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Lecture Notes 16 U

The document contains lecture notes on curves and surfaces that discuss applications of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem. It lists 11 exercises that are simple consequences of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem. The exercises include showing that the sum of the angles in a triangle is π, that the total geodesic curvature of a simple closed planar curve is 2π, and that the Gaussian curvature of a torus must be equal to zero at some point.

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Sanjeev Shukla
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18 views2 pages

Lecture Notes 16 U

The document contains lecture notes on curves and surfaces that discuss applications of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem. It lists 11 exercises that are simple consequences of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem. The exercises include showing that the sum of the angles in a triangle is π, that the total geodesic curvature of a simple closed planar curve is 2π, and that the Gaussian curvature of a torus must be equal to zero at some point.

Uploaded by

Sanjeev Shukla
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Math 497C Dec 8, 20041

Curves and Surfaces


Fall 2004, PSU

Lecture Notes 16

2.14 Applications of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem


We talked about the Gauss-Bonnet theorem in class, and you may find the
statement and prove of it in Gray or do Carmo as well. The following are all
simple consequences of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem:

Exercise 1. Show that the sum of the angles in a triangle is π.

Exercise 2. Show that the total geodesic curvature of a simple closed planar
curve is 2π.

Exercise 3. Show that the Gaussian curvature of a surface which is home-


omorphic to the torus must alwasy be equal to zero at some point.

Exercise 4. Show that a simple closed curve with total geodesic curvature
zero on a sphere bisects the area of the sphere.

Exercise 5. Show that there exists at most one closed geodesic on a cylinder
with negative curvature.

Exercise 6. Show that the area of a geodesic polygon with k vertices on a


sphere of radius 1 is equal to the sum of its angles minus (k − 2)π.

Exercise 7. Let p be a point of a surface M , T be a geodesic triangle which


contains p, and α, β, γ be the angles of T . Show that
α+β+γ−π
K(p) = lim .
T →p Area(T )

In particular, note that the above proves Gauss’s Theorema Egregium.


1
Last revised: December 8, 2004

1
Exercise 8. Show that the sum of the angles of a geodesic triangle on a
surface of positive curvature is more than π, and on a surface of negative
curvature is less than π.

Exercise 9. Show that on a simply connected surface of negative curvature


two geodesics emanating from the same point will never meet.

Exercise 10. Let M be a surface homeomorphic to a sphere in R3 , and let


Γ ⊂ M be a closed geodesic. Show that each of the two regions bounded by
Γ have equal areas under the Gauss map.

Exercise 11. Compute the area of the pseudo-sphere, i.e. the surface of
revolution obtained by rotating a tractrix.

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