Today we discussed two exercises from Shifrin. Corbyn did 1.2.11, which was a patient and careful computation. Mark did 1.2.8, which showed that a curve which has all of its normal lines through a fixed point must be a planar circle. This used all three of the “big tricks” from classical differential geometry. In order.

  • When nothing else is obvious, take a derivative;
  • the Frenet-Serret equations are your friends; and
  • remember that \({T, N, B}\) is always an orthonormal basis of space.

We then discussed project ideas. I figured that you might want some help choosing appropriate projects, so I did this:

Name Project
Emily Tangent Spherical Image
Christine Bertrand Mates
Gustavo Pedal Curves
Corbyn The Darboux Vector
Jesse M Cauchy-Crofton formula and applications
Jesse T The Locus of Centers
Mark Curves on quadric surfaces
Sladana The Bishop Framing
TJ The Four Vertex theorem and its converse

We still haven’t talked about Shifrin 1.2 # 7, 9 and Struik 1.6 # 2-4. Please prep those for next time.


Contact Prof Hitchman
Theron J Hitchman
Department of Mathematics 0506
University of Nothern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50613-0506
Other Contact Information
Office: 327 Wright Hall
Phone: 319-273-2646
email: theron.hitchman@uni.edu
Course Information
Class Meetings:
MWF 9am in WRT 8
Office Hours:
MWF 10-11am, 2-3pm, or by appointment