Hypersurfaces with constant inner curvature of the second fundamental form,and the non-rigidity of the sphere

We classify the hypersurfaces of revolution in euclidean space whose second fundamental form defines an abstract pseudo-Riemannian metric of constant sectional curvature. In particular we find such piecewise analytic hypersurfaces of class C ² where the second fundamental form defines a complete space of constant positive, zero, or negative curvature. Among them there are closed convex hypersurfaces distinct from spheres, in contrast to a theorem of R. Schneider (Proc. AMS 35, 230–233, (1972)) saying that such a hypersurface of class C ⁴ has to be a round sphere. In particular, the sphere is not II-rigid in the class of all convex C ² -hypersurfaces. Received 11 October 1994; in final form 26 April 1995