Principal configurations and umbilicity of submanifolds in $\mathbb R^N$

2004

We consider the principal configurations associated to smooth vector fields $\nu$ normal to a manifold $M$ immersed into a euclidean space and give conditions on the number of principal directions shared by a set of $k$ normal vector fields in order to guaranty the umbilicity of $M$ with respect to some normal field $\nu$. Provided that the umbilic curvature is constant, this will imply that $M$ is hyperspherical. We deduce some results concerning binormal fields and asymptotic directions for manifolds of codimension 2. Moreover, in the case of a surface $M$ in $\mathbb R^N$, we conclude that if $N>4$, it is always possible to find some normal field with respect to which $M$ is umbilic and …

Geometric contacts of surfaces immersed in Rn, n⩾5

2009

Abstract We study the extrinsic geometry of surfaces immersed in R n , n ⩾ 5 , by analyzing their contacts with different standard geometrical models, such as hyperplanes and hyperspheres. We investigate the relation between different types of contact and the properties of the curvature ellipses at each point. In particular, we focalize our attention on the hyperspheres having contacts of corank two with the surface. This leads in a natural way to the concept of umbilical focus and umbilic curvature.

Critical points of higher order for the normal map of immersions in Rd

2012

We study the critical points of the normal map v : NM -> Rk+n, where M is an immersed k-dimensional submanifold of Rk+n, NM is the normal bundle of M and v(m, u) = m + u if u is an element of NmM. Usually, the image of these critical points is called the focal set. However, in that set there is a subset where the focusing is highest, as happens in the case of curves in R-3 with the curve of the centers of spheres with contact of third order with the curve. We give a definition of r-critical points of a smooth map between manifolds, and apply it to study the 2 and 3-critical points of the normal map in general and the 2-critical points for the case k = n = 2 in detail. In the later case we a…

Geometric contacts of surfaces immersed in Rn, n⩾5

AbstractWe study the extrinsic geometry of surfaces immersed in Rn, n⩾5, by analyzing their contacts with different standard geometrical models, such as hyperplanes and hyperspheres. We investigate the relation between different types of contact and the properties of the curvature ellipses at each point. In particular, we focalize our attention on the hyperspheres having contacts of corank two with the surface. This leads in a natural way to the concept of umbilical focus and umbilic curvature.