Paper 1, Section II, I

Differential Geometry
Part II, 2012

Define the geodesic curvature kgk_{g} of a regular curve in an oriented surface SR3S \subset \mathbb{R}^{3}. When is kg=0k_{g}=0 along a curve?

Explain briefly what is meant by the Euler characteristic χ\chi of a compact surface SR3S \subset \mathbb{R}^{3}. State the global Gauss-Bonnet theorem with boundary terms.

Let SS be a surface with positive Gaussian curvature that is diffeomorphic to the sphere S2S^{2} and let γ1,γ2\gamma_{1}, \gamma_{2} be two disjoint simple closed curves in SS. Can both γ1\gamma_{1} and γ2\gamma_{2} be geodesics? Can both γ1\gamma_{1} and γ2\gamma_{2} have constant geodesic curvature? Justify your answers.

[You may assume that the complement of a simple closed curve in S2S^{2} consists of two open connected regions.]