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The problem of non-trivial isometries of surfaces preserving principal curvatures

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Abstract

In this paper we deal with the Bonnet problem of determining the surfaces in the Euclidean three dimensional space which can admit at least one nontrival isometry that preserves the principal curvatures(Bonnet surfaces). The problem is considered locally and examined in the general case. The main results are: (a) Necessary and sufficient condition for a surface to be a Bonnet surface is that it admits a special isothermal parameter system. (b) Complete solution of the problem in the class of the isothermic surfaces. Moreover: These results and the methods used provide a new efficient and elegant manner of proving the, already known, fact that all helicoidal surfaces are Bonnet surfaces and determine the already known developable Bonnet surfaces.

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Soyuçok, Z. The problem of non-trivial isometries of surfaces preserving principal curvatures. J Geom 52, 173–188 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01406838

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01406838

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