Plane curves

AWM

1 Basics: Parameterization, Velocity, Acceleration

Let γ : [a, b] → R2 be a smooth curve. In this tutorial, γ 0 and γ 00 denote derivatives with respect to
the time parameter t ∈ [a, b].
Two parameterized curves may have the same image. For instance,

 
cos θ
γ(θ) = (1a)
sin θ
!
2t
1+t2
δ(t) = 1−t2 (1b)
1+t2

are two different parameterizations of the unit circle. Notice that in this case, one parameterization
can be obtained from the other by t = tan(θ/2). In general, given a parameterized curve γ(t),
composition with any diffeomorphism t = h(τ ) produces a curve δ(τ ) = γ(h(t)) with the same
image as γ.
The effect of the parameterization is visible if we discretize γ by sampling at equally spaced time
intervals a = t0 < t1 < · · · < tn = b. We get a set of points γ0 , . . . γn which are not necessarily
equally spaced. Figures 1 (a) and (b) show discretizations of the parameterizations (1a) and (1b),
respectively, of the unit circle.
1

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0

−0.2 −0.2

−0.4 −0.4

−0.6 −0.6

−0.8 −0.8

−1
−1 −0.5 0 0.5 1 −1 −0.5 0 0.5 1

(a) (b)

Figure 1: Different parameterizations of the circle. (a) Unit circle parameterized by (cos θ, sin θ). (b) Unit
circle parameterized by (2t/(1 + t2 ), (1 − t2 )/(1 + t2 ).
Definition 1.1 The rate of change of the position γ of a moving particle is called velocity. Math-
ematically, the velocity is given by the first derivative with respect to the (time) parameter along the
trajectory:

γ(t + ∆t) − γ(t)

γ 0 (t) = lim
∆t→0 ∆t
If ∆t = ti+1 − ti is sufficiently small, then at each ti we can approximate the velocity as

γ(ti+1 ) − γ(ti )
γ(ti ) '
∆t
so up to a scalar, the velocity vector can be visualized as the vector between two consecutive points
γ(ti+1 ) and γ(ti ). The further apart two consecutive points are, the larger the velocity (i.e. the
faster the particle is moving along the trajectory γ). As ∆t −→ 0, the velocity γ 0 (t) becomes tangent
to γ at the point γ(t). See Figure 2.

γ ’=dγ / dt
γ(t)

∆γ
γ (t+dt)

Figure 2: Velocity.

Definition 1.2 The rate of change of the velocity γ 0 along γ is called acceleration. Mathemati-
cally, the acceleration is the second derivative γ 00 (Figure 3).

2 Arclength
Given a parameterized curve γ(t), it is often important to find a re-parameterization of γ so that
the velocity along the curve has norm 1 at each point. Such a parameterization always exists, as
long as the velocity is non-zero at any point on γ.

Definition 2.1 The arclength (or canonical) parameter on γ is defined as the distance along γ.
Mathematically, Z t
s(t) = |γ 0 (τ )|dτ (2)
a

2
 γ ’(t)
γ(t)
∆γ’

γ (t+dt)
∆γ’
γ ’(t+dt)

γ ’(t+dt)

γ ’’

Figure 3: Acceleration.

Directly from the definition,

s0 (t) = |γ 0 (t)| (3)

Assuming that the velocity γ 0 is nowhere 0, the derivative s0 is strictly positive. Therfore, the
arclength function s = s(t) is strictly increasing, hence invertible. We can then express the time and
its derivative as a function of arclength:

t = t(s)
dt 1
= 0
ds s (t)
1
= (4)
|γ 0 (t)|

The curve γ can be re-parametrized using s as the parameter:

γ(s) = γ(t(s))

Definition 2.2 The velocity vector for the re-parametrized curve is

dγ
T = γ̇ =
ds
The relationship between γ̇ = dγ/ds and γ 0 = dγ/dt is given by the chain rule:

3
 dγ
γ0 =
dt
dγ ds
= ·
ds dt
= γ̇ · |γ 0 |
γ0
γ̇ = (5)
|γ 0 |
In particular,

|γ̇| = 1
which was the purpose of the arclength re-parameterization in the first place. Moreover, by differ-
entiating |γ̇|2 = 1 with respect to s

< γ̇, γ̈ >= 0

or
< Ṫ , T >= 0
which means that the acceleration vector is perpendicular to the velocity, under the canonical (ar-
clength) parameterization. This is certainly not necessarily the case under an arbitrary parameter-
ization of γ. We can then define
Definition 2.3 The unit normal to γ is
Ṫ
N =
|Ṫ |
γ̈
=
|γ̈|

3 Curvature
If γ = γ(s) is a curve parameterized by arclength, then we’ve seen that |γ̇| = 1, so the second
derivative γ̈ measures really only the change in the direction of the velocity. If γ makes a sharp
(but still smooth) turn at some point, then the direction of the velocity changes sharply, so the
acceleration is large (in magnitude) at that point, while the direction of the acceleration stays
always the same: perpendicular to the velocity. In other words, the norm of the acceleration (in the
canonical parameterization) measures how much the curve bends at any given points.
Definition 3.1 The curvature of γ is
k = |γ̈| (6)
By definitions 2, 2.3 and 3.1,

Ṫ = k · N (7)
Comments:

4
 • By (6), the curvature k is always positive. However, the normal N = γ̈ changes its orientation:
it always points in the direction in which the curve bends.
• The normal vector N defined in 2.3 can be on either side of the curve, always on the same side
as Ṫ , and can also vanish.

• Some authors define the normal as the vector obtained from T by a rotation of e.g. −π/2. If
the curvature is still defined by equation (7), then k can change the sign.
• To avoid confusion, remember that the unit circle should have curvature +1.
An alternative definition of the curvature is sometimes used. Throughout this presentation
 ⊥  
u −v
=
v u

~ the frame (X,

so that for any vector X, ~ X~ ⊥ ) has positive orientation.

Definition 3.2 Let γ be a curve, and N be the unit normal field along γ such that the frame (γ̇, N )
is positive, i.e., N = γ̇ ⊥ . Then the curvature k along γ is given by

D E
k = γ̈, N
D E
= γ̈, γ̇ ⊥ (8)

Remark 3.1 One should emphasize that the definition does not leave room for the other choice of
N ; it only defines k in terms of N = γ̇ ⊥ . The curvature is the same, regardless of the orientation
on γ, as the N must change sign as well, if γ̇ does, to keep the moving frame positive.

Definitions 3.1 and 3.2 give the curvature k as a function of the arglength parameter s. We shall
now derive a formula for k directly in terms of the time parameter.

Lemma 3.1
d 0 < γ 00 , γ 0 >
|γ | = (9)
dt |γ 0 |

Proof: Differentiate |γ 0 |2 in 2 ways and solve for d|γ 0 |/dt:

d 02 d 0
|γ | = 2|γ 0 | · |γ |
dt dt
d 02
|γ | = 2 < γ 0 , γ 00 >
dt
Proposition 3.1
x0 y 00 − x00 y 0
k(t) = (10)
((x0 )2 + (y 0 )2 )3/2

5
Proof:

γ0
γ̇ =
|γ 0 |
 0 
d γ
γ̈ =
ds |γ 0 |
1 d 1 d
= − 0 2 |γ 0 | · γ 0 + 0 · γ 0
|γ | ds |γ | ds
1 d dt 0 1 d 0 dt
= − 0 2 |γ 0 | · ·γ + 0 γ ·
|γ | dt ds |γ | dt ds
< γ 0 , γ 00 > 0 1 00
= − γ + 0 2γ
|γ 0 |4 |γ |
< γ 0 , γ 00 > 0
 
1 00
= − ·γ +γ (11)
|γ 0 |2 |γ 0 |2
⊥
Then, if N = γ 0 /|γ 0 | is the unit normal along γ as in definition 3.2, then

D E
k = γ̈, N
 D E 
D 1 γ 0 , γ 00 0⊥ E
− 0 00  γ
= · γ + γ ,
|γ 0 |2 |γ 0 |2 |γ 0 |
D E
⊥
γ 00 , γ 0
=
|γ 0 |3
x y − x00 y 0
0 00
= 02
(x + y 02 )3/2

6
4 Curvature of the level curves of a surface
Proposition 4.1 Let γ be the zero level set of a smooth surface

z = f (x, y)

Then, the curvature of γ (definition 3.2) is given by

fxx fy2 + fyy fx2 − 2fxy fx fy

k= (12)
|∇f |3

Proof: Parametrize γ by arclength and differentiate f (γ) = 0 with respect to s:

fx · ẋ + fy · ẏ = 0 (13)
or,
∇f ⊥ γ̇
Now, ∇f is the outward normal, as the gradient points in the direction of the (most rapid)
increase of the function. Assumming, as always, positive orientation γ, then the positive moving
frame on γ is (γ̇, N ) with N = γ̇ ⊥ = −∇f /|∇f | (inward normal). This entails that

∇f ⊥
γ̇ = (14)
|∇f |
so that the curvature is (definition 8)

D ∇f (γ) E
k = − γ̈,
|∇f (γ)|
D ∇f (γ) E0 D d ∇f (γ) E
= − γ̇, + γ̇,
|∇f (γ)| ds |∇f (γ)|
| {z }
0
d(∇f (γ))
D ∇f ⊥ · |∇f | − ∇f · d|∇f
ds ds
(γ)| E
= ,
|∇f | |∇f |2
1 D
⊥ d(∇f (γ)) E
= ∇f ,
|∇f |2 ds
 
1 D ⊥ fxx ẋ + fxy ẏ E
= ∇f ,
|∇f |2 fxy ẋ + fyy ẏ
   E
1 D −fy −fxx fy + fxy fx
= ,
|∇f |3 fx −fxy fy + fyy fx
fxx fy − 2fxy fx fy + fyy fx2
2
= (15)
|∇f |3

7
Proposition 4.2 Let γ be the zero level set of a smooth surface

z = f (x, y)

Then, the curvature of γ (definition 3.2) is given by

 ∇f 
k = div
|∇f |

Proof:

 f  f |∇f | − f ∂ |∇f |
x xx x x
∂x =
|∇f | |∇f |2
h∂x ∇f , ∇f i
fxx |∇f | − fx · |∇f |
=
|∇f |2
fxx |∇f |2 − fx (fxx fx + fxy fy )
=
|∇f |3
2
fxx fy − fxx fx fy
=
|∇f |3

Similarly for y (or any other variables f might depend on):

 f  f f2 − f f f
y yy x yy x y
∂y =
|∇f | |∇f |3
Summing up the partial derivatives, we have

 ∇f  fxx f 2 − 2fx fy + fyy f 2

y x
div =
|∇f | |∇f |3
=k

5 Fresnel formulas
Theorem 5.1 Let γ = γ(s) be a curve parameterized by arclength. Then the derivatives of its
velocity and normal satisfy:

Ṫ = k · N (16a)
Ṅ = −k · T (16b)

Proof: Equation (16a) is the same as equation (7). To prove (16b), express Ṅ in the basis
{T, N }.

8
 Ṅ = α · T + β · N
However, |N |2 = 1 =⇒< N, Ṅ >= 0, so

Ṅ = α · T (17)
Taking inner product against T on both sides, we get

α = < Ṅ , T >
= − < N, Ṫ > (as < N, T >= 0)
= −k (18)

Equation (16b) now follows from (17) and (18).