Generalization of Newton's minimal resistance problem to Riemannian surfaces

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: López, Rafael
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author López, Rafael
author_facet López, Rafael
contents We extend Newton's problem of minimal resistance to Riemannian surfaces endowed with a geodesic coordinate system, which includes the two-dimensional space forms such as the sphere and the hyperbolic plane. Assuming that the fluid particles flow along radial geodesics, we derive the resistance functional and prove that its smooth extremals are the loxodromes of the surface. Furthermore, we analyze the constrained minimization problem, establishing the absence of strong local minima for smooth extremals, and characterizing their global minimizers.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_27029
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Generalization of Newton's minimal resistance problem to Riemannian surfaces
López, Rafael
Differential Geometry
49Q10, 49K05, 49J05, 53Z05
We extend Newton's problem of minimal resistance to Riemannian surfaces endowed with a geodesic coordinate system, which includes the two-dimensional space forms such as the sphere and the hyperbolic plane. Assuming that the fluid particles flow along radial geodesics, we derive the resistance functional and prove that its smooth extremals are the loxodromes of the surface. Furthermore, we analyze the constrained minimization problem, establishing the absence of strong local minima for smooth extremals, and characterizing their global minimizers.
title Generalization of Newton's minimal resistance problem to Riemannian surfaces
topic Differential Geometry
49Q10, 49K05, 49J05, 53Z05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27029