Andrew Pressley
Elementary
Differential
Geometry
a:
‘Diggioa
3 : i
8 Springer Andrew Pressley
Department of Mathematics, King’s College, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK
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Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series ISSN 1615-2085
ISBN 1-85233-152-6 Springer-Verlag London Berlin Heidelberg
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pressley, Andrew
Elementary differential geometry / Andrew Pressley.
p. cm. ~ (Springer undergraduate mathematics series, ISSN 1615-2085)
Includes index.
ISBN 1-85233-152-6 (alk. paper)
I. Geometry, Differential. I. Title. 11. Series.
QA641 P68 2000
516.3'6—de21
00-058345
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Preface
The Differential Geometry in the title of this book is the study of the geometry
of curves and surfaces in three-dimensional space using calculus techniques.
This topic contains some of the most beautiful results in Mathematics, and
yet most of them can be understood without extensive background knowledge.
Thus, for virtually all of this book, the only pre-requisites are a good working
knowledge of Calculus (including partial differentiation), Vectors and Linear
Algebra (including matrices and determinants).
Many of the results about curves and surfaces that we shall discuss are pro-
totypes of more general results that apply in higher-dimensional situations. For
example, the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, treated in Chapter 11, is the prototype of
a large number of results that relate ‘local’ and ‘global’ properties of geometric
objects. The study of such relationships has formed one of the major themes
of 20th century Mathematics.
‘We want to emphasise, however, that the methods used in this book are
not necessarily those which generalise to higher-dimensional situations. (For
readers in the know, there is, for example, no mention of ‘connections’ in the
remainder of this book.) Rather, we have tried at all times to use the simplest
approach that will yield the desired results. Not only does this keep the pre-
requisites to an absolute minimum, it also enables us to avoid some of the
conceptual difficulties often encountered in the study of Differential Geometry
in higher dimensions. We hope thai this approach will make this beautiful
subject accessible to a wider audience.
It is a cliché, but true nevertheless, that Mathematics can be learned only
by doing it, and not just by reading about it. Accordingly, the book contains
v Vi Elementary Differential Geometry P
over 200 exercises. Readers should attempt as many of these as their stamina
permits. Full solutions to all the exercises are given at the end of the book, but Con ten ts
these should be consulted only after the reader has obtained his or her own
solution, or in case of desperation. We have tried to minimise the number of
instances of the latter by including hints to many of the less routine exercises.
Preface 2.00.62 eee en een ees v
1, Curves in the Plane and in Space 1
11 What is a Curve? 1
12 Arc-Length 7
13 Reparametrization .. 10
1.4 Level Curves vs. Parametrized Curves ... 16
2. How Much Does a Curve Curve? - 23
2.1 Curvature ......-..-..-- 23
2.2 Plane Curves ... 28
2.3. Space Curves 36
3. Global Properties of Curves ....... AT
3.1 Simple Closed Curves ...... 47
3.2 The Isoperimetric Inequality 51
3.3 The Four Vertex Theorem 55
4, Surfaces in Three Dimensions 59
4.1 What is a Surface? 59
4.2. Smooth Surfaces .. 66
4.3 Tangents, Normals and Orientability 74
44 Examples of Surfaces .............--5 73
45 Quadric Surfaces 84
46 Triply Orthogonal Systems 90
4.7 Applications of the Inverse Function Theorem ... 93
Vil
