[Differential Geometry] Angle between Curves that meet on the Surface of a Torus
How can we find the angle at which two parametrised differentiable curves α:I→S and β:I→S make on the surface S of a torus?
We can take a parametrisation of a torus, ϕ(u,v)=(sinucosv,sinusinv,cosu).
and let cosθ=∣ϕu∣∣ϕv∣⟨ϕu,ϕv⟩=EGF=.
The coefficients of the first fundamental form can be calculated as follows:
The differential of the map ϕ with respect to u is ∂u∂ϕ, written as ϕu for convenience,
ϕu=(cosucosv,cosusinv,−sinu).
Similarly,
ϕv=(−sinusinv,sinucosv,0).
Hence E=⟨ϕu,ϕu⟩=cos2(u)+sin2(u)=1,
F=⟨ϕu,ϕv⟩=0,
and G=⟨ϕv,ϕv⟩=sin2(u).
Hence the angle at which the two coordinate curves of the torus meet are:
EG=0.F
Now the coordinate curves of a parametrisation are orthogonal if and only if F(u,v)=0 for all (u,v). And such a parametrisation is called an orthogonal projection. Therefore, we see that the above parametrisation ϕ is an orthogonal projection.
The angle at which the two curves meet at t=t0 can be expressed as
cosθ1=∣α′(t0)∣∣α′(t0)∣⟨α′(t0),β′(t0)⟩
where α′(t)=ϕua+ϕvb and β′(t)=ϕuc+ϕvd. Hence, we have
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