Approximation by planar elastic curves

We give an algorithm for approximating a given plane curve segment by a planar elastic curve. The method depends on an analytic representation of the space of elastic curve segments, together with a geometric method for obtaining a good initial guess for the approximating curve. A gradient-driven optimization is then used to find the approximating elastic curve.     

Circular spline fitting using an evolution process

We propose a new method to approximate a given set of ordered data points by a spatial circular spline curve. At first an initial circular spline curve is generated by biarc interpolation. Then an evolution process based on a least-squares approximation is applied to the curve. During the evolution process, the circular spline curve converges dynamically to a stable shape. Our method does not need any tangent information. During the evolution process, the number of arcs is automatically adapted to the data such that the final curve contains as few arc arcs as possible. We prove that the evolution process is equivalent to a Gauss-Newton-type method.     

二次曲线与其任意两条切线所围面积为定常值的问题研究

本文得到了二次曲线的任意两条相交切线与曲线本身围成的面积如果为定常值，则切线交点的轨迹仍为同类型二次曲线．又若给定两条同类的二次曲线，由其中一条上的每一点向另一条引出两条切线，则这两条切线与另一条曲线围成的面积为定常值．     

Fixed points of automorphisms of real algebraic curves

We bound the number of fixed points of an automorphism of a real curve in terms of the genus and the number of connected components of the real part of the curve. Using this bound, we derive some consequences concerning the maximum order of an automorphism and the maximum order of an abelian group of automorphisms of a real curve. We also bound the full group of automorphisms of a real hyperelliptic curve. Work supported by the European Community’s Human Potential Programme under contract HPRN-CT-2001-00271, RAAG.     

Darboux transforms and spectral curves Darboux transforms and spectral curves of constant mean curvature surfaces revisited

We study the geometric properties of Darboux transforms of constant mean curvature (CMC) surfaces and use these transforms to obtain an algebro-geometric representation of constant mean curvature tori. We find that the space of all Darboux transforms of a CMC torus has a natural subset which is an algebraic curve (called the spectral curve) and that all Darboux transforms represented by points on the spectral curve are themselves CMC tori. The spectral curve obtained using Darboux transforms is not bi-rational to, but has the same normalisation as, the spectral curve obtained using a more traditional integrable systems approach.     

On evolutoids of planar convex curves

There are many interesting curves which we can associate with a given convex curve, however, in this work we are especially interested in studying the relations between the given curve and its evolutoids: that is, the curve obtained as the envelope of lines making a fixed angle with the normal line at every point of the curve. The first result is an inequality between the area enclosed by the given curve and the area enclosed by its evolutoid. Also, we proved that a convex curve is of constant width (centrally symmetric) if and only if its evolutoid for a fixed angle is of constant width (centrally symmetric).     

On a cubic variational problem

An extremal curve of the simplest variational problem is a continuously differentiable function. Hilbert’s differentiability theorem provides a sufficient condition for the existence of the second derivative of an extremal curve. It is desirable to have a simple example in which the condition of Hilbert’s theorem is violated and an extremal curve is not twice differentiable.In this paper, a cubic variational problem with the following properties is analyzed. The functional of the problem is bounded neither above nor below. There exists an extremal curve for this problem which is obtained by sewing together two different extremal curves and not twice differentiable at the sewing point. Despite this unfavorable situation, an attempt to apply the method of steepest descent (in the form proposed by V.F. Dem’yanov) to this problem is made. It turns out that the method converges to a stationary curve provided that a suitable step size rule is chosen.     

On the Hyperbolicity Locus of a Real Curve

Given a real algebraic curve in the projective 3-space, its hyperbolicity locus is the set of lines with respect to which the curve is hyperbolic. We give an example of a smooth irreducible curve whose hyperbolicity locus is disconnected but the connected components are not distinguished by the linking numbers with the connected components of the curve.     

On the velocity of planar trajectories

Consider two trajectories each forming a Jordan curve with a finite length in the two dimensional plane. We show that the integral of the velocity of the portion of one curve that is included in the inside of the second curve, is bounded by half the length of the latter curve. We point out an application of the result to averaging.     

Algorithm for the Semigroup of a Space Curve Singularity

The semigroup of values of irreducible space curve singularities is the set of intersection multiplicities among hypersurfaces and the given curve. It is an invariant of the singularity, and for plane curves it characterizes the equisingularity type considered by Zariski. For space curve singularities the semigroup of values is a numerical semigroup and it can not be computed by means of the exponents of any Puiseux parametrization, as in the plane case. We obtain an algorithm for calculating the semigroup of values of a space curve singularity, which determines the generators of the semigroup and the valuation ideals associated with the semigroup. We give a Maple version of the algorithm.     

On the classification of rational second-order Bézier curves

Each rational (projective) Bézier curve is determined by three points in the plane and by positive weights assigned to these points. As is known, any such curve is an arc of either a parabola, an ellipse, or a hyperbola. An equation for a projective Bézier curve in barycentric coordinates is derived. This equation depends on a parameter. A complete classification of the curves under consideration in terms of parameter values is suggested.     

The Grothendieck conjecture for affine curves

We prove that the isomorphism class of an affine hyperbolic curve defined over a field finitely generated over Q is completely determined by its arithmetic fundamental group. We also prove a similar result for an affine curve defined over a finite field.     

Towards a reference curve for the grades of each course

A grade-reference curve (GRC) can be constructed for any course based on the grades of a course in the last several years. Among other things, the reference curve of a course can be used to test for any abnormality in the current semester's grades of a course. It can be a very important document about the course that serves students, teachers and decision makers in the institution. A GRC of a course should be updated on a regular basis. In this article, the construction of such curve is outlined and illustrated by an example. The use of the constructed curve to detect abnormality via statistical analysis is also discussed and illustrated by an example.     

Legendre Elliptic Curves over Finite Fields

We show that every elliptic curve over a finite field of odd characteristic whose number of rational points is divisible by 4 is isogenous to an elliptic curve in Legendre form, with the sole exception of a minimal respectively maximal elliptic curve. We also collect some results concerning the supersingular Legendre parameters.     

CAN A CUBIC SPLINE CURVE BE G3

This paper proposes a method to construct an G³cubic spline curve from any given open control polygon.For any two inner Bezier points on each edge of a control polygon,we can de ne each Bezier junction point such that the spline curve is G2-continuous.Then by suitably choosing the inner Bezier points,we can construct a global G³spline curve.The curvature combs and curvature plots show the advantage of the G³cubic spline curve in contrast with the traditional C2 cubic spline curve.     

Computing the minimum distance between two Bézier curves

A sweeping sphere clipping method is presented for computing the minimum distance between two Bézier curves. The sweeping sphere is constructed by rolling a sphere with its center point along a curve. The initial radius of the sweeping sphere can be set as the minimum distance between an end point and the other curve. The nearest point on a curve must be contained in the sweeping sphere along the other curve, and all of the parts outside the sweeping sphere can be eliminated. A simple sufficient condition when the nearest point is one of the two end points of a curve is provided, which turns the curve/curve case into a point/curve case and leads to higher efficiency. Examples are shown to illustrate efficiency and robustness of the new method.     

Smooth curve interpolation

In a recent paper [1] a method was presented for smooth curve interpolation by means of minimising the energy of an idealised elastic beam constrained to pass through given data points. This method of obtaining the curve required an enormous amount of computation, since it involved the repeated solution of a fourth order differential equation and the minimisation of a function of many variables, the number of variables being equal to the number of data points. In this paper a much simpler method is presented for finding the minimum energy curve in which the minimisation procedure is eliminated. An ALGOL procedure to perform the curve fit is supplied.     

Tetrahedral curves via graphs and Alexander duality

A tetrahedral curve is a (usually nonreduced) curve in P³ defined by an unmixed, height two ideal generated by monomials. We characterize when these curves are arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay by associating a graph with each curve and, using results from combinatorial commutative algebra and Alexander duality, relating the structure of the complementary graph to the Cohen-Macaulay property.     

Plans dʼexpérience pour lʼestimation de la courbe de concentration et de lʼAUC

The problem of interest is to estimate the concentration curve and the area under the curve (AUC) by estimating the parameters of a linear regression model with autocorrelated error process. We introduce a simple linear nonparametric unbiased estimator of the concentration curve and the AUC. We show that this estimator constructed from an appropriate regular sampling design is asymptotically optimal.