2021-25.md

course	course_year	question_number	tags	title	year
Geometry	IB	25	IB 2021 Geometry	Paper 1, Section II, F	2021

Let $S \subset \mathbb{R}^{3}$ be an oriented surface. Define the Gauss map $N$ and show that the differential $D N_{p}$ of the Gauss map at any point $p \in S$ is a self-adjoint linear map. Define the Gauss curvature $\kappa$ and compute $\kappa$ in a given parametrisation.

A point $p \in S$ is called umbilic if $D N_{p}$ has a repeated eigenvalue. Let $S \subset \mathbb{R}^{3}$ be a surface such that every point is umbilic and there is a parametrisation $\phi: \mathbb{R}^{2} \rightarrow S$ such that $S=\phi\left(\mathbb{R}^{2}\right)$. Prove that $S$ is part of a plane or part of a sphere. $[$ Hint: consider the symmetry of the mixed partial derivatives $n_{u v}=n_{v u}$, where $n(u, v)=N(\phi(u, v))$ for $\left.(u, v) \in \mathbb{R}^{2} .\right]$