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On the Gauss map of ruled surfaces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2009

Christos Baikoussis
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
David E. Blair
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, U.S.A.
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Let M2 be a (connected) surface in Euclidean 3-space E3, and let G:M2→S2(1) ⊂ E3 be its Gauss map. Then, according to a theorem of E. A. Ruh and J. Vilms [3], M2 is a surface of constant mean curvature if and only if, as a map from M2 to S2(1), G is harmonic, or equivalently, if and only if

where δ is the Laplace operator on M2 corresponding to the induced metric on M2 from E3 and where G is seen as a map from M2to E3. A special case of (1.1) is given by

i.e., the case where the Gauss map G:M2→E3 is an eigenfunction of the Laplacian δ on M2.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Glasgow Mathematical Journal Trust 1992

References

REFERENCES

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3.Ruh, E. A. and Vilms, J., The tension field of the Gauss map, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 149 (1970), 569573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar