ 0 (t)| dt ≤ ∞
I
is the arclength of γ. The differentiable curve γ is said to be regular
if γ 0 (t) 6= 0 for all t ∈ I.
Example 2.3. If p and q are two distinct points in R2 then the
differentiable curve γ : R → R2 with
γ : t 7→ (1 − t) · p + t · q
7

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 8 2. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN PLANE R2

parametrises the straight line through p = γ(0) and q = γ(1).

Example 2.4. If r ∈ R+ and p ∈ R2 then the differentiable curve
γ : R → R2 with
γ : t 7→ p + r · (cos t, sin t)
parametrises the circle with center p and radius r. The arclength of
the curve γ|(0,2π) satisfies
Z 2π
L(γ|(0,2π) ) = |γ 0 (t)|dt = 2πr.
0

Definition 2.5. A regular curve γ : I → Rn is said to parametrise

γ(I) by arclength if |γ̇(s)| = 1 for all s ∈ I i.e. the tangents γ̇(s) are
elements of the unit sphere S n−1 in Rn .
Theorem 2.6. Let γ : I = (a, b) → Rn be a regular curve in Rn .
Then the image γ(I) of γ can be parametrised by arclength.
Proof. Define the arclength function σ : (a, b) → R+ by
Z t
σ(t) = |γ 0 (u)|du.
a
0 0
Then σ (t) = |γ (t)| > 0 so σ is strictly increasing and
σ((a, b)) = (0, L(γ)).
Let τ : (0, L(γ)) → (a, b) be the inverse of σ such that σ(τ (s)) = s for
all s ∈ (0, L(γ)). By differentiating we get
d
(σ(τ (s)) = σ 0 (τ (s)) · τ̇ (s) = 1.
ds
If we define the curve α : (0, L(γ)) → Rn by α = γ ◦ τ then the chain
rule gives α̇(s) = γ 0 (τ (s)) · τ̇ (s). Hence
|α̇(s)| = |γ 0 (τ (s))| · τ̇ (s)
= σ 0 (τ (s)) · τ̇ (s)
= 1.
The function τ is bijective so α parametrises γ(I) by arclength. 
For a regular planar curve γ : I → R2 , parametrised by arclength,
we define its tangent T : I → S 1 along γ by
T (s) = γ̇(s)
and its normal N : I → S 1 with
N (s) = R ◦ T (s).

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 2. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN PLANE R2 9

Here R : R2 → R2 is the linear rotation by the angle +π/2 satisfying

     
a 0 −1 a
R: 7→ · .
b 1 0 b
It follows that for each s ∈ I the set {T (s), N (s)} is an orthonormal
basis for R2 . It is called the Frenet frame along the curve.
Definition 2.7. Let γ : I → R2 be a regular C 2 -curve parametrised
by arclength. Then we define its curvature κ : I → R by
κ(s) = hṪ (s), N (s)i.
Note that the curvature is a measure of how fast the unit tangent
T (s) = γ̇(s) is bending in the direction of the normal N (s), or equiva-
lently, out of the line generated by T (s).
Theorem 2.8. Let γ : I → R2 be a C 2 -curve parametrised by
arclength. Then the Frenet frame satisfies the following system of or-
dinary differential equations.
     
Ṫ (s) 0 κ(s) T (s)
= · .
Ṅ (s) −κ(s) 0 N (s)

Proof. The curve γ : I → R2 is parametrised by arclength so

d
2hṪ (s), T (s)i = (hT (s), T (s)i) = 0
ds
and
d
2hṄ (s), N (s)i = (hN (s), N (s)i) = 0.
ds
As a direct consequence we have
Ṫ (s) = hṪ (s), N (s)iN (s) = κ(s)N (s)

Ṅ (s) = hṄ (s), T (s)iT (s) = −κ(s)T (s),

since
d
hṪ (s), N (s)i + hT (s), Ṅ (s)i = (hT (s), N (s)i) = 0.
ds

Theorem 2.9. Let γ : I → R2 be a C 2 -curve parametrised by
arclength. Then its curvature κ : I → R vanishes identically if and
only if the geometric curve γ(I) is contained in a line.

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 10 2. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN PLANE R2

Proof. It follows from Theorem 2.8 that the curvature κ(s) van-
ishes identically if and only if the tangent is constant i.e. there exist a
unit vector Z ∈ S 1 and a point p ∈ R2 such that
γ(s) = p + s · Z.

The following result tells us that a planar curve is, up to orientation
preserving Euclidean motions, completely determined by its curvature.
Theorem 2.10. Let κ : I → R be a continuous function. Then
there exists a C 2 -curve γ : I → R2 parametrised by arclength with
curvature κ. If γ̃ : I → R2 is another such curve, then there exists a
matrix A ∈ SO(2) and an element b ∈ R2 such that
γ̃(s) = A · γ(s) + b.
Proof. See the proof of Theorem 3.11. 
In differential geometry we are interested in properties of geometric
objects which are independent of how these objects are parametrised.
The curvature of a geometric curve should therefore not depend on its
parametrisation.
Definition 2.11. Let γ : I → R2 be a regular C 2 -curve in R2 not
necessarily parametrised by arclength. Let t : J → I be a strictly
increasing C 2 -function such that the composition α = γ ◦ t : J → R2
is a curve parametrised by arclength. Then we define the curvature
κ : I → R of γ : I → R2 by
κ(t(s)) = κ̃(s),
where κ̃ : J → R is the curvature of α.
Proposition 2.12. Let γ : I → R2 be a regular C 2 -curve in R2 .
Then its curvature κ satisfies
det[γ 0 (t), γ 00 (t)]
κ(t) = .
|γ 0 (t)|3
Proof. See Exercise 2.5. 
Corollary 2.13. Let γ : I → R2 be a regular C 2 -curve in R2 . Then
the geometric curve γ(I) is contained in a line if and only if γ 0 (t) and
γ 00 (t) are linearly dependent for all t ∈ I.
Proof. The statement is a direct consequence of Theorem 2.9 and
Proposition 2.12. 

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 2. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN PLANE R2 11

We complete this chapter by proving the isoperimetric inequality.

Let us first remind ourselves of the following topological facts.
Definition 2.14. A continuous map γ : R → R2 is said to para-
metrise a closed curve if it is periodic with period L ∈ R+ . The image
γ(I) is said to be simple if the restriction
γ|[0,L) : [0, L) → R2
is injective.
The following result is called the Jordan curve theorem.
Fact 2.15. Let the continuous map γ : R → R2 parametrise a
simple closed curve. Then the subset R2 \ γ(R) of the plane has exactly
two connected components. The interior Int(γ) of γ is bounded and the
exterior Ext(γ) is unbounded.
Definition 2.16. A regular differentiable map γ : R → R2 , para-
metrising a simple closed curve, is said to be positively oriented if
its normal  
0 0 −1
N (t) = R · γ (t) = · γ 0 (t)
1 0
is an inner normal to the interior Int(γ) for all t ∈ R. It is said to be
negatively oriented otherwise.
We are now ready for the isoperimetric inequality.
Theorem 2.17. Let C be a regular simple closed curve in the plane
with arclength L and let A be the area of the region enclosed by C. Then
4π · A ≤ L2 ,
with equality if and only if C is a circle.
Proof. Let l1 and l2 be two parallel lines touching the curve C such
that C is contained in the strip between them. Introduce a coordinate
system in the plane such that l1 and l2 are orthogonal to the x-axis
and given by
l1 = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | x = −r} and l2 = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | x = r}.
Let γ = (x, y) : R → R2 be a positively oriented curve parameterising
C by arclength, such that x(0) = r and x(s1 ) = −r for some s1 ∈ (0, L).
Define the curve α : R → R2 by α(s) = (x(s), ỹ(s)) where
( p
+ r2 − x2 (s) if s ∈ [0, s1 ),
ỹ(s) = p
− r2 − x2 (s) if s ∈ [s1 , L).
Then this new curve parameterises the circle given by x2 + ỹ 2 = r2 .

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 12 2. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN PLANE R2

As an immediate consequence of Lemma 2.18 we have

Z L Z L
0
A= 2
x(s) · y (s)ds and π · r = − ỹ(s) · x0 (s)ds.
0 0
Employing the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality we then get
Z L
A+π·r = 2
(x(s) · y 0 (s) − ỹ(s) · x0 (s))ds
0
Z Lp
≤ (x(s) · y 0 (s) − ỹ(s) · x0 (s))2 ds
0
Z Lp
≤ (x(s)2 + ỹ(s)2 ) · ((x0 (s))2 + (y 0 (s))2 )ds
0
= L · r.
The inequality
√ √ √ √
0 ≤ ( A − r π)2 = A − 2r A π + πr2
implies that √ √
2r A π ≤ A + πr2 ≤ Lr
so
4Aπr2 ≤ L2 r2
or equivalently
4πA ≤ L2 .
It follows from our construction above that the positive real number
r depends on the direction of the two parallel lines l1 and l2 chosen. In
the case of equality 4πA = L2 we get A = πr2 . Since A is independent
of the direction of the two lines, we see that so is r. This implies that
in that case the curve C must be a circle. 
The following result is a direct consequence of Green’s theorem in
the plane.
Lemma 2.18. Let the regular, positively oriented map γ : R → R2
parameterise a simple closed curve in the plane. If A is the area of the
interior Int(γ) of γ then
Z
1
A = (x(t)y 0 (t) − y(t)x0 (t))dt
2 γ(R)
Z
= x(t)y 0 (t)dt
γ(R)
Z
= − x0 (t)y(t)dt.
γ(R)

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 2. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN PLANE R2 13

Exercises

Exercise 2.1. A cycloid is a planar curve parametrised by a map

γ : R → R2 of the form
γ(t) = r(t, 1) − r(sin(−t), cos(−t)),
where r ∈ R+ . Describe the curve geometrically and calculate the
arclength
Z 2π
σ(2π) = |γ 0 (t)|dt.
0
Is the curve regular ?
Exercise 2.2. An astroid is a planar curve parametrised by a map
γ : R → R2 of the form
γ(t) = (4r cos3 t, 4r sin3 t) = 3r(cos t, sin t) + r(cos(−3t), sin(−3t)),
where r ∈ R+ . Describe the curve geometrically and calculate the
arclength
Z 2π
σ(2π) = |γ 0 (t)|dt.
0
Is the curve regular ?
Exercise 2.3. For a ∈ R+ let the curves γ1 , γ2 : R → R2 be given
by
γ1 (t) = r(cos(at), sin(at)) and γ2 (t) = r(cos(−at), sin(−at)).
Calculate the curvatures κ1 , κ2 of γ1 and γ2 , respectively. Find a Eu-
clidean motion Φ : R2 → R2 of R2 such that γ2 = Φ◦γ1 . Is Φ orientation
preserving ?
Exercise 2.4. Let γ : I → R2 be a regular C 3 -curve, parametrised
by arclength, with Frenet frame {T (s), N (s)}. For r ∈ R we define the
parallel curves γr : I → R2 by
γr (t) = γ(t) + r · N (t).
Calculate the curvature κr of those curves γr which are regular.
Exercise 2.5. Prove the curvature formula in Proposition 2.12.
Exercise 2.6. Let γ : R → R2 be the parametrised curve in R2
given by γ(t) = (sin t, sin 2t). Is γ regular, closed and simple ?

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 14 2. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN PLANE R2

Exercise 2.7. Let the positively oriented γ : R → R2 parametrise

a simple closed C 2 -curve by arclength. Show that if the period of γ is
L ∈ R+ then the total curvature satisfies
Z L
κ(s)ds = 2π.
0

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 CHAPTER 3

Curves in the Euclidean Space R3

In this chapter we study regular curves in the three dimensional

Euclidean space. We define their curvature and torsion and show that
these determine the curves up to orientation preserving Euclidean mo-
tions.

Let the 3-dimensional real vector space R3 be equipped with its

standard Euclidean scalar product h·, ·i : R3 × R3 → R. This is given
by
hx, yi = x1 y1 + x2 y2 + x3 y3
and induces the norm | · | : R3 → R+ 3
0 on R with
q
|x| = x21 + x22 + x23 .
Further we equip the three dimensional real vector space R3 with the
standard cross product × : R3 × R3 → R3 satisfying
(x1 , y1 , z1 ) × (x2 , y2 , z2 ) = (y1 z2 − y2 z1 , z1 x2 − z2 x1 , x1 y2 − x2 y1 ).
Definition 3.1. A map Φ : R3 → R3 is said to be a Euclidean
motion of R3 if it is given by Φ : x 7→ A · x + b where b ∈ R3 and
A ∈ O(3) = {X ∈ R3×3 | X t · X = I}.
A Euclidean motion Φ is said to be rigid or orientation preserving
if
A ∈ SO(3) = {X ∈ O(3)| det X = 1}.
Example 3.2. If p and q are two distinct points in R3 then the
differentiable map γ : R → R3 with
γ : t 7→ (1 − t) · p + t · q
parametrises the straight line through p = γ(0) and q = γ(1).
Example 3.3. Let {Z, W } be an orthonormal basis for a two di-
mensional subspace V of R3 , r ∈ R+ and p ∈ R3 . Then then the
differentiable map γ : R → R3 with
γ : t 7→ p + r · (cos t · Z + sin t · W )
15

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 16 3. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

parametrises a circle in the affine 2-plane p + V with center p and

radius r.
Example 3.4. If r, b ∈ R+ then the differentiable map γ : R → R3
with
γ = (x, y, z) : t 7→ (r · cos(t), r · sin(t), bt)
parametrises a helix. It is easy to see that x2 + y 2 = r2 so the image
γ(R) is contained in the circular cylinder
{(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 = r2 }
of radius r.
Definition 3.5. Let γ : I → R3 be a regular C 2 -curve parametrised
by arclength. Then the curvature κ : I → R+ 0 of γ is defined by

κ(s) = |γ̈(s)|.
Theorem 3.6. Let γ : I → R3 be a regular C 2 -curve parametrised
by arclength. Then its curvature κ : I → R+0 vanishes identically if and
only if the geometric curve γ(I) is contained in a line.
Proof. The curvature κ(s) = |γ̈(s)| vanishes identically if and
only if there exist a unit vector Z ∈ S 2 and a point p ∈ R3 such that
γ(s) = p + s · Z
i.e. the geometric curve γ(I) is contained in a straight line. 
Definition 3.7. A regular C 3 -curve γ : I → R3 , parametrised
by arclength, is said to be a Frenet curve if its curvature κ is non-
vanishing i.e. κ(s) 6= 0 for all s ∈ I.
For a Frenet curve γ : I → R3 we define its tangent T : I → S 2
along γ by
T (s) = γ̇(s),
the principal normal N : I → S 2 with
γ̈(s) γ̈(s)
N (s) = =
|γ̈(s)| κ(s)
and its binormal B : I → S 2 as the cross product
B(s) = T (s) × N (s).
The Frenet curve γ : I → R3 is parametrised by arclength so
d
0 = hγ̇(s), γ̇(s)i = 2 hγ̈(s), γ̇(s)i.
ds
This means that for each s ∈ I the set {T (s), N (s), B(s)} is an or-
thonormal basis for R3 . It is called the Frenet frame along the curve.

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 3. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 17

Definition 3.8. Let γ : I → R3 be a Frenet curve. Then we define

the torsion τ : I → R of γ by
τ (s) = hṄ (s), B(s)i.
Note that the torsion is a measure of how fast the principal normal
N (s) = γ̈(s)/|γ̈(s)| is bending in the direction of the binormal B(s), or
equivalently, out of the plane generated by T (s) and N (s).
Theorem 3.9. Let γ : I → R3 be a Frenet curve. Then its Frenet
frame satisfies the following system of ordinary differential equations
     
Ṫ (s) 0 κ(s) 0 T (s)
Ṅ (s) = −κ(s) 0 τ (s) · N (s) .
Ḃ(s) 0 −τ (s) 0 B(s)
Proof. The first equation is a direct consequence of the definition
of the curvature
Ṫ (s) = γ̈(s) = |γ̈(s)| · N = κ(s) · N (s).
We get the second equation from
d
hṄ (s), T (s)i = hN (s), T (s)i − hN (s), Ṫ (s)i
ds
γ̈(s)
= −h , γ̈(s)i
|γ̈(s)|
= −κ(s),
d
2hṄ (s), N (s)i = hN (s), N (s)i = 0
ds
and
d
hṄ (s), B(s)i =
hN (s), B(s)i − hN (s), Ḃ(s)i = τ (s).
ds
When differentiating B(s) = T (s) × N (s) we yield
Ḃ(s) = Ṫ (s) × N (s) + T (s) × Ṅ (s)
= κ(s) · N (s) × N (s) + T (s) × Ṅ (s)
= T (s) × Ṅ (s),
hence hḂ(s), T (s)i = 0. The definition of the torsion
hḂ(s), N (s)i = −hB(s), Ṅ (s)i = −τ (s)
and the fact
d
2 hḂ(s), B(s)i =
hB(s), B(s)i = 0
ds
provide us the third and last equation. 

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 18 3. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

Theorem 3.10. Let γ : I → R3 be a Frenet curve. Then its torsion

τ : I → R vanishes identically if and only if the geometric curve γ(I)
is contained in a plane.
Proof. It follows from the third Frenet equation that if the torsion
vanishes identically then
d
hγ(s) − γ(0), B(s)i = hT (s), B(s)i = 0.
ds
Because hγ(0) − γ(0), B(0)i = 0 it follows that hγ(s) − γ(0), B(s)i = 0
for all s ∈ I. This means that γ(s) lies in a plane containing γ(0) with
constant normal B(s).
Let us now assume that the geometric curve γ(I) is contained in a
plane i.e. there exists a point p ∈ R3 and a normal n ∈ R3 \ {0} to the
plane such that
hγ(s) − p, ni = 0
for all s ∈ I. When differentiating we get
hT (s), ni = hγ̇(s), ni = 0
and
hγ̈(s), ni = 0
so hN (s), ni = 0. This means that B(s) is a constant multiple of n, so
Ḃ(s) = 0 and hence τ ≡ 0. 
The next result is called the fundamental theorem of curve
theory. It tells us that a Frenet curve is, up to orientation preserving
Euclidean motions, completely determined by its curvature and torsion.
Theorem 3.11. Let κ : I → R+ and τ : I → R be two continuous
functions. Then there exists a Frenet curve γ : I → R3 with curvature
κ and torsion τ . If γ̃ : I → R3 is another such curve, then there exists
a matrix A ∈ SO(3) and an element b ∈ R3 such that
γ̃(s) = A · γ(s) + b.
Proof. The proof is based on Theorem 3.9 and a well-known result
of Picard-Lindelöf formulated here as Fact 3.12, see Exercise 3.6. 
Fact 3.12. Let f : U → Rn be a continuous map defined on an
open subset U of R × Rn and L ∈ R+ such that
|f (t, x) − f (t, y)| ≤ L · |x − y|
for all (t, x), (t, y) ∈ U . If (t0 , x0 ) ∈ U then there exists a unique local
solution x : I → Rn to the following initial value problem
x0 (t) = f (t, x(t)), x(t0 ) = x0 .

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 3. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 19

In differential geometry we are interested in properties of geometric

objects which are independent of how these objects are parametrised.
The curvature and the torsion of a geometric curve should therefore
not depend on its parametrisation.
Definition 3.13. Let γ : I → R3 be a regular C 2 -curve in R3 not
necessarily parametrised by arclength. Let t : J → I be a strictly
increasing C 2 -function such that the composition α = γ ◦ t : J → R3
is a curve parametrised by arclength. Then we define the curvature
κ : I → R+ of γ : I → R3 by
κ(t(s)) = κ̃(s),
where κ̃ : J → R is the curvature of α. If further γ : I → R3 is a
+

regular C 3 -curve with non-vanishing curvature and t : J → I is C 3 ,

then we define the torsion τ : I → R of γ by
τ (t(s)) = τ̃ (s),
where τ̃ : J → R is the torsion of α.
We are now interested in deriving formulae for the curvature κ and
the torsion τ in terms of γ, under the above mentioned conditions.
Proposition 3.14. If γ : I → R3 be a regular C 2 -curve in R3 then
its curvature satisfies
|γ 0 (t) × γ 00 (t)|
κ(t) = .
|γ 0 (t)|3
Proof. By differentiating γ(t) = α(s(t)) we get
γ 0 (t) = α̇(s(t)) · s0 (t),

hγ 0 (t), γ 0 (t)i = s0 (t)2 hα̇(s(t)), α̇(s(t))i = s0 (t)2

and
d 0 2
2hγ 00 (t), γ 0 (t)i =
(s (t) ) = 2 · s0 (t) · s00 (t).
dt
When differentiating once more we get
0 s0 (t) · γ 00 (t) − s00 (t) · γ 0 (t)
s (t) · α̈(s(t)) =
s0 (t)2
and
s0 (t)2 · γ 00 (t) − s0 (t) · s00 (t) · γ 0 (t)
α̈(s(t)) =
s0 (t)4
γ 00 (t)hγ 0 (t), γ 0 (t)i − γ 0 (t)hγ 00 (t), γ 0 (t)i
=
|γ 0 (t)|4

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 20 3. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

γ 0 (t) × (γ 00 (t) × γ 0 (t))

= .
|γ 0 (t)|4
Finally we get a formula for the curvature of γ : I → R3 by
κ(t) = κ̃(s(t))
= |α̈(s(t))|
|γ 0 (t)| · |γ 00 (t) × γ 0 (t)|
=
|γ 0 (t)|4
|γ 0 (t) × γ 00 (t)|
= .
|γ 0 (t)|3

Corollary 3.15. If γ : I → R3 is a regular C 2 -curve in R3 then
the geometric curve γ(I) is contained in a line if and only if γ 0 (t) and
γ 00 (t) are linearly dependent for all t ∈ I.
Proof. The statement is a direct consequence of Theorem 3.6 and
Proposition 3.14. 
Proposition 3.16. Let γ : I → R3 be a regular C 3 -curve with
non-vanishing curvature. Then its torsion τ satisfies
det[γ 0 (t), γ 00 (t), γ 000 (t)]
τ (t) = .
|γ 0 (t) × γ 00 (t))|2
Proof. See Exercise 3.5. 
Corollary 3.17. Let γ : I → R3 be a regular C 3 -curve with non-
vanishing curvature. Then the geometric curve γ(I) is contained in a
plane if and only if γ 0 (t), γ 00 (t) and γ 000 (t) are linearly dependent for all
t ∈ I.
Proof. The statement is a direct consequence of Theorem 3.10
and Proposition 3.16. 

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 3. CURVES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 21

Exercises

Exercise 3.1. For r, a, b ∈ R+ parametrise the helices γ1 , γ2 : R →

R3 by
γ1 : t 7→ (r · cos(at), r · sin(at), abt),
γ2 : t 7→ (r · cos(−at), r · sin(−at), abt).
Calculate their curvatures κ1 , κ2 and torsions τ1 , τ2 , respectively. Find
a Euclidean motion Φ : R3 → R3 of R3 such that γ2 = Φ ◦ γ1 . Is Φ
orientation preserving ?
Exercise 3.2. For any κ ∈ R+ and τ ∈ R construct a Frenet curve
γ : R → R3 with constant curvature κ and constant torsion τ .
Exercise 3.3. Prove that the curve γ : (−π/2, π/2) → R3 with
γ : t 7→ (2 cos2 t − 3, sin t − 8, 3 sin2 t + 4)
is regular. Determine whether the image of γ is contained in
ii) a straight line in R3 or not,
i) a plane in R3 or not.
Exercise 3.4. Show that the curve γ : R → R3 given by
γ(t) = (t3 + t2 + 3, t3 − t + 1, t2 + t + 1)
is regular. Determine whether the image of γ is contained in
ii) a straight line in R3 or not,
i) a plane in R3 or not.
Exercise 3.5. Prove the torsion formula in Proposition 3.16.
Exercise 3.6. Use your local library to find a proof of Theorem
3.11.
Exercise 3.7. Let γ : R → R3 be a regular C 2 -map parametrising
a closed curve in R3 by arclength. Use your local library to find a proof
of Fenchel’s theorem i.e.
Z P
L(γ̇) = κ(s)ds ≥ 2π,
0
where P is the period of γ.

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 CHAPTER 4

Surfaces in the Euclidean Space R3

In this chapter we introduce the notion of a regular surface in the

three dimensional Euclidean space. We give several examples of regular
surfaces and study differentiable maps between them. We then define
the tangent space at a point and show that this is a two dimensional
vector space. Further we introduce the first fundamental form which
enables us to measure angles between tangent vectors, lengths of curves
and even distances between points on the surface.

Definition 4.1. A non-empty subset M of R3 is said to be a reg-

ular surface if for each point p ∈ M there exist open, connected and
simply connected neighbourhoods U in R2 , V in R3 with p ∈ V and a
bijective C 1 -map X : U → V ∩ M , such that X is a homeomorphism
and
Xu (q) × Xv (q) 6= 0
for all q ∈ U . The map X : U → V ∩ M is said to be a local
parametrisation of M and the inverse X −1 : V ∩ M → U a local
chart or local coordinates on M . An atlas on M is a collection
A = {(Vα ∩ M, Xα−1 )| α ∈ I}
of local charts on M such that A covers the whole of M i.e.
[
M= (Vα ∩ M ).
α

Example 4.2. Let f : U → R be a C 1 -function from an open

subset U of R2 . Then X : U → M with
X : (u, v) 7→ (u, v, f (u, v))
is a local parametrisation of the graph
M = {(u, v, f (u, v))| (u, v) ∈ U }
of f . The corresponding local chart X −1 : M → U is given by
X −1 : (x, y, z) 7→ (x, y).
23

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 24 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

Example 4.3. Let S 2 denote the unit sphere in R3 given by

S 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1}.
Let N = (0, 0, 1) be the north pole and S = (0, 0, −1) be the south
pole of S 2 , respectively. Put UN = S 2 \ {N }, US = S 2 \ {S} and define
the stereographic projection from the north pole σN : UN → R2 by
1
σN : (x, y, z) 7→ (x, y)
1−z
and the stereographic projection from the south pole σS : US → R2
1
σS : (x, y, z) 7→ (x, y).
1+z
Then A = {(UN , σN ), (US , σS )} is an atlas on S 2 . The inverses
−1
XN = σN : R2 → UN and XS = σS−1 : R2 → US
are local parametrisations of the sphere S 2 given by
1
XN : (u, v) 7→ (2u, 2v, u2 + v 2 − 1),
1 + u2 + v 2
1
XS : (u, v) 7→ (2u, 2v, 1 − u2 − v 2 ).
1 + u2 + v 2
Our next step is to prove the implicit function theorem which is a
useful tool for constructing surfaces in R3 . For this we use the classical
inverse mapping theorem stated below. Remember that if F : U → Rm
is a C 1 -map defined on an open subset U of Rn then its differential
dF (p) : Rn → Rm
at a point p ∈ U is a linear map given by the m × n matrix
∂F1 /∂x1 (p) . . . ∂F1 /∂xn (p)
 

dF (p) =  .. .. .
. .
∂Fm /∂x1 (p) . . . ∂Fm /∂xn (p)
The classical inverse mapping theorem can be formulated as fol-
lows.
Theorem 4.4. Let r be a positive integer, U be an open subset of
Rn and F : U → Rn be a C r -map. If p ∈ U and the differential
dF (p) : Rn → Rn
of F at p is invertible then there exist open neighbourhoods Up around
p and Uq around q = F (p) such that f = F |Up : Up → Uq is bijective
and the inverse f −1 : Uq → Up is a C r -map. The differential df −1 (q)
of f −1 at q satisfies
df −1 (q) = (dF (p))−1

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 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 25

i.e. it is the inverse of the differential dF (p) of F at p.

Before stating the implicit function theorem we remind the reader
of the following notions.
Definition 4.5. Let m, n be positive integers, U be an open subset
of Rn and F : U → Rm be a C 1 -map. A point p ∈ U is said to be
critical for F if the differential
dF (p) : Rn → Rm
is not of full rank, and regular if it is not critical. A point q ∈ F (U )
is said to be a regular value of F if every point of the pre-image
F −1 ({q}) of q is regular and a critical value otherwise.
Note that if m ≤ n then p ∈ U is a regular point of
F = (F1 , . . . , Fm ) : U → Rm
if and only if the gradients ∇F1 , . . . , ∇Fm of the coordinate functions
F1 , . . . , Fm : U → R are linearly independent at p, or equivalently, the
differential dF (p) of F at p satisfies the following condition
det(dF (p) · dF (p)t ) 6= 0.
In differential geometry, the following important result is often
called the implicit function theorem.
Theorem 4.6. Let f : U → R be a C 1 -function defined on an open
subset U of R3 and q be a regular value of f i.e.
(∇f )(p) 6= 0
for all p in M = f −1 ({q}). Then M is a regular surface in R3 .
Proof. Let p be an arbitrary element of M . The gradient ∇f (p)
at p is non-zero so we can, without loss of generality, assume that
fz (p) 6= 0. Then define the map F : U → R3 by
F (x, y, z) 7→ (x, y, f (x, y, z)).
Its differential dF (p) at p satisfies
 
1 0 0
dF (p) =  0 1 0  ,
fx fy fz
so the determinant det dF (p) = fz is non-zero. Following the inverse
mapping theorem there exist open neighbourhoods V around p and
W around F (p) such that the restriction F |V : V → W of F to V is
invertible. The inverse (F |V )−1 : W → V is differentiable of the form
(u, v, w) 7→ (u, v, g(u, v, w)),

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 26 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

where g is a real-valued function on W . It follows that the restriction

X = F −1 |Ŵ : Ŵ → R3
to the planar set
Ŵ = {(u, v, w) ∈ W | w = q}
is differentiable. Since Xu × Xv 6= 0 we see that X : Ŵ → V ∩ M
is a local parametrisation of the open neighbourhood V ∩ M around
p. Since p was chosen arbitrarily we have shown that M is a regular
surface in R3 . 
We shall now apply the implicit function theorem to construct ex-
amples of regular surfaces in R3 .
Example 4.7. Let f : R3 → R be the differentiable function given
by
f (x, y, z) = x2 + y 2 + z 2 .
The gradient ∇f (p) of f at p satisfies ∇f (p) = 2p, so each positive
real number is a regular value for f . This means that the sphere
Sr2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 + z 2 = r2 } = f −1 ({r2 })
of radius r is a regular surface in R3 .
Example 4.8. Let r, R be real numbers such that 0 < r < R and
define the differentiable function
f : U = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 6= 0} → R
by
p
f (x, y, z) = z 2 + ( x2 + y 2 − R)2
and let T 2 be the pre-image
p
f −1 ({r2 }) = {(x, y, z) ∈ U | z 2 + ( x2 + y 2 − R)2 = r2 }.
The gradient ∇f of f at p = (x, y, z) satisfies
2 p p p
∇f (p) = p (x( x2 + y 2 − R), y( x2 + y 2 − R), z x2 + y 2 ).
x2 + y 2
If p ∈ T 2 and ∇f (p) = 0 then z = 0 and
2r
∇f (p) = p (x, y, 0) 6= 0.
x2 + y 2
This contradiction shows that r2 is a regular value for f and that the
torus T 2 is a regular surface in R3 .

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 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 27

We now introduce the useful notion of a regular parametrised sur-

face in R3 . This is a map and should not be confused with a regular
surface as a subset of R3 , introduced in Definition 4.1.
Definition 4.9. A differentiable map X : U → R3 from an open
subset U of R2 is said to be a regular parametrised surface in R3
if for each point q ∈ U
Xu (q) × Xv (q) 6= 0.
Definition 4.10. Let M be a regular surface in R3 . A differen-
tiable map X : U → M defined on an open subset of R2 is said to
parametrise M if X is surjective and for each p in U there exists an
open neighbourhood Up of p such that X|Up : Up → X(Up ) is a local
parametrisation of M .
Example 4.11. We know that for 0 < r < R the torus
p
T 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | z 2 + ( x2 + y 2 − R)2 = r2 }
is a regular surface in R3 . It is easily seen that T 2 is obtained by
rotating the circle
{(x, 0, z) ∈ R3 | z 2 + (x − R)2 = r2 }
in the (x, z)-plane around the z-axes. This rotation naturally induces
the regular parametrised surface X : R2 → T 2 with
   
cos v − sin v 0 R + r cos u
X : (u, v) 7→  sin v cos v 0 ·  0 .
0 0 1 r sin u
This parametrises the regular surface T 2 as a subset of R3 .
Example 4.12. Let γ = (r, 0, z) : I → R3 be differentiable curve
in the (x, z)-plane such that r(s) > 0 and ṙ(s)2 + ż(s)2 = 1 for all s ∈ I.
By rotating the curve around the z-axes we obtain a regular surface
of revolution parametrised by X : I × R → R3 with
     
cos v − sin v 0 r(u) r(u) cos v
X(u, v) =  sin v cos v 0 ·  0  =  r(u) sin v  .
0 0 1 z(u) z(u)
The surface is regular because the vectors
   
ṙ(u) cos v −r(u) sin v
Xu =  ṙ(u) sin v  , Xv =  r(u) cos v 
ż(u) 0
are not only linearly independent but even orthogonal.

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 28 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

We now introduce the tangent space at a point of a regular surface

and show that this is a two dimensional vector space.
Definition 4.13. Let M be a regular surface in R3 . A continuous
map γ : I → M , defined on an open interval I of the real line, is said
to be a differentiable curve on M if it is differentiable as a map into
R3 .
Definition 4.14. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and p be a
point on M . Then the tangent space Tp M of M at p is the set of all
tangents γ̇(0) to differentiable curves γ : I → M such that γ(0) = p.
Proposition 4.15. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and p be a
point on M . Then the tangent space Tp M of M at p is a 2-dimensional
real vector space.
Proof. Let M be a regular surface in R3 , p ∈ M and X : U → M
be a local parametrisation of M such that 0 ∈ U and X(0) = p.
Let α : I → U be a differentiable curve in U such that 0 ∈ I and
α(0) = 0 ∈ U . Then the composition γ = X ◦ α : I → X(U ) is a
differentiable curve in X(U ) such that γ(0) = p. Since X : U → X(U )
is a homeomorphism it is clear that any curve in X(U ) with γ(0) = p
can be obtained this way.
It follows from the chain rule that the tangent γ 0 (0) of γ : I → M
at p satisfies
γ 0 (0) = dX(0) · α0 (0),
where dX(0) : R2 → R3 is the differential of the local parametrisation
X : U → M . The differential is a linear map and the condition
Xu × Xv 6= 0
implies that dX(0) is of full rank i.e. the vectors
Xu (0) = dX(0) · e1 and Xv (0) = dX(0) · e2
are linearly independent. This shows that the image
{dX(0) · Z| Z ∈ R2 }
of dX(0) is a two dimensional subspace of R3 . If (a, b) ∈ R2 then
dX(0) · (a, b) = dX(0) · (ae1 + be2 )
= a dX(0) · e1 + b dX(0) · e2
= aXu (0) + bXv (0).
It is clear that Tp M is the space of all tangents γ 0 (0) to differentiable
curves γ : I → M in M such that γ(0) = p. 

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 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 29

Example 4.16. Let γ : I → S 2 be a curve into the unit sphere in

R with γ(0) = p and γ 0 (0) = Z. The curve satisfies
3

hγ(t), γ(t)i = 1
and differentiation yields
hγ 0 (t), γ(t)i + hγ(t), γ 0 (t)i = 0.
This means that hZ, pi = 0 so every tangent vector Z ∈ Tp S m must be
orthogonal to p. On the other hand if Z 6= 0 satisfies hZ, pi = 0 then
γ : R → S 2 with
γ : t 7→ cos(t|Z|) · p + sin(t|Z|) · Z/|Z|
is a curve into S 2 with γ(0) = p and γ 0 (0) = Z. This shows that the
tangent plane Tp S 2 is given by
Tp S 2 = {Z ∈ R3 | hp, Zi = 0}.
Example 4.17. For 0 < r < R let us parametrise the torus
p
T 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | z 2 + ( x2 + y 2 − R)2 = r2 }
by X : R2 → T 2 with
   
cos v − sin v 0 R + r cos u
X : (u, v) 7→  sin v cos v 0 ·  0 .
0 0 1 r sin u
By differentiating we get a basis {Xv , Xu } for the tangent plane Tp T 2
at p = X(u, v) with
   
− sin u cos v − sin v
Xu = r  − sin u sin v  , Xv = (R + r cos u)  cos v  .
cos u 0
Definition 4.18. Let M be a regular surface in R3 . A real-valued
function f : M → R on M is said to be differentiable if for each
local parametrisation X : U → M of M the composition f ◦X : U → R
is differentiable.
Example 4.19. For 0 < r < R let f : T 2 →pR be the real-valued
function on the torus T 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | z 2 + ( x2 + y 2 − R)2 = r2 }
given by
f : (x, y, z) 7→ x.
For the natural parametrisation X : R2 → T 2 with
   
cos v − sin v 0 R + r cos u
X : (u, v) 7→  sin v cos v 0 ·  0 .
0 0 1 r sin u

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 30 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

of T 2 we see that f ◦ X : R2 → R is given by

f ◦ X : (u, v) 7→ (R + r cos u) cos v.
This is clearly differentiable.
Definition 4.20. A map φ : M1 → M2 between two regular sur-
faces in R3 is said to be differentiable if for all local parametrisations
(U, X) of M1 and (V, Y ) of M2 the map
Y −1 ◦ φ ◦ X|W : W → R2 ,
defined on the open subset W = X −1 (X(U ) ∩ φ−1 (Y (V ))) of R2 , is
differentiable.
The next very useful proposition generalises a result from classical
real analysis of several variables.
Proposition 4.21. Let M1 and M2 be two regular surfaces in R3 .
Let φ : U → R3 be a differentiable map defined on an open subset of R3
such that M1 is contained in U and the image φ(M1 ) is contained in
M2 . Then the restriction φ|M1 : M1 → M2 is differentiable map from
M1 to M2 .
Proof. See Exercise 4.2. 
Example 4.22. For 0 < r < R we have earlier parametrised the
torus p
T 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | z 2 + ( x2 + y 2 − R)2 = r2 }
with the map X : R2 → T 2 defined by
   
cos v − sin v 0 R + r cos u
X : (u, v) 7→  sin v cos v 0 ·  0 .
0 0 1 r sin u
We can now map the torus T 2 into R3 with the following formula
     
cos v − sin v 0 R + r cos u cos u cos v
N :  sin v cos v 0 ·  0  7→  cos u sin v  .
0 0 1 r sin u sin u
Then it is easy to see that this gives a well-defined map N : T 2 → S 2
from the torus to the unit sphere
S 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1}.
In the local coordinates (u, v) on the torus the map N is given by
 
cos u cos v
N (u, v) =  cos u sin v  .
sin u

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 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 31

It now follows from Proposition 4.21 that N : T 2 → S 2 is differentiable.

Proposition 4.23. Let φ1 : M1 → M2 and φ2 : M2 → M3 be dif-
ferentiable maps between regular surfaces in R3 . Then the composition
φ2 ◦ φ1 : M1 → M3 is differentiable.
Proof. See Exercise 4.4. 
Definition 4.24. Two regular surfaces M1 and M2 in R3 are said
to be diffeomorphic if there exists a bijective differentiable map φ :
M1 → M2 such that the inverse φ−1 : M2 → M1 is differentiable. In
that case the map φ is said to be a diffeomorphism between M1 and
M2 .
Proposition 4.25. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and X : U ⊂
2
R → M be a local parametrisation of M . Then the bijective continuous
map X : U → X(U ) ⊂ M is a diffeomorphism.
Proof. See Exercise 4.5. 
Remember that if F : U → Rm is a differentiable map defined on
an open subset U of Rn then its differential
dF (p) : Rn → Rm
at a point p ∈ U is a linear map given by the m × n matrix
∂F1 /∂x1 (p) . . . ∂F1 /∂xn (p)
 

dF (p) =  .. .. .
. .
∂Fm /∂x1 (p) . . . ∂Fm /∂xn (p)
If γ : R → U is a curve in U such that γ(0) = p and γ 0 (0) = Z then
the composition F ◦ γ : R → Rm is a curve in Rm and according to the
chain rule we have
d
dF (p) · Z = (F ◦ γ(t))|t=0 ,
dt
which is the tangent vector of the curve F ◦ γ at the image point
F (p) ∈ Rm . This shows that the differential dF (p) of F at p is the
linear map given by the formula
d
dF (p) : γ 0 (0) = Z 7→ dF (p) · Z =
(F ◦ γ(t))|t=0
dt
mapping the tangent vectors at p ∈ U to tangent vectors at the image
point F (p) ∈ Rm . This formula will now be generalised to the surface
setting.

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 32 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

Proposition 4.26. Let M1 and M2 be two regular surfaces in R3 ,

p ∈ M1 , q ∈ M2 and φ : M1 → M2 be a differentiable map with
φ(p) = q. Then the formula
d
dφp : γ 0 (0) 7→


φ ◦ γ(t) |t=0
dt
determines a well-defined linear map dφp : Tp M1 → Tq M2 . Here γ :
I → M1 is any differentiable curve satisfying γ(0) = p.
Proof. Let X : U → M1 and Y : V → M2 be local parametrisa-
tions such that X(0) = p, Y (0) = q and φ(X(U )) contained in Y (V ).
Then define
F = Y −1 ◦ φ ◦ X : U → R2
and let α : I → U be a C 1 -curve with α(0) = 0 and α0 (0) = (a, b) ∈ R2 .
If
γ = X ◦ α : I → X(U )
then γ(0) = p and
γ 0 (0) = dX(0) · (a, b) = aXu (0) + bXv (0).
The image curve φ ◦ γ : I → Y (V ) is given by φ ◦ γ = Y ◦ F ◦ α so the
chain rule implies that
d
d

φ ◦ γ(t) |t=0 = dY (F (0)) · F ◦ α(t) |t=0
dt dt
= dY (F (0)) · dF (0) · α0 (0).
This means that dφp : Tp M1 → Tq M2 is given by
dφp : (aXu (0) + bXv (0)) 7→ dY (F (0)) · dF (0) · (a, b)
and hence clearly linear. 
Definition 4.27. Let M1 and M2 be two regular surfaces in R3 ,
p ∈ M1 , q ∈ M2 and φ : M1 → M2 be a differentiable map such that
φ(p) = q. The map dφp : Tp M1 → Tq M2 is called the differential or
the tangent map of φ at p.
The classical inverse mapping theorem generalises as follows.
Theorem 4.28. Let φ : M1 → M2 be a differentiable map between
regular surfaces in R3 . If p is a point in M , q = φ(p) and the differential
dφp : Tp M1 → Tq M2
is bijective then there exist open neighborhoods Up around p and Uq
around q such that φ|Up : Up → Uq is bijective and the inverse (φ|Up )−1 :
Uq → Up is differentiable.
Proof. See Exercise 4.8 

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 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 33

We now introduce the first fundamental form of a regular surface.

This enables us to measure angles between tangent vectors, lengths of
curves and even distances between points on the surface.
Definition 4.29. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and p ∈ M .
Then we define the first fundamental form Ip : Tp M × Tp M → R of
M at p by
Ip (Z, W ) = hZ, W i,
where h·, ·i is the Euclidean scalar product in R3 restricted to the tan-
gent plane Tp M of M at p. Properties of the surface which only depend
on its first fundamental form are called inner properties.
Definition 4.30. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and γ : I → M
be a differentiable curve on M . Then the length L(γ) of γ is defined
by Z p
L(γ) = hγ 0 (t), γ 0 (t)idt.
I

As we shall now see a regular surface in R3 has a natural distance

function d. This gives (M, d) the structure of a metric space.
Proposition 4.31. Let M be a regular surface in R3 . For two
points p, q ∈ M let Cpq denote the set of differentiable curves γ : [0, 1] →
M such that γ(0) = p and γ(1) = q and define the function d : M ×
M → R+ 0 by
d(p, q) = inf{L(γ)| γ ∈ Cpq }.
Then (M, d) is a metric space i.e. for all p, q, r ∈ M we have
(i) d(p, q) ≥ 0,
(ii) d(p, q) = 0 if and only if p = q,
(iii) d(p, q) = d(q, p),
(iv) d(p, q) ≤ d(p, r) + d(r, q).
Proof. See for example: Peter Petersen, Riemannian Geometry,
Graduate Texts in Mathematics 171, Springer (1998). 
Definition 4.32. A differentiable map φ : M1 → M2 between two
regular surfaces in R3 is said to be isometric if for each p ∈ M1 the
differential dφp : Tp M1 → Tφ(p) M2 preserves the first fundamental forms
of the surfaces involved i.e.
hdφp (Z), dφp (W )i = hZ, W i
for all Z, W ∈ Tp M1 . An isometric diffeomorphism φ : M1 → M2 is
called an isometry. Two regular surfaces M1 and M2 are said to be
isometric if there exists an isometry φ : M1 → M2 between them.

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 34 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

Definition 4.33. A differentiable map φ : M1 → M2 between

two regular surfaces in R3 is said to be conformal if there exists a
differentiable function λ : M1 → R such that for each p ∈ M the
differential dφp : Tp M → Tφ(p) M satisfies
hdφp (Z), dφp (W )i = e2λ hZ, W i
for all Z, W ∈ Tp M . Two regular surfaces M1 and M2 are said to be
conformally equivalent if there exists a conformal diffeomorphism
φ : M1 → M2 between them.
Let M be a regular surface in R3 and X : U → M be a local
parametrisation of M . At each point X(u, v) in X(U ) the tangent
plane is generated by the vectors Xu (u, v) and Xv (u, v). For these we
define the matrix-valued map [DX] : U → R3×2 by
[DX] = [Xu , Xv ]
and the real-valued functions E, F, G : U → R by the symmetric matrix
 
E F
= [DX]t · [DX]
F G
containing the scalar products
E = hXu , Xu i, F = hXu , Xv i = hXv , Xu i and G = hXv , Xv i.
This induces a so called metric
ds2 = Edu2 + 2F dudv + Gdv 2
in the parameter region U as follows: For each point q ∈ U we have a
scalar product ds2q : R2 × R2 → R defined by
 
2 E(q) F (q)
dsq (z, w) = z · · wt .
F (q) G(q)
The following shows that the diffeomorphism X preserves the scalar
products so it is actually an isometry.
Let α1 = (u1 , v1 ) : I → U and α2 = (u2 , v2 ) : I → U be two
curves in U meeting at α1 (0) = q = α2 (0). Further let γ1 = X ◦ α1 and
γ2 = X ◦ α2 be the image curves in X(U ) meeting at γ1 (0) = p = γ2 (0).
Then the differential dX(q) is given by
dX(q) : (a, b) = (a · e1 + b · e2 ) 7→ aXu (q) + bXv (q)
so at q we have
 
E F t
ds2q (α10 , α20 ) = α10 · · α20
F G

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 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 35

   0
E F u
u01 v10
 
= · · 02
F G v2
= Eu01 u02 + F (u01 v20 + u02 v10 ) + Gv10 v20
= hXu , Xu iu01 u02 + hXu , Xv i(u01 v20 + u02 v10 ) + hXv , Xv iv10 v20
= hu01 Xu + v10 Xv , u02 Xu + v20 Xv i
= hdX(α10 ), dX(α20 )i
= hγ10 , γ20 i.
It now follows that the length of a curve α : I → U in U is exactly
the same as the length of the corresponding curve γ = X ◦ α in X(U ).
We have ”pulled back” the first fundamental form on the surface X(U )
to a metric on the open subset U of R2 .
Deep Result 4.34. Every regular surface M in R3 can locally be
parametrised by isothermal coordinates i.e. for each point p ∈ M
there exists a local parametrisation X : U → M such that p ∈ X(U )
E(u, v) = G(u, v) and F (u, v) = 0
for all (u, v) ∈ U .
Proof. A complete twelve page proof can be found in the stan-
dard text: M. Spivak, A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential
Geometry, Publish or Perish (1979). 
Definition 4.35. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and X : U → M
be a local parametrisation of M where U is a measurable subset of the
plane R2 . Then we define the area of X(U ) by
Z √
A(X(U )) = EG − F 2 dudv.
U

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 36 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3

Exercises
Exercise 4.1. Determine whether the following subsets of R3 are
regular surfaces or not.
M1 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 = z},
M2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 = z 2 },
M3 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 − z 2 = 1},
M4 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x sin z = y cos z}.
Find a parametrisation for those which are regular surfaces in R3 .
Exercise 4.2. Prove Proposition 4.21.
Exercise 4.3. Prove that the map φ : T 2 → S 2 in Example 4.22 is
differentiable.
Exercise 4.4. Prove Proposition 4.23.
Exercise 4.5. Prove Proposition 4.25.
Exercise 4.6. Construct a diffeomorphism φ : S 2 → M between
the unit sphere S 2 and the ellipsoid
M = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + 2y 2 + 3z 2 = 1}.
Exercise 4.7. Let U = {(u, v) ∈ R2 | − π < u < π, 0 < v < 1},
define X : U → R3 by X(u, v) = (sin u, sin 2u, v) and set M = X(U )
Sketch M and show that X is differentiable, regular and injective but
X −1 is not continuous. Is M a regular surface in R3 ?
Exercise 4.8. Find a proof for Theorem 4.28
Exercise 4.9. For α ∈ (0, π/2) define the parametrised surface Mα
by Xα : R+ × R → M by
θ θ
Xα (r, θ) = (r sin α cos( ), r sin α sin( ), r cos α).
sin α sin α
Calculate the first fundamental form of Mα and find an equation of the
form fα (x, y, z) = 0 describing the surface.
Exercise 4.10. Find an isometric parametrisation X : R2 → M of
the circular cylinder
M = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 = 1}.
Exercise 4.11. Let M be the unit sphere S 2 with the two poles
removed. Prove that Mercator’s parametrization X : R2 → M of M
with
cos v sin v sinh u
X(u, v) = ( , , )
cosh u cosh u cosh u
is conformal.

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 4. SURFACES IN THE EUCLIDEAN SPACE R3 37

Exercise 4.12. Prove that the first fundamental form of a regular

surface M in R3 is invariant under Euclidean motions.
Exercise 4.13. Let X, Y : R2 → R3 be the regular parametrised
surfaces given by
X(u, v) = (cosh u cos v, cosh u sin v, u),
Y (u, v) = (sinh u cos v, sinh u sin v, v).
Calculate the first fundamental forms of X and Y . Find equations of
the form f (x, y, z) = 0 describing the surfaces X and Y . Compare with
Exercise 4.1.
Exercise 4.14. Calculate the area A(T 2 ) of the torus
p
T 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ U | z 2 + ( x2 + y 2 − R)2 = r2 }.

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 CHAPTER 5

Curvature

In this chapter we define the shape operator of an oriented surface

and its second fundamental form. These measure the behaviour of the
normal of the surface and lead us to the notions of normal curvature,
Gaussian curvature and mean curvature.

From now on we assume, if not stated otherwise, that our curves

and surfaces belong to the C 2 -category i.e. they can be parametrised
locally by C 2 -maps.

Definition 5.1. Let M be a regular surface in R3 . A differentiable

map N : M → S 2 with values in the unit sphere is said to be a Gauss
map for M if for each point p ∈ M the image N (p) is perpendicular
to the tangent plane Tp M . The surface M is said to be orientable if
such a Gauss map exists. A surface M equipped with a Gauss map is
said to be oriented.
Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with Gauss map N :
M → S 2 . Let p ∈ M and γ : I → M be a regular curve parametrised
by arclength such that γ(0) = p and γ̇(0) = Z ∈ Tp M . Then the
composition N ◦ γ : I → S 2 is a differentiable curve on the unit sphere
and the linear differential dNp : Tp M → TN (p) S 2 of N at p is given by
the formula
d
dNp : Z = γ̇(0) 7→ (N (γ(s)))|s=0 = dNp (Z).
ds
At the point p the second derivative γ̈(0) has a natural decomposition
γ̈(0) = γ̈(0)tan + γ̈(0)norm
into its tangential part, contained in Tp M , and its normal part in the
orthogonal complement (Tp M )⊥ of Tp M . Along the curve γ : I → M
the normal N (γ(s)) is perpendicular to the tangent γ̇(s). This implies
that
d
0 = (hγ̇(s), N (γ(s))i)
ds
= hγ̈(s), N (γ(s))i + hγ̇(s), dNγ(s) (γ̇(s))i.
39

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 40 5. CURVATURE

Hence the normal part of the second derivative γ̈(0) satisfies

γ̈(0)norm = hγ̈(0), N (p)iN (p)
= −hγ̇(0), dNp (γ̇(0))iN (p)
= −hZ, dNp (Z)iN (p).
This shows that the normal component of γ̈(0) is completely deter-
mined by the value of γ̇(0) and the values of the Gauss map along any
curve through p with tangent γ̇(0) = Z at p.
Since N : M → S 2 is a Gauss map for the surface M and p ∈ M
we see that N (p) is a unit normal to both the tangent planes Tp M and
TN (p) S 2 so we can make the identification Tp M ∼
= TN (p) S 2 .
Definition 5.2. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 and p ∈ M . Then the shape operator
Sp : Tp M → Tp M
of M at p is the linear endomorphism given by
Sp (Z) = −dNp (Z)
for all Z ∈ Tp M .
Proposition 5.3. Let M be an oriented regular surface with Gauss
map N : M → S 2 and p ∈ M . Then the shape operator Sp : Tp M →
Tp M is symmetric i.e.
hSp (Z), W i = hZ, Sp (W )i
for all Z, W ∈ Tp M .
Proof. Let X : U → M be a local parametrisation of M such that
X(0) = p and let N : X(U ) → S 2 be the Gauss map on X(U ) given
by
Xu (u, v) × Xv (u, v)
N (X(u, v)) = ± .
|Xu (u, v) × Xv (u, v)|
Then the normal vector N (X(u, v)) at the point X(u, v) is orthogonal
to the tangent plane TX(u,v) M so
d
0= hN ◦ X, Xu i|(u,v)=0 = hdNp (Xv ), Xu i + hN (p), Xvu i
dv
and
d
0= hN ◦ X, Xv i|(u,v)=0 = hdNp (Xu ), Xv i + hN (p), Xuv i.
du
By subtracting the second equation from the first one and employing
the fact that Xuv = Xvu we obtain
hdNp (Xv ), Xu i = hXv , dNp (Xu )i.

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 5. CURVATURE 41

Since {Xu , Xv } is a basis for the tangent plane Tp M , the symmetry of

the linear endomorphism dNp : Tp M → Tp M is a direct consequence
of this last equation and the following obvious relations
hdNp (Xu ), Xu i = hXu , dNp (Xu )i,
hdNp (Xv ), Xv i = hXv , dNp (Xv )i.
The statement now follows from the fact that Sp = −dNp . 
The symmetry of the shape operator has the following consequence.
Corollary 5.4. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 and p ∈ M . Then there exists an orthonormal
basis {Z1 , Z2 } for the tangent plane Tp M such that
Sp (Z1 ) = λ1 Z1 and Sp (Z2 ) = λ2 Z2 ,
for some λ1 , λ2 ∈ R.
Definition 5.5. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 and p ∈ M . Then we define the second
fundamental form IIp : Tp M × Tp M → R of M at p by
IIp (Z, W ) = hSp (Z), W i.
Note that it is an immediate consequence of Proposition 5.3 that
the second fundamental form is symmetric and bilinear.
Definition 5.6. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 , p ∈ M and Z ∈ Tp M with |Z| = 1. Then the
normal curvature κn (Z) of M at p in the direction of Z is defined
by
κn (Z) = hγ̈(0), N (p)i,
where γ : I → M is any curve parametrised by arclength such that
γ(0) = p and γ̇(0) = Z.
Proposition 5.7. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 , p ∈ M and Z ∈ Tp M with |Z| = 1. Then
the normal curvature κn (Z) of M at p in the direction of Z satisfies
κn (Z) = hSp (Z), Zi = IIp (Z, Z).
Proof. Let γ : I → M be a curve parametrised by arclength such
that γ(0) = p and γ̇(0) = Z. Along the curve the normal N (γ(s)) is
perpendicular to the tangent γ̇(s). This means that
d
0 = (hγ̇(s), N (γ(s))i)
ds
= hγ̈(s), N (γ(s))i + hγ̇(s), dNγ(s) (γ̇(s))i.

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 42 5. CURVATURE

As a direct consequence we get

κn (Z) = hγ̈(0), N (p)i
= −hZ, dNp (Z)i
= hSp (Z), Zi
= IIp (Z, Z).

For an oriented regular surface M with Gauss map N : M → S 2
and p ∈ M let Tp1 M denote the unit circle in the tangent plane Tp M
i.e.
Tp1 M = {Z ∈ Tp M | |Z| = 1}.
Then the real-valued function κn : Tp1 M → R is defined by
κn : Z 7→ κn (Z).
The unit circle is compact and κn is continuous so there exist two
directions Z1 , Z2 ∈ Tp1 M such that
κ1 (p) = κn (Z1 ) = max
1
κn (Z)
Z∈Tp M

and
κ2 (p) = κn (Z2 ) = min
1
κn (Z).
Z∈Tp M

These are called principal directions at p and κ1 (p), κ2 (p) the corre-
sponding principal curvatures. A point p ∈ M is said to be umbilic
if κ1 (p) = κ2 (p).
Theorem 5.8. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 and p ∈ M . Then Z ∈ Tp1 M is a principal
direction at p if and only if it is an eigenvector for the shape operator
Sp : Tp M → Tp M .
Proof. Let {Z1 , Z2 } be an orthonormal basis for the tangent plane
Tp M of eigenvectors to Sp i.e.
Sp (Z1 ) = λ1 Z1 and Sp (Z2 ) = λ2 Z2
for some λ1 , λ2 ∈ R. Then every unit vector Z ∈ Tp1 M can be written
as
Z(θ) = cos θZ1 + sin θZ2
and
κn (Z(θ)) = hSp (cos θZ1 + sin θZ2 ), cos θZ1 + sin θZ2 i
= cos2 θhSp (Z1 ), Z1 i + sin2 θhSp (Z2 ), Z2 i
+ cos θ sin θ(hSp (Z1 ), Z2 i + hSp (Z2 ), Z1 i)

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 5. CURVATURE 43

= λ1 cos2 θ + λ2 sin2 θ.
If λ1 = λ2 then κn (Z(θ)) = λ1 for all θ ∈ R so any direction is both
principal and an eigenvector for the shape operator Sp .
If λ1 6= λ2 , then we can assume, without loss of generality, that
λ1 > λ2 . Then Z(θ) is a maximal principal direction if and only if
cos2 θ = 1 i.e. Z = ±Z1 and clearly a minimal principal direction if
and only if sin2 θ = 1 i.e. Z = ±Z2 . 
Definition 5.9. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 . Then we define the Gaussian curvature
K : M → R and the mean curvature H : M → R by
1
K(p) = det Sp and H(p) = trace Sp ,
2
respectively. The surface M is said to be flat if K(p) = 0 for all p ∈ M
and minimal if H(p) = 0 for all p ∈ M .
Let M be a regular surface in R3 , p ∈ M and {Z1 , Z2 } be an
orthonormal basis for the tangent plane Tp M at p such that
Sp (Z1 ) = λ1 Z1 and Sp (Z2 ) = λ2 Z2 .
Further let α1 , α2 : I → M be two curves, parametrised by arclength,
meeting at p i.e. α1 (0) = p = α2 (0), such that
α̇1 (0) = Z1 and α̇2 (0) = Z2 .
Then the eigenvalues of the shape operator Sp satisfy
λ1 = hSp (Z1 ), Z1 i = hα̈1 (0), N (p)i
and
λ2 = hSp (Z2 ), Z2 i = hα̈2 (0), N (p)i.
If K(p) = λ1 λ2 > 0 then λ1 and λ2 have the same sign so the curves
α1 , α2 : I → M stay locally on the same side of the tangent plane. This
means that the normal curvature κn (Z) has the same sign independent
of the direction Z ∈ Tp M at p so any curve through the point p stays
on the same side of the tangent plane.
If K(p) = λ1 λ2 < 0 then λ1 and λ2 have different signs so the curves
α1 , α2 : I → M stay locally on different sides of the tangent plane Tp M
at p.
Theorem 5.10. Let M be a path-connected, oriented regular sur-
face in R3 with Gauss map N : M → S 2 . Then the shape operator
Sp : Tp M → Tp M vanishes for all p ∈ M if and only if M is contained
in a plane.

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 44 5. CURVATURE

Proof. If M is contained in a plane, then the Gauss map is con-

stant so Sp = −dNp = 0 at any point p ∈ M .
Let us now assume that the shape operator vanishes identically i.e.
Sp = −dNp = 0 for all p ∈ M . Then fix p ∈ M , let q be an arbitrary
point on M and γ : I → M be a curve such that γ(0) = q and γ(1) = p.
Then the real-valued function fq : I → R with
fq (t) = hq − γ(t), N (γ(t))i
satisfies fq (0) = 0 and
fq0 (t) = −hγ 0 (t), N (γ(t))i + hq − γ(t), dNγ(t) (γ 0 (t))i = 0.
This implies that fq (t) = hq − γ(t), N (γ(t))i = 0 for all t ∈ I, in
particular,
fq (1) = hq − p, N (p)i = 0
for all q ∈ M . This shows that the surface is contained in the plane
through p with normal N (p). 
We will now calculate the Gaussian curvature K and the mean
curvature H of a surface in terms on a local parametrisation. Let
M be an oriented surface in R3 with Gauss map N : M → S 2 . Let
X : U → M be a local parametrisation such that X(0) = p ∈ M . Then
the tangent plane Tp M is generated by Xu and Xv so there exists a
2 × 2 matrix  
a11 a12
A=
a21 a22
such that the shape operator Sp : Tp M → Tp M satisfies
Sp (aXu + bXv ) = aSp (Xu ) + bSp (Xv )
= a(a11 Xu + a21 Xv ) + b(a12 Xu + a22 Xv )
= (a11 a + a12 b)Xu + (a21 a + a22 b)Xv .
This means that, with respect to the basis {Xu , Xv }, the shape operator
Sp at p is given by
     
a a11 a12 a
Sp : 7→ · .
b a21 a22 b
If we define the matrix-valued maps [DX], [DN ] : U → R3×2 by
[DX] = [Xu , Xv ] and [DN ] = [Nu , Nv ]
then it follows from the definition Sp = −dNp of the shape operator
that
−[DN ] = [DX] · A.

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 5. CURVATURE 45

Note that the 2 × 2 matrix

[DX]t · [DN ]
is symmetric, since
hXu , Nv i = −hXuv , N i = −hXvu , N i = hXv , Nu i.
To the local parametrisation X : U → M we now associate the func-
tions e, f, g : U → R given by
 
e f
= −[DX]t · [DN ]
f g
= [DX]t · [DX] · A
 
E F
= · A.
F G
This means that, with respect to the basis {Xu , Xv }, the matrix A
corresponding to the shape operator Sp : Tp M → Tp M at p ∈ M is
given by
 −1  
E F e f
A = ·
F G f g
   
1 G −F e f
= · .
EG − F 2 −F E f g
This implies that the Gaussian curvature K and the mean curvature
H satisfy
eg − f 2 1 eG − 2f F + gE
K= 2
and H = .
EG − F 2 EG − F 2
The principal curvatures λ1 and λ2 are the eigenvalues of the shape op-
erator so they are the solutions to the polynomial characteristic equa-
tion
P (λ) = det(A − λ · I) = 0
or equivalently
   
e f E F
det −λ = 0.
f g F G
Example 5.11. Let γ = (r, 0, z) : I → R3 be a differentiable curve
in the (x, z)-plane such that r(s) > 0 and ṙ(s)2 + ż(s)2 = 1 for all s ∈ I.
Then X : I × R → R3 with
     
cos v − sin v 0 r(u) r(u) cos v
X(u, v) =  sin v cos v 0 ·  0  =  r(u) sin v 
0 0 1 z(u) z(u)

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 46 5. CURVATURE

parametrises a regular surface of revolution M . The linearly indepen-

dent and orthogonal tangent vectors
   
ṙ(u) cos v −r(u) sin v
Xu =  ṙ(u) sin v  , Xv =  r(u) cos v 
ż(u) 0
generate a Gauss map
     
cos v − sin v 0 ż(u) ż(u) cos v
N (u, v) =  sin v cos v 0 ·  0  =  ż(u) sin v  .
0 0 1 −ṙ(u) −ṙ(u)
Furthermore
 
t ṙ(u) cos v ṙ(u) sin v ż(u)
[DX] = ,
−r(u) sin v r(u) cos v 0
   
E F t 1 0
= [DX] · [DX] =
F G 0 r(u)2
and
 
e f
= −[DN ]t · [DX]
f g
 
−z̈(u) cos v −z̈(u) sin v r̈(u)
=
ż(u) sin v −ż(u) cos v 0
 
ṙ(u) cos v −r(u) sin v
·  ṙ(u) sin v r(u) cos v 
ż(u) 0
 
r̈(u)ż(u) − z̈(u)ṙ(u) 0
= .
0 −ż(u)r(u)
This means that the 2 × 2 matrix A of the shape operator is given by
 −1  
E F e f
A = ·
F G f g
   
1 r(u)2 0 r̈(u)ż(u) − z̈(u)ṙ(u) 0
= ·
r(u)2 0 1 0 −ż(u)r(u)
 
r̈(u)ż(u) − z̈(u)ṙ(u) 0
= .
0 −ż(u)/r(u)
Using the fact that the curve (r, 0, z) is parametrised by arclength
we get the following remarkably simple expression for the Gaussian
curvature
K = det A

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 5. CURVATURE 47

eg − f 2
=
EG − F 2
ż(u)r(u)(z̈(u)ṙ(u) − r̈(u)ż(u))
=
r(u)2
ṙ(u)ż(u)z̈(u) − r̈(u)ż(u)2
=
r(u)
ṙ(u)(−ṙ(u)r̈(u)) − r̈(u)(1 − ṙ(u)2 )
=
r(u)
r̈(u)
= − .
r(u)
This shows that the function r : I → R satisfies the following second
order linear ordinary differential equation
r̈(s) + K(s) · r(s) = 0.
Theorem 5.12. Let M be a path-connected oriented regular C 3 -
surface in R3 with Gauss map N : M → S 2 . If every p ∈ M is an
umbilic point, then M is either contained in a plane or in a sphere.
Proof. Let X : U → M be a local parametrisation such that U
is path-connected. Since each point in X(U ) is umbilic there exists a
differentiable function κ : U → R such that the shape operator is given
by
Sp : (aXu + bXv ) 7→ κ(u, v)(aXu + bXv )
so in particular
(N ◦ X)u = −κXu and (N ◦ X)v = −κXv .
Furthermore
0 = (N ◦ X)uv − (N ◦ X)vu
= (−κXu )v − (−κXv )u
= −κv Xu − κXuv + κu Xv + κXuv
= −κv Xu + κu Xv .
The vectors Xu and Xv are linearly independent so κu = κv = 0. The
domain U is path-connected which means that κ is constant on U and
hence on the whole of M since M is path-connected.
If κ = 0 then the shape operator vanishes and Theorem 5.10 tells
us that the surface is contained in a plane.
If κ 6= 0 then we define the map Y : U → R3 by
1
Y (u, v) = X(u, v) + N (u, v).
κ

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 48 5. CURVATURE

Then
1 1
dY = dX + dN = dX − κdX = 0
κ κ
so Y is constant and
1
|X − Y |2 = 2 .
κ
This shows that X(U ) is contained in a sphere with centre Y and radius
1/κ. Since M is path-connected the whole of M is contained in the
same sphere. 
Theorem 5.13. Let M be a compact regular surface in R3 . Then
there exists at least one point p ∈ M such that the Gaussian curvature
K(p) is positive.
Proof. See Exercise 5.7. 

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 5. CURVATURE 49

Exercises

Exercise 5.1. Let U be an open subset of R3 and q ∈ R be a

regular value of the differentiable function f : U → R. Prove that the
regular surface M = f −1 ({q}) in R3 is orientable.
Exercise 5.2. Determine the Gaussian curvature and the mean
curvature of the sphere Sr2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R2 | x2 + y 2 + z 2 = r2 }.
Exercise 5.3. Determine the Gaussian curvature and the mean
curvature of the parametrised Enneper surface X : R2 → R3 given by
u3 v3
+ uv 2 , v −
X(u, v) = (u − + vu2 , u2 − v 2 ).
3 3
Exercise 5.4. Determine the Gaussian curvature and the mean
curvature of the cateniod M parametrised by X : R × R+ → R3 with
1 + r2 1 + r2
X(θ, r) = ( cos θ, sin θ, log r).
2r 2r
Find an equation of the form f (x, y, z) = 0 describing the surface M .
Compare with Exercise 4.13.
Exercise 5.5. Prove that the second fundamental form of an ori-
ented regular surface M in R3 is invariant under rigid Euclidean mo-
tions.
Exercise 5.6. Let X, Y : R2 → R3 be the regular parametrised
surfaces given by
X(u, v) = (cosh u cos v, cosh u sin v, u),
Y (u, v) = (sinh u cos v, sinh u sin v, v).
Calculate the shape operators of X and Y and the corresponding prin-
cipal curvatures κ1 , κ2 . Compare with Exercise 4.13.
Exercise 5.7. Prove Theorem 5.13.
Exercise 5.8. Let γ : R → R3 be a regular curve, parametrised by
arclength, with non-vanishing curvature and n, b denote the principal
normal and the binormal of γ, respectively. Let r be a positive real
number and assume that the r-tube M around γ given by X : R2 → R3
with
X(s, θ) = γ(s) + r(cos θ · n(s) + sin θ · b(s))
is a regular surface in R3 . Determine the Gaussian curvature K of M
in terms of s, θ, r, κ(s) and τ (s).

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 50 5. CURVATURE

Exercise 5.9. Let M be a regular surface in R3 , p ∈ M and {Z, W }

be an orthonormal basis for Tp M of eigenvectors for the shape operator
Sp : Tp M → Tp M . Let κn (θ) be the normal curvature of M at p in the
direction of cos θZ +sin θW . Prove that the mean curvature H satisfies
Z 2π
1
H(p) = κn (θ)dθ.
2π 0
Exercise 5.10. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 . Let X : U → M be a local parametrisation
of M and A(N ◦ X(U )) be the area of the image N ◦ X(U ) on the unit
sphere S 2 . Prove that
Z
A(N ◦ X(U )) = |K|dA,
X(U )

where K is the Gaussian curvature of M . Compare with Exercise 3.7.

Exercise 5.11. Let a be a positive real number and U be the open
set
U = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | 2a(x2 + y 2 ) < z}.
Prove that there does not exist a complete regular minimal surface M
in R3 which is contained in U .

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 CHAPTER 6

Theorema Egregium

In this chapter we prove the remarkable Theorema Egregium which

tells us that the Gaussian curvature, of a regular surface, is actually
completely determined by its first fundamental form.

Theorem 6.1. Let M be a regular C 3 -surface in R3 . Then the

Gaussian curvature K of M is determined by its first fundamental
form.
This result has a highly interesting consequence.
Corollary 6.2. It is impossible to construct a distance preserving
planar chart of the unit sphere S 2 .
Proof. If there existed a local parametrisation X : U → S 2 of the
unit sphere which was an isometry then the Gaussian curvature of the
flat plane and the unit sphere would be the same. But we know that
S 2 has constant curvature K = 1. 
We shall now prove Theorem 6.1.
Proof. Let M be a surface and X : U → M be a local parametri-
sation of M with first fundamental form determined by
 
E F
= [DX]t · [DX].
F G
The set {Xu , Xv } is a basis for the tangent plane at each point X(u, v)
in X(U ). Applying the Gram-Schmidt process on this basis we get an
orthonormal basis {Z, W } for the tangent plane as follows:
Xu
Z=√ ,
E
W̃ = Xv − hXv , ZiZ
hXv , Xu iXu
= Xv −
hXu , Xu i
F
= Xv − Xu
E
51

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 52 6. THEOREMA EGREGIUM

and finally √
W̃ E F
W = =√ (Xv − Xu ).
|W̃ | EG − F 2 E
This means that there exist functions a, b, c : U → R only depending
on E, F, G such that
Z = aXu and W = bXu + cXv .
If we define a local Gauss map N : X(U ) → S 2 by
Xu × Xv
N= =Z ×W
|Xu × Xv |
then {Z, W, N } is a positively oriented orthonormal basis for R3 along
the open subset X(U ) of M . This means that the derivatives
Zu , Zv , Wu , Wv
satisfy the following system of equations
Zu = hZu , ZiZ + hZu , W iW + hZu , N iN,
Zv = hZv , ZiZ + hZv , W iW + hZv , N iN,
Wu = hWu , ZiZ + hWu , W iW + hWu , N iN,
Wv = hWv , ZiZ + hWv , W iW + hWv , N iN.
Using the fact that {Z, W } is orthonormal we can simplify to
Zu = hZu , W iW + hZu , N iN,
Zv = hZv , W iW + hZv , N iN,
Wu = hWu , ZiZ + hWu , N iN,
Wv = hWv , ZiZ + hWv , N iN.
The following shows that hZu , W i is a function of E, F, G : U → R and
their first order derivatives.
hZu , W i = h(aXu )u , W i
= hau Xu + aXuu , bXu + cXv i
= au bE + au cF + abhXuu , Xu i + achXuu , Xv i
1 1
= au bE + au cF + abEu + ac(Fu − Ev )
2 2
It is easily seen that the same applies to hZv , W i.
Employing Lemma 6.3 we now obtain
hZu , W iv − hZv , W iu
= hZuv , W i + hZu , Wv i − hZvu , W i − hZv , Wu i
= hZu , Wv i − hZv , Wu i

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 6. THEOREMA EGREGIUM 53

√
= K EG − F 2 .
Hence the Gaussian curvature K of M is given by
hZu , W iv − hZv , W iu
K= √
EG − F 2
As an immediate consequence we see that K only depends on the func-
tions E, F, G and their first and second order derivatives. Hence it is
completely determined by the first fundamental form of M . 
Lemma 6.3. For the above situation we have
√
hZu , Wv i − hZv , Wu i = K EG − F 2 .
Proof. If A is the matrix for the shape operator in the basis
{Xu , Xv } then
−Nu = a11 Xu + a21 Xv and − Nv = a12 Xu + a22 Xv .
This means that
hNu × Nv , N i = h(a11 Xu + a21 Xv ) × (a12 Xu + a22 Xv ), N i
= (a11 a22 − a12 a21 )hXu × Xv , N i
√
= Kh( EG − F 2 )N, N i
√
= K EG − F 2 .
We also have
hNu × Nv , N i = hNu × Nv , Z × W i
= hNu , ZihNv , W i − hNu , W ihNv , Zi
= hZu , N ihN, Wv i − hWu , N ihN, Zv i
= hZu , Wv i − hZv , Wu i.
This proves the statement. 
Deep Result 6.4. Let M1 and M2 be two regular surfaces in R3
and φ : M1 → M2 be a diffeomorphism respecting their first and second
fundamental forms, i.e.
Ip (X, Y ) = Iφ(p) (dφ(X), dφ(Y ))
and
IIp (X, Y ) = IIφ(p) (dφ(X), dφ(Y )),
for all p ∈ M1 and X, Y ∈ Tp M1 . Then φ : M1 → M2 is the restriction
φ = Φ|M1 : M1 → M2 of a Euclidean motion Φ : R3 → R3 of R3 to the
surface M1 .

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 54 6. THEOREMA EGREGIUM

The proof of the last result is beyond the scope of these lecture
notes. Here we need arguments from the theory of partial differential
equations.

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 6. THEOREMA EGREGIUM 55

Exercises

Exercise 6.1. For α ∈ (0, π/2) define the parametrised surface Mα

by Xα : R+ × R → M by
θ θ
Xα (r, θ) = (r sin α cos( ), r sin α sin( ), r cos α).
sin α sin α
Calculate its Gaussian curvature K.
Exercise 6.2. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and X : U → M
be an orthogonal parametrisation i.e. F = 0. Prove that the Gaussian
curvature satisfies
1  Ev Gu 
K=− √ ( √ )v + ( √ )u .
2 EG EG EG
Exercise 6.3. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and X : U → M
be an isothermal parametrisation i.e. F = 0 and E = G. Prove that
the Gaussian curvature satisfies
1
K = − ((log E)uu + (log E)vv ).
2E
Determine the Gaussian curvature K in the cases when
4 4 1
E= 2 2 2
, E= 2 2 2
or E = 2 .
(1 + u + v ) (1 − u − v ) u
Exercise 6.4. Equip R2 and R4 with their standard Euclidean
scalar products. Prove that the parametrisation X : R2 → R4
X(u, v) = (cos u, sin u, cos v, sin v)
of the compact torus M in R4 is isometric. What does this tell us about
the Gaussian curvature of M ? Compare the result with Theorem 5.13.

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 CHAPTER 7

Geodesics

In this chapter we introduce the notion of a geodesic on a regular

surface in R3 . We show that locally they are the shortest paths between
their endpoints. Geodesics generalise the straight lines in the Euclidean
plane.

Let M be a regular surface in R3 and γ : I → M be a curve on M

such that γ(0) = p. As we have seen earlier the second derivative γ 00 (0)
at p has a natural decomposition
γ 00 (0) = γ 00 (0)tan + γ 00 (0)norm
into its tangential part, contained in Tp M , and its normal part in the
orthogonal complement Tp M ⊥ .
Definition 7.1. Let M be a regular surface in R3 . A curve γ : I →
M on M is said to be a geodesic if for all t ∈ I the tangential part of
the second derivative γ 00 (t) vanishes i.e.
γ 00 (t)tan = 0.
Example 7.2. Let p ∈ S 2 be a point on the unit sphere and
Z ∈ Tp S 2 be a unit tangent vector. Then hp, Zi = 0 so {p, Z} is
an orthonormal basis for a plane in R3 , through the origin, which in-
tersects the sphere in a great circle. This circle is parametrised by the
curve γ : R → S 2
γ(s) = cos s · p + sin s · Z.
Then for all s ∈ I the second derivative γ̈(s) satisfies
γ̈(s) = −γ(s) = −N (γ(s)),
where N : S 2 → S 2 is the Gauss map pointing out of the unit sphere.
This means that the tangential part γ̈(s)tan vanishes so the curve is a
geodesic on S 2 .
Proposition 7.3. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and γ : I → M
be a geodesic on M . Then the norm |γ 0 | : I → R of the tangent γ 0 of γ
is constant i.e. the curve is parametrised proportional to arclength.
57

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 58 7. GEODESICS

Proof. The statement is an immediate consequence of the follow-

ing calculation
d 0 2 d 0
|γ (t)| = hγ (t), γ 0 (t)i
dt dt
= 2 hγ 00 (t), γ 0 (t)i
= 2 hγ 00 (t)tan + γ 00 (t)norm , γ 0 (t)i
= 2 hγ 00 (t)tan , γ 0 (t)i
= 0.

Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with Gauss map N :
M → S 2 . Along a curve γ : I → M , parametrised by arclength, the
two vectors γ̇ and N are orthogonal and both of unit length, so the set
{γ̇(s), N (γ(s)), N (γ(s)) × γ̇(s)}
is an orthonormal basis for R3 . This implies that the second derivative
γ̈ : I → R3 has the orthogonal decomposition
γ̈ = hγ̈, γ̇iγ̇ + hγ̈, N × γ̇i(N × γ̇) + hγ̈, N iN
= hγ̈, N × γ̇i(N × γ̇) + hγ̈, N iN
= γ̈ tan + γ̈ norm .
Definition 7.4. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 and γ : I → M be a curve on M parametrised
by arclength. Then we define the geodesic curvature kg : I → R of
γ by
κg (s) = hγ̈(s), N (γ(s)) × γ̇(s)i.

The set {γ̇(s), N (γ(s)) × γ̇(s)} is an orthonormal basis for the tan-
gent plane Tγ(s) M of M at γ(s). The curve γ : I → M is parametrised
by arclength so the second derivative is perpendicular to γ̇. This means
that
κg (s)2 = |γ̈(s)tan |2 ,
so the geodesic curvature is therefore a measure of how far the curve
is from being a geodesic.
Corollary 7.5. Let M be an oriented regular surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 and γ : I → M be a curve on M parametrised
by arclength. Let κ : I → R be the curvature of γ as a curve in R3
and κn , κg : I → R be the normal and geodesic curvatures, respectively.
Then
κ(s)2 = κg (s)2 + κn (s)2 .

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 7. GEODESICS 59

Proof. This is a direct consequence of the orthogonal decomposi-

tion
γ̈(s) = γ̈(s)tan + γ̈(s)norm .

Example 7.6. Let γ = (r, 0, z) : I → R3 be a differentiable curve
in the (x, z)-plane such that r(s) > 0 and ṙ(s)2 + ż(s)2 = 1 for all s ∈ I.
Then X : I × R → R3 with
     
cos v − sin v 0 r(u) r(u) cos v
X(u, v) =  sin v cos v 0 ·  0  =  r(u) sin v 
0 0 1 z(u) z(u)
parametrises a surface of revolution M . The tangent plane is generated
by the vectors
   
ṙ(u) cos v −r(u) sin v
Xu =  ṙ(u) sin v  , Xv =  r(u) cos v  .
ż(u) 0
For a fixed v ∈ R the curve γ1 : I → M with
 
r(u) cos v
γ1 (u) =  r(u) sin v 
z(u)
parametrises a meridian on M by arclength. It is easily seen that
hγ̈1 , Xu i = hγ̈1 , Xv i = 0.
This means that (γ̈1 )tan = 0, so γ1 : I → M is a geodesic.
For a fixed u ∈ R the curve γ2 : I → M with
 
r(u) cos v
γ2 (v) =  r(u) sin v 
z(u)
parametrises a parallel on M . A simple calculation yields
hγ200 , Xu i = −ṙ(u)r(u) and hγ200 , Xv i = 0.
This means that γ2 : I → M is a geodesic if and only if ṙ(u) = 0.
The next result states the important geodesic equations.
Theorem 7.7. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and X : U → M
be a local parametrisation of M with
 
E F
= [DX]t · [DX].
F G

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 60 7. GEODESICS

If (u, v) : I → U is a C 2 -curve in U then the composition

γ = X ◦ (u, v) : I → X(U )
is a geodesic on M if and only if
d 1
(Eu0 + F v 0 ) = (Eu (u0 )2 + 2Fu u0 v 0 + Gu (v 0 )2 ),
dt 2
d 1
(F u0 + Gv 0 ) = (Ev (u0 )2 + 2Fv u0 v 0 + Gv (v 0 )2 ).
dt 2
Proof. The tangent vector of the curve (u, v) : I → U is given by
(u , v 0 ) = u0 e1 + v 0 e2 so for the tangent γ 0 of γ we have
0

γ 0 = dX · (u0 e1 + v 0 e2 )
= u0 dX · e1 + v 0 dX · e2
= u 0 Xu + v 0 X v .
Following the definition we see that γ : I → X(U ) is a geodesic if and
only if
hγ 00 , Xu i = 0 and hγ 00 , Xv i = 0.
The first equation gives
d 0
0 = h (u Xu + v 0 Xv ), Xu i
dt
d 0 d
= hu Xu + v 0 Xv , Xu i − hu0 Xu + v 0 Xv , Xu i
dt dt
d d
= (Eu0 + F v 0 ) − hu0 Xu + v 0 Xv , Xu i.
dt dt
This implies that
d
(Eu0 + F v 0 )
dt
d 0
= hu Xu + v 0 Xv , Xu i
dt
d
= hu0 Xu + v 0 Xv , Xu i
dt
= hu Xu + v Xv , u0 Xuu + v 0 Xuv i
0 0

= (u0 )2 hXu , Xuu i + u0 v 0 (hXu , Xuv i + hXv , Xuu i) + (v 0 )2 hXv , Xuv i

1 1
= Eu (u0 )2 + Fu u0 v 0 + Gu (v 0 )2 .
2 2
This gives us the first geodesic equation. The second one is obtained
in exactly the same way. 

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 7. GEODESICS 61

Theorem 7.7 characterises geodesics as solutions to a second order

non-linear system of ordinary differential equations. For this we have
the following existence result.
Theorem 7.8. Let M be a regular surface in R3 , p ∈ M and
Z ∈ Tp M . Then there exists a unique, locally defined, geodesic
γ : (−, ) → M
satisfying the initial conditions γ(0) = p and γ 0 (0) = Z.
Proof. The proof is based on a second order consequence of the
well-known theorem of Picard-Lindelöf formulated here as Fact 7.9. 
Fact 7.9. Let f : U → Rn be a continuous map defined on an open
subset U of R × R2n and L ∈ R+ such that
|f (t, y1 ) − f (t, y2 )| ≤ L · |y1 − y2 |
for all (t, y1 ), (t, y2 ) ∈ U . If (t0 , (x0 , x1 )) ∈ U and x0 , x1 ∈ Rn then
there exists a unique local solution x : I → Rn to the following initial
value problem
x00 (t) = f (t, x(t), x0 (t)), x(t0 ) = x0 , x0 (t0 ) = x1 .
The following notion of completness of a regular surface M in R3 is
closely related to the existence part of Theorem 7.8.
Definition 7.10. A regular surface M in R3 is said to be complete
if for each point p ∈ M and each tangent vector Z ∈ Tp M there exists
a geodesic γ : R → M defined on the whole real line such that γ(0) = p
and γ 0 (0) = Z.
Proposition 7.11. Let M1 and M2 be two regular surfaces in R3
and φ : M1 → M2 be an isometric differentiable map. Then γ1 : I →
M1 is a geodesic on M1 if and only if the composition γ2 = φ ◦ γ1 : I →
M2 is a geodesic on M2
Proof. See Exercise 7.7 
The next result is the famous Theorem of Clairaut.
Theorem 7.12. Let M be a regular surface of revolution and γ :
I → M be a geodesic on M parametrised by arclength. Let r : I → R+
be the function describing the distance between a point γ(s) and the
axis of rotation and θ : I → R be the angle between γ̇(s) and the
meridian through γ(s). Then the product r(s) sin θ(s) is constant along
the geodesic.

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 62 7. GEODESICS

Proof. Let the surface M be parametrised by X : I × R → R3

with
     
cos v − sin v 0 r(u) r(u) cos v
X(u, v) =  sin v cos v 0 ·  0  =  r(u) sin v  ,
0 0 1 z(u) z(u)
where (r, 0, z) : I → R3 is a differentiable curve in the (x, z)-plane such
that r(s) > 0 and ṙ(s)2 + ż(s)2 = 1 for all s ∈ I. Then
   
ṙ(u) cos v −r(u) sin v
Xu =  ṙ(u) sin v  , Xv =  r(u) cos v 
ż(u) 0
give    
E F t 1 0
= [DX] · [DX] =
F G 0 r(u)2
so the set
1
{Xu ,
Xv }
r(u)
is an orthonormal basis for the tangent plane of M at X(u, v). This
means that the tangent γ̇(s) of the geodesic γ : I → M can be written
as
1
γ̇(s) = cos θ(s) · Xu (u(s), v(s)) + sin θ(s) · Xv (u(s), v(s)),
r(u(s))
where r(u(s)) is the distance to the axes of revolution and θ(s) is the
angle between γ̇(s) and the tangent Xu (u(s), v(s)) to the meridian. It
follows that
sin θ
Xu × γ̇ = Xu × (cos θ · Xu + · Xv )
r
sin θ
= · (Xu × Xv )
r
but also
Xu × γ̇ = Xu × (u̇ · Xu + v̇ · Xv )
= v̇ · (Xu × Xv ).
Hence
r(u(s))2 v̇(s) = r(u(s)) sin θ(s).
If we substitute the relations E = 1, F = 0, G = r(u)2 and u(s) = s
into the second geodesic equation
d 1
(F u̇ + Gv̇) = (Ev u̇2 + 2Fv u̇v̇ + Gv v̇ 2 )
ds 2

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 7. GEODESICS 63

we obtain
d
(r(s)2 v̇(s)) = 0.
ds
This tells us that the product r(s) sin θ(s) is constant since
d d
(r(s) sin θ(s)) = (r(s)2 v̇(s)) = 0.
ds ds

Example 7.13. Let M be a surface of revolution parametrised by
X : I × R → M with
     
cos v − sin v 0 r(s) r(s) cos v
X(s, v) =  sin v cos v 0 ·  0  =  r(s) sin v  .
0 0 1 z(s) z(s)
Here (r, 0, z) : I → R3 is a differentiable curve in the (x, z)-plane such
that r(s) > 0 and ṙ(s)2 + ż(s)2 = 1 for all s ∈ I.
In Example 5.11 we have proved that the Gaussian curvature K of
M satisfies the equation
r̈(s) + K(s) · r(s) = 0.
If we put K ≡ −1 and solve this linear ordinary differential equation
we get the general solution r(s) = aes + be−s . By the particular choice
of r, z : R+ → R satisfying
Z s√
−s
r(s) = e and z(s) = 1 − e−2t dt
0

we get a parametrisation X : R+ × R → M of the famous pseudo-

sphere. The corresponding first fundamental form is
     
EX FX t 1 0 1 0
= [DX] · [DX] = = .
FX GX 0 r(s)2 0 e−2s
For convenience we introduce a new variable u satisfying
s(u) = log u, or equivalently, u(s) = es .
This gives us a new parametrisation Y : (1, ∞) × R → M of the
pseudo-sphere where Y (u, v) = X(s(u), v). Then the chain rule gives
1
Yu = su Xs =
Xs , Y v = Xv
u
and we get the following first fundamental form for Y
   
EY FY t 1 1 0
= [DY ] · [DY ] = 2 .
FY GY u 0 1

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 64 7. GEODESICS

The corresponding metric satisfies

1
ds2 = 2 (dv 2 + du2 ).
u
It is clear that this extends to a metric defined in the upper half plane
H 2 = {(v, u) ∈ R2 | u > 0}.
This is called the hyperbolic metric. The hyperbolic plane (H 2 , ds2 )
is very interesting both for its rich geometry but also for its historic
importance. It is a model for the famous non-Euclidean geometry.
We shall now determine the geodesics in the hyperbolic plane. Let
γ = (v, u) : I → H 2
be a geodesic parametrised by arclength. Then γ̇ = (v̇, u̇) and
1
|γ̇|2H 2 = ds2 (γ̇, γ̇) = 2 (v̇ 2 + u̇2 ) = 1,
u
2 2 2
or equivalently, v̇ + u̇ = u . If we now substitute the relations
1 1
E = 2 , F = 0 and G = 2
u u
into the second geodesic equation
d 1
(F u̇ + Gv̇) = (Ev u̇2 + 2Fv u̇v̇ + Gv v̇ 2 )
ds 2
we obtain
d  v̇(s) 
= 0.
ds u(s)2
This implies that there exists a real constant R such that
dv
= v̇ = u2 R.
ds
If R = 0 we see that v̇ = 0 so the function v is constant. This
means that the vertical lines v = v0 in the upper half plane H 2 are
geodesics. In this case, they are parametrised by γ(s) = (es , v0 ).
If R 6= 0 then we have
u4 R2 + u̇2 = u2 ,
or equivalently,
du √
= u̇ = ±u 1 − R2 u2 .
ds
This means that
dv Ru
= v̇/u̇ = ± √ ,
du 1 − R 2 u2

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 7. GEODESICS 65

or equivalently,
Ru
dv = ± √ du.
1 − R 2 u2
We integrate this to
√
R(v − v0 ) = ± 1 − R2 u2
which implies
1
(v − v0 )2 + u2 =
.
R2
This means that the geodesic is a half circle in H 2 with centre at (v0 , 0)
and radius 1/R.
Deep Result 7.14 (David Hilbert 1901). There does not exist
an isometric embedding of the hyperbolic plane H 2 into the standard
Euclidean R3 .
We now characterise the geodesics as the critical points of the length
functional. For this we need the following two definitions.
Definition 7.15. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and γ : I → M
be a C 2 -curve on M . A variation of γ is a C 2 -map
Φ : (−, ) × I → M
such that for each t ∈ I we have Φ0 (t) = Φ(0, t) = γ(t). If the interval
is compact i.e. of the form I = [a, b], then the variation Φ is said to be
proper if for all r ∈ (−, ) we have Φr (a) = γ(a) and Φr (b) = γ(b).
Definition 7.16. Let M be a regular surface in R3 and γ : I → M
be a C 2 -curve on M . For every compact subinterval [a, b] of I we define
the length functional L[a,b] by
Z b
L[a,b] (γ) = |γ 0 (t)|dt.
a
2
A C -curve γ : I → M is said to be a critical point for the length
functional if every proper variation Φ of γ|[a,b] satisfies
d
(L[a,b] (Φr ))|r=0 = 0.
dr
Theorem 7.17. Let γ : I = [a, b] → M be a C 2 -curve parametrised
by arclength. Then γ is a critical point for the length functional if and
only if it is a geodesic.

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 66 7. GEODESICS

Proof. Let Φ : (−, ) × I → M with Φ : (r, t) 7→ Φ(r, t) be a

proper variation of γ : I → M . Then, since I = [a, b] is compact, we
have
d

L[a,b] (Φr ) |r=0
dr
Z b
d

= |γ̇r (t)|dt |r=0
dr a
Z b r
d ∂Φ ∂Φ 
= h , i |r=0 dt
a dr ∂t ∂t
Z b 2 r
∂ Φ ∂Φ ∂Φ ∂Φ 
= h , i/ h , i |r=0 dt
a ∂r∂t ∂t ∂t ∂t
Z b 2
∂ Φ ∂Φ
= h , i|r=0 dt
a ∂t∂r ∂t
Z b
d ∂Φ ∂Φ ∂Φ ∂ 2 Φ 
= (h , i) − h , 2 i |r=0 dt
a dt ∂r ∂t ∂r ∂t
Z b
h ∂Φ ∂Φ i b ∂Φ ∂ 2Φ
= h (0, t), (0, t)i − h (0, t), 2 (0, t)i dt.
∂r ∂t a a ∂r ∂t
The variation is proper, so
∂Φ ∂Φ
(0, a) = (0, b) = 0.
∂r ∂r
Furthermore
∂ 2Φ
(0, t) = γ̈(t),
∂t2
so Z b
d ∂Φ
h (0, t), γ̈(t)tan i dt.


L[a,b] (Φr ) |r=0 = −
dr a ∂r
The last integral vanishes for every proper variation Φ of γ if and only
if γ̈(t)tan = 0 for all t ∈ I i.e. γ is a geodesic. 
Let M be a regular surface in R3 , p ∈ M and
Tp1 M = {e ∈ Tp M | |e| = 1}
be the unit circle in the tangent plane Tp M . Then every non-zero
tangent vector Z ∈ Tp M can be written as
Z = rZ · eZ ,
where rZ = |Z| and eZ = Z/|Z| ∈ Tp1 M . For a unit tangent vector
e ∈ Tp1 M let
γe : (−ae , be ) → M

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 7. GEODESICS 67

be the maximal geodesic such that ae , be ∈ R+ ∪ {∞}, γe (0) = p and

γ̇e (0) = e. It can be shown that the real number
p = inf{ae , be | e ∈ Tp1 M }.
is positive so the open ball
B2p (0) = {Z ∈ Tp M | |Z| < p }
is non-empty. The exponential map expp : B2p (0) → M at p is
defined by 
p if Z = 0
expp : Z 7→
γeZ (rZ ) if Z 6= 0.
Note that for a unit tangent e ∈ Tp1 M the line segment
λe : (−p , p ) → Tp M
with λe : t 7→ t · e is mapped onto the geodesic γe i.e. locally we have
γe (t) = expp ◦λe (t).
One can prove that the map expp is differentiable and it follows
from its definition that the differential
d(expp )0 : Tp M → Tp M
is the identity map for the tangent plane Tp M . Then Theorem 4.28
tells us that there exists an rp ∈ R+ such that if Up = Br2p (0) and
Vp = expp (Up ) then the restriction
expp |Up : Up → Vp ,
of the exponential map expp at p to Up , is a diffeomorphism parametris-
ing the open subset Vp of M .
Example 7.18. Let S 2 be the unit sphere in R3 and p = (1, 0, 0)
be the north pole. Then the unit circle in the tangent plane Tp S 2 is
given by
Tp1 S 2 = {(0, cos θ, sin θ)| θ ∈ R}.
The exponential map expp : Tp S 2 → S 2 of S 2 at p is defined by
expp : s(0, cos θ, sin θ) 7→ cos s · (1, 0, 0) + sin s · (0, cos θ, sin θ).
This is clearly injective on the open ball
Bπ2 (0) = {Z ∈ Tp S 2 | |Z| < π}
and the geodesic
γ : s 7→ expp (s(0, cos θ, sin θ))
is the shortest path between p and γ(r) as long as r < π.

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 68 7. GEODESICS

Theorem 7.19. Let M be a regular surface in R3 . Then the

geodesics are locally the shortest paths between their endpoints.
Proof. For p ∈ M , choose r > 0 such that the restriction
φ = expp |U : U → expp (U ),
of the exponential map at p to the open disc U = Br2 (0) in the tangent
plane Tp M , is a diffeomorphism onto the image expp (U ). Then define
the metric ds2 on U such that φ is an isometry i.e. for any two vector
fields X, Y on U we have
ds2 (X, Y ) = hdφ(X), dφ(Y )i.
It then follows from the construction of the exponential map, that the
geodesics in U through the origin 0 = φ−1 (p) are exactly the lines
λZ : t 7→ t · Z
where Z ∈ Tp M .
Now let q ∈ U \ {0} and λq : [0, 1] → U be the curve λq : t 7→ t · q.
Further let σ : [0, 1] → U be an arbitrary curve in U such that σ(0) = 0
0
and σ(1) = q. Along the curve σ we define two vector fields σ̂ and σrad
by
0 ds2 (σ 0 (t), σ(t))
σ̂ : t 7→ σ(t) and σrad : t 7→ 2 · σ(t).
ds (σ(t), σ(t))
0
Note that σrad (t) is the radial projection of the tangent σ 0 (t) of the
curve σ(t) onto the line generated by the vector σ(t). This means that

0 ds2 (σ 0 (t), σ(t))2 · ds2 (σ(t), σ(t))

|σrad (t)|2 =
ds2 (σ(t), σ(t))2
ds2 (σ 0 (t), σ(t))2
= ,
ds2 (σ(t), σ(t))
so
0 |ds2 (σ 0 (t), σ(t))|
|σrad (t)| = .
|σ(t)|
Further
d dp 2
|σ(t)| = ds (σ(t), σ(t))
dt dt
2 · ds2 (σ 0 (t), σ(t))
= p
2 · ds2 (σ(t), σ(t))
ds2 (σ 0 (t), σ(t))
= .
|σ(t)|

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 7. GEODESICS 69

Combining these two relations we obtain

0 d
|σrad (t)| ≥ |σ(t)|.
dt
This means that
Z 1
L(σ) = |σ 0 (t)|dt
0
Z 1
0
≥ |σrad (t)|dt
0
Z 1
d
≥ |σ(t)|dt
0 dt
= |σ(1)| − |σ(0)|
= |q|
= L(λq ).
This proves that in fact λq is the shortest path connecting p and q. 

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 70 7. GEODESICS

Exercises

Exercise 7.1. Describe the geodesics on the circular cylinder

M = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 = 1}.
Exercise 7.2. Find four different geodesics, as geometric curves,
passing through the point p = (1, 0, 0) on the one-sheeted hyperboloid
M = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 − z 2 = 1}.
Exercise 7.3. Find four different geodesics passing through the
point p = (0, 0, 0) on the surface
M = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | xy(x2 − y 2 ) = z}.
Exercise 7.4. Let X : R2 → R3 be the parametrised surface in R3
given by
X(u, v) = (u cos v, u sin v, v).
Determine for which values of α ∈ R the curve γα : R → M with
γα (t) = X(t, αt) = (t cos(αt), t sin(αt), αt)
is a geodesic on M .
Exercise 7.5. Let X : R2 → R3 be the parametrised surface in R3
given by
X(u, v) = (u, v, sin u · sin v).
Determine for which values of θ ∈ R the curve γθ : R → M with
γθ (t) = X(t · cos θ, t · sin θ)
is a geodesic on M .
Exercise 7.6. Let γ : I → R3 be a regular curve, parametrised by
arclength, with non-vanishing curvature and n, b denote the principal
normal and the binormal of γ, respectively. Let r ∈ R+ such that the
r-tube M around γ given by X : I × R → R3 with
X(s, θ) 7→ γ(s) + r(cos θ · n(s) + sin θ · b(s))
is a regular surface. Show that for each s ∈ I the circle γs : R → R3 ,
with γs (θ) = X(s, θ), is a geodesic on the surface.
Exercise 7.7. Find a proof of Proposition 7.11.

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 7. GEODESICS 71

Exercise 7.8. Let M be the regular surface in R3 parametrised by

X : R × (−1, 1) → R3 with
X(u, v) = 2(cos u, sin u, 0) + v sin(u/2)(0, 0, 1)
+v cos(u/2)(cos u, sin u, 0).
Determine whether the curve γ : R → M defined by
γ : t 7→ X(t, 0)
is a geodesic or not. Is the surface M orientable ?
Exercise 7.9. Let M be the regular surface in R3 given by
M = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 − z 2 = 1}.
√ √
Show that v = (−1, 3, − 2) is a tangent vector to M at p = ( 2, 0, 1).
Let γ = (γ1 , γ2 , γ3 ) : R → M be the geodesic which is uniquely deter-
mined by γ(0) = p and γ̇(0) = v. Determine the value
inf γ3 (s).
s∈R

Exercise 7.10. Let M be a regular surface in R3 such that every

geodesic γ : I → M is contained in a plane. Show that M is either
contained in a plane or in a sphere.
Exercise 7.11. The regular surface M in R3 is parametrised by
X : R2 → R3 with
X : (u, v) = ((2 + cos u) cos v, (2 + cos u) sin v, sin u).
Let γ = (γ1 , γ2 , γ3 ) : R → M be the geodesic on M satisfying
1 1
γ(0) = (3, 0, 0) and γ 0 (0) = (0, √ , √ ).
2 2
Determine the value
inf (γ12 (s) + γ22 (s)).
s∈R

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 CHAPTER 8

The Gauss-Bonnet Theorems

In this chapter we prove three different versions of the famous

Gauss-Bonnet theorem.

Theorem 8.1. Let M be an oriented regular C 3 -surface in R3 with

Gauss map N : M → S 2 . Let X : U → M be a local parametrisation
of M such that X(U ) is connected and simply connected. Let γ : R →
X(U ) parametrise a regular, simple, closed and positively oriented C 2 -
curve on X(U ) by arclength. Let Int(γ) be the interior of γ and κg :
R → R be its geodesic curvature. If L ∈ R+ is the period of γ then
Z L Z
κg (s)ds = 2π − KdA,
0 Int(γ)

where K is the Gaussian curvature of M .

Proof. Let {Z, W } be the orthonormal basis which we obtain by
applying the Gram-Schmidt process on the basis {Xu , Xv }. Along the
curve γ : R → X(U ) we define the angle θ : R → R such that the unit
tangent vector γ̇ satisfies
γ̇(s) = cos θ(s)Z(s) + sin θ(s)W (s).
Then
N × γ̇ = N × (cos θZ + sin θW )
= cos θ(N × Z) + sin θ(N × W )
= cos θW − sin θZ.
and for the second derivative γ̈ we have
γ̈ = θ̇(− sin θZ + cos θW ) + cos θŻ + sin θẆ
so the geodesic curvature satisfies
κg = hN × γ̇, γ̈i
= θ̇h− sin θZ + cos θW, − sin θZ + cos θW i
+h− sin θZ + cos θW, cos θŻ + sin θẆ i
= θ̇ − hZ, Ẇ i.
73

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 74 8. THE GAUSS-BONNET THEOREMS

If we integrate the geodesic curvature κg : R → R over one period

we get
Z L Z L Z L
κg (s)ds = θ̇(s)ds − hZ(s), Ẇ (s)ids
0 0 0
Z L
= θ(L) − θ(0) − hZ(s), Ẇ (s)ids
0
Z L
= 2π − hZ(s), Ẇ (s)ids.
0
−1
Let α = X ◦ γ : R → U be the inverse image of the curve γ in the
simply connected parameter region U . The curve α is simple, closed
and positively oriented. Utilising Lemma 6.3 and Green’s theorem we
now get
Z L Z
hZ(s), Ẇ (s)ids = hZ, u̇Wu + v̇Wv ids
0 γ
Z
= hZ, Wu idu + hZ, Wv idv
α
Z


= hZ, Wv iu − hZ, Wu iv dudv
Int(α)
Z
= hZu , Wv i + hZ, Wuv i
Int(α)


−hZv , Wu i − hZ, Wvu i dudv
Z


= hZu , Wv i − hZv , Wu i dudv
Int(α)
Z √
= K EG − F 2 dudv
Int(α)
Z
= KdA.
Int(γ)

This proves the statement. 

Corollary 8.2. Let γ : R → R2 parametrise a regular, simple,
closed and positively oriented C 2 -curve by arclength. If L ∈ R+ is the
period of γ then Z L
κg (s)ds = 2π,
0
where κg : R → R is the geodesic curvature of γ.
The reader should compare the result of Corollary 8.2 with Exercise
2.7 and Exercise 3.7.

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 8. THE GAUSS-BONNET THEOREMS 75

Definition 8.3. Let M be a regular surface in R3 . A periodic

continuous curve γ : R → M of period L ∈ R+ is said to parametrise
a simple piecewise regular polygon on M if
(1) γ(t) = γ(t∗ ) if and only if (t − t∗ ) ∈ L · Z,
(2) there exists a subdivision
0 = t0 < t1 < · · · < tn−1 < tn = L
of the interval [0, L] such that γ|(ti ,ti+1 ) : (ti , ti+1 ) → M is
smooth for i = 0, . . . , n − 1, and
(3) the one-sided derivatives
γ(ti ) − γ(t) γ(ti ) − γ(t)
γ̇ − (ti ) = lim− , γ̇ + (ti ) = lim+
t→ti ti − t t→ti ti − t
exist, are non-zero and not parallel.
The next result generalises Theorem 8.1
Theorem 8.4. Let M be an oriented regular C 3 -surface in R3 with
Gauss map N : M → S 2 . Let X : U → M be a local parametrisation
of M such that X(U ) is connected and simply connected. Let γ : R →
X(U ) parametrise a positively oriented, simple and piecewise regular
C 2 -polygon on M by arclength. Let Int(γ) be the interior of γ and
κg : R → R be its geodesic curvature on each regular piece. If L ∈ R+
is the period of γ then
Z L n
X Z
κg (s)ds = αi − (n − 2)π − KdA
0 i=1 Int(γ)

where K is the Gaussian curvature of M and α1 , . . . , αn are the inner

angles at the n corner points.
Proof. Let {Z, W } the orthonormal basis which we obtain by ap-
plying the Gram-Schmidt process on the basis {Xu , Xv }. Let D be the
discrete subset of R corresponding to the corner points of γ(R). Along
the regular arcs of γ : R → X(U ) we define an angle θ : R \ D → R
such that the unit tangent vector γ̇ satisfies
γ̇(s) = cos θ(s)Z(s) + sin θ(s)W (s).
We have seen earlier that in this case the geodesic curvature is given
by κg = θ̇ − hZ, Ẇ i and integration over one period gives
Z L Z L Z L
κg (s)ds = θ̇(s)ds − hZ(s), Ẇ (s)ids.
0 0 0

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 76 8. THE GAUSS-BONNET THEOREMS

As a consequence of Green’s theorem we have

Z L Z
hZ(s), Ẇ (s)ids = KdA.
0 Int(γ)

The integral over the derivative θ̇ splits up into integrals over each
regular arc
Z L Xn Z si
θ̇(s)ds = θ̇(s)ds
0 i=1 si−1

which measures the change of angle with respect to the orthonormal

basis {Z, W } along each arc. At each corner point the tangent jumps
by the angle (π − αi ) where αi is the corresponding inner angle. When
moving around the curve once the changes along the arcs and the jumps
at the corner points add up to 2π. Hence
Z L Xn
2π = θ̇(s)ds + (π − αi ).
0 i=1
This proves the statement 
Definition 8.5. A C 2 -polygon on a regular surface M in R3 is said
to be geodesic if its edges are geodesics.
It should be noted that if the piecewise regular polygon in Theorem
8.4 is geodesic then the formula simplifies to
Xn Z
(1) αi = (n − 2)π + KdA.
i=1 Int(γ)

This has some interesting consequences.

Example 8.6. Let α1 , α2 , α3 be the angles of a geodesic triangle in
the flat Euclidean plane. As a direct consequence of equation (1) we
have the following classical result
α1 + α2 + α3 = π.
Example 8.7. Let α1 , α2 , α3 be the angles of a geodesic triangle ∆
on the unit sphere S 2 with constant curvature K ≡ 1. Then equation
(1) gives
α1 + α2 + α3 = π + A(∆) > π.
Here A(∆) is the area of the triangle.
Example 8.8. Let α1 , α2 , α3 be the angles of a geodesic triangle
∆ in the hyperbolic plane H 2 with constant curvature K ≡ −1. Then
equation (1) gives
α1 + α2 + α3 = π − A(∆) < π.

AMS Open Math Notes: Works in Progress; Reference # OMN:201707.110708; 2017-07-10 08:54:36
 8. THE GAUSS-BONNET THEOREMS 77

It follows from Theorem 7.8 that the angles are positive. This implies
that the area must satisfy the inequality A(∆) < π.
We complete our journey with the global Gauss-Bonnet theorem.
Theorem 8.9. Let M be an orientable and compact regular C 3 -
surface in R3 . If K is the Gaussian curvature of M then
Z
KdA = 2πχ(M ),
M
where χ(M ) is the Euler characteristic of the surface.
Proof. Let T = {T1 , . . . , TF } be a triangulation of the surface M
such that each Tk is a geodesic triangle contained in the image Xk (Uk )
of a local parametrisation Xk : Uk → M . Then the integral of the
Gaussian curvature K over M splits
Z XF Z
KdA = KdA
M k=1 Tk

into the sum of integrals over each triangle Tk ∈ T .

According to Theorem 8.4 we now have
Z Xnk
KdA = αki + (2 − nk )π
Tk i=1
for each triangle Tk . By adding these relations we obtain
Z F
X Xnk


KdA = (2 − nk )π + αki
M k=1 i=1
nk
F X
X
= 2πF − 2πE + αki
k=1 i=1
= 2π(F − E + V ).
This proves the statement. 

AMS Open Math Notes: Works in Progress; Reference # OMN:201707.110708; 2017-07-10 08:54:36
 78 8. THE GAUSS-BONNET THEOREMS

Exercises

Exercise 8.1. Let M be a regular surfaces in R3 diffeomorphic to

the torus. Show that there exists a point p ∈ M where the Gaussian
curvature K(p) is negative.
Exercise 8.2. The regular surface M in R3 is given by
M = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 − z 2 = 1 and − 1 < z < 1}.
Determine the value of the integral
Z
KdA,
M
where K is the Gaussian curvature of M .
Exercise 8.3. For r ∈ R+ let the surface Σr be given by
p
Σr = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | z = cos x2 + y 2 , x2 + y 2 < r2 , x, y > 0}.
Determine the value of the integral
Z
KdA,
Σr
where K is the Gaussian curvature of Σr .
Exercise 8.4. For n ≥ 1 let Mn be the regular surface in R3 given
by
Mn = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x2 + y 2 = (1 + z 2n )2 , 0 < z < 1}.
Determine the value of the integral
Z
KdA,
Mn
where K is the Gaussian curvature of Mn .

AMS Open Math Notes: Works in Progress; Reference # OMN:201707.110708; 2017-07-10 08:54:36