An index bound for smooth umbilic points

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Guilfoyle, Brendan, Klingenberg, Wilhelm
Format: Preprint
Published: 2012
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author Guilfoyle, Brendan
Klingenberg, Wilhelm
author_facet Guilfoyle, Brendan
Klingenberg, Wilhelm
contents We prove that the half-integer valued local index of an isolated umbilic point on a $C^{3+α}$-smooth convex surface in Euclidean 3-space is less than two. The approach is to study the co-kernel of an associated Riemann-Hilbert boundary value problem. The link between the local and global is a semi-local technique that we term totally real blow-up. Topologically, given a real surface in a complex surface, the totally real blow-up is the connect sum of the real surface with an embedded real projective plane. We show that this increases the sum of the complex indices of the real surface by one, and hence cancels isolated hyperbolic complex points. This leads to the reduction of the local result to the global result (the non-existence of closed embedded Lagrangian surfaces with a single complex point), proving that the umbilic index for smooth surfaces is less than two. Comparison of our smooth result with that of Hans Hamburger in the real analytic case (stating that the index of an isolated umbilic point on a real analytic convex surface is less than or equal to one) suggests the existence of "exotic" umbilic points of index 3/2.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_1207_5994
institution arXiv
publishDate 2012
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An index bound for smooth umbilic points
Guilfoyle, Brendan
Klingenberg, Wilhelm
Differential Geometry
53A05
We prove that the half-integer valued local index of an isolated umbilic point on a $C^{3+α}$-smooth convex surface in Euclidean 3-space is less than two. The approach is to study the co-kernel of an associated Riemann-Hilbert boundary value problem. The link between the local and global is a semi-local technique that we term totally real blow-up. Topologically, given a real surface in a complex surface, the totally real blow-up is the connect sum of the real surface with an embedded real projective plane. We show that this increases the sum of the complex indices of the real surface by one, and hence cancels isolated hyperbolic complex points. This leads to the reduction of the local result to the global result (the non-existence of closed embedded Lagrangian surfaces with a single complex point), proving that the umbilic index for smooth surfaces is less than two. Comparison of our smooth result with that of Hans Hamburger in the real analytic case (stating that the index of an isolated umbilic point on a real analytic convex surface is less than or equal to one) suggests the existence of "exotic" umbilic points of index 3/2.
title An index bound for smooth umbilic points
topic Differential Geometry
53A05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/1207.5994