Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The Gaussian curvature is the product of the two principal curvatures Κ = κ 1 κ 2. The sign of the Gaussian curvature can be used to characterise the surface. If both principal curvatures are of the same sign: κ 1 κ 2 > 0, then the Gaussian curvature is positive and the surface is said to have an elliptic point. At such points, the surface ...
The Gaussian curvature of the surface is then given by the second order deviation of the metric at the point from the Euclidean metric. In particular the Gaussian curvature is an invariant of the metric, Gauss's celebrated Theorema Egregium. A convenient way to understand the curvature comes from an ordinary differential equation, first ...
A sphere of radius R has constant Gaussian curvature which is equal to 1/R 2. At the same time, a plane has zero Gaussian curvature. As a corollary of Theorema Egregium, a piece of paper cannot be bent onto a sphere without crumpling. Conversely, the surface of a sphere cannot be unfolded onto a flat plane without distorting the distances.
The product k 1 k 2 of the two principal curvatures is the Gaussian curvature, K, and the average (k 1 + k 2)/2 is the mean curvature, H. If at least one of the principal curvatures is zero at every point, then the Gaussian curvature will be 0 and the surface is a developable surface. For a minimal surface, the mean curvature is zero at every ...
Formally, Gaussian curvature only depends on the Riemannian metric of the surface. This is Gauss's celebrated Theorema Egregium, which he found while concerned with geographic surveys and mapmaking. An intrinsic definition of the Gaussian curvature at a point P is the following: imagine an ant which is tied to P with a short thread of length r.
The Gaussian curvature of a surface is given by = =, where L, M, and N are the coefficients of the second fundamental form. Theorema egregium of Gauss states that the Gaussian curvature of a surface can be expressed solely in terms of the first fundamental form and its derivatives, so that K is in fact an intrinsic invariant of the surface.
Given a Riemannian metric g, the scalar curvature Scal is defined as the trace of the Ricci curvature tensor with respect to the metric: [1] = . The scalar curvature cannot be computed directly from the Ricci curvature since the latter is a (0,2)-tensor field; the metric must be used to raise an index to obtain a (1,1)-tensor field in order to take the trace.
The curvature of a Riemannian manifold can be described in various ways; the most standard one is the curvature tensor, given in terms of a Levi-Civita connection (or covariant differentiation) and Lie bracket [,] by the following formula: (,) = [,].