Syzygies for translational surfaces

Abstract

A translational surface is a rational tensor product surface generated from two rational space curves by translating one curve along the other curve. Translational surfaces are invariant under rigid motions: translating and rotating the two generating curves translates and rotates the translational surface by the same amount. We construct three special syzygies for a translational surface from a μ-basis of one of the generating space curves, and we show how to compute the implicit equation of a translational surface from these three special syzygies. Examples are provided to illustrate our theorems and flesh out our algorithms.