Lecture

Curvature and Inflection Points

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In course

MATH-213: Differential geometry I - curves and surfaces

This course serves as an introduction to classical differential geometry, which studies the geometric properties of curves and surfaces in the Euclidean space. ...

Description

This lecture covers the concept of curvature in a plane curve, defining convex and concave curves, inflection points, and spirals. It also explains the angular function of a curve and its continuity, focusing on inflection points where the curvature changes sign. The lecture delves into the mathematical properties of curves, such as the angular function and its variations, emphasizing the significance of inflection points in curve analysis.

Instructor

Marc Troyanov

Expertise Differential Geometry Geometric Analysis Teaching & PhD Past EPFL PhD Students Olivier Mermoud, Khaled Gafaiti, Serguei Timochine, Stephen Ducret, Ratiba Djelid, Zahra Sinaei, Luc Genton, Adrien Giuliano Marcone, Guillaume Buro, Bruno Luiz Santos Correia Courses Advanced linear algebra II MATH-115(b) The purpose of this course is to introduce some basic notions of linear algebra and to rigorously prove the main results in the field.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Mathematics

Geometry: Differential geometry

Analysis: Calculus

Related concepts (32)

Stationary point

In mathematics, particularly in calculus, a stationary point of a differentiable function of one variable is a point on the graph of the function where the function's derivative is zero. Informally, it is a point where the function "stops" increasing or decreasing (hence the name). For a differentiable function of several real variables, a stationary point is a point on the surface of the graph where all its partial derivatives are zero (equivalently, the gradient is zero).

Darboux frame

In the differential geometry of surfaces, a Darboux frame is a natural moving frame constructed on a surface. It is the analog of the Frenet–Serret frame as applied to surface geometry. A Darboux frame exists at any non-umbilic point of a surface embedded in Euclidean space. It is named after French mathematician Jean Gaston Darboux. Let S be an oriented surface in three-dimensional Euclidean space E3. The construction of Darboux frames on S first considers frames moving along a curve in S, and then specializes when the curves move in the direction of the principal curvatures.

Riemannian geometry

Riemannian geometry is the branch of differential geometry that studies Riemannian manifolds, defined as smooth manifolds with a Riemannian metric (an inner product on the tangent space at each point that varies smoothly from point to point). This gives, in particular, local notions of angle, length of curves, surface area and volume. From those, some other global quantities can be derived by integrating local contributions.

Proof theory

Proof theory is a major branch of mathematical logic and theoretical computer science within which proofs are treated as formal mathematical objects, facilitating their analysis by mathematical techniques. Proofs are typically presented as inductively-defined data structures such as lists, boxed lists, or trees, which are constructed according to the axioms and rules of inference of a given logical system. Consequently, proof theory is syntactic in nature, in contrast to model theory, which is semantic in nature.

Gaussian curvature

In differential geometry, the Gaussian curvature or Gauss curvature Κ of a smooth surface in three-dimensional space at a point is the product of the principal curvatures, κ1 and κ2, at the given point: The Gaussian radius of curvature is the reciprocal of Κ. For example, a sphere of radius r has Gaussian curvature 1/r2 everywhere, and a flat plane and a cylinder have Gaussian curvature zero everywhere. The Gaussian curvature can also be negative, as in the case of a hyperboloid or the inside of a torus.

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