Equi-affine Geometry Research Articles

The maximal curves and heat flow in general-affine geometry

In Euclidean geometry, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Chern made a conjecture (cf. [11]) in 1977 that an affine maximal graph of a smooth and locally uniformly convex function on two-dimensional Euclidean space R2 must be a paraboloid. In 2000, Trudinger and Wang completed the proof of this conjecture in affine geometry (cf. [47]). (Caution: in these literatures, the term “affine geometry” refers to “equi-affine geometry”.) A natural problem arises: Whether the hyperbola is a general-affine maximal curve in R2? In this paper, by utilizing the evolution equations for curves, we obtain the second variational formula for general-affine extremal curves in R2, and show the general-affine maximal curves in R2 are much more abundant and include the explicit curves y=xα(αis a constant andα∉{0,1,12,2}) and y=xlog⁡x. At the same time, we generalize the fundamental theory of curves in higher dimensions, equipped with GA(n)=GL(n)⋉Rn. Moreover, in general-affine plane geometry, an isoperimetric inequality is investigated, and a complete classification of the solitons for general-affine heat flow is provided. We also study the local existence, uniqueness, and long-term behavior of this general-affine heat flow. A closed embedded curve will converge to an ellipse when evolving according to the general-affine heat flow is proved.

Applications of fractional calculus in equiaffine geometry: plane curves with fractional order

In this paper, we introduce the notions of equiaffine arclength and curvature with fractional order for a plane curve and compare them with the standard ones. By using these definitions, we obtain an equiaffine Frenet formula and then construct an analogue of the fundamental theorem. The plane curves of constant equiaffine curvature with fractional order are classified. Several examples are also illustrated.

Classification of Simply-Transitive Levi Non-Degenerate Hypersurfaces in ℂ3

Abstract Holomorphically homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann (CR) real hypersurfaces $M^3 \subset \mathbb{C}^2$ were classified by Élie Cartan in 1932. In the next dimension, we complete the classification of simply-transitive Levi non-degenerate hypersurfaces $M^5 \subset \mathbb{C}^3$ using a novel Lie algebraic approach independent of any earlier classifications of abstract Lie algebras. Central to our approach is a new coordinate-free formula for the fundamental (complexified) quartic tensor. Our final result has a unique (Levi-indefinite) non-tubular model, for which we demonstrate geometric relations to planar equi-affine geometry.

Equiaffine geometry of level sets and ruled hypersurfaces with equiaffine mean curvature zero

Basic aspects of the equiaffine geometry of level sets are developed systematically. As an application there are constructed families of 2n‐dimensional nondegenerate hypersurfaces ruled by n‐planes, having equiaffine mean curvature zero, and solving the affine normal flow. Each carries a symplectic structure with respect to which the ruling is Lagrangian.

A tale of two arc lengths: Metric notions for curves in surfaces in equiaffine space

In Euclidean geometry, all metric notions (arc length for curves, the first fundamental form for surfaces, etc.) are derived from the Euclidean inner product on tangent vectors, and this inner product is preserved by the full symmetry group of Euclidean space (translations, rotations, and reflections). In equiaffine geometry, there is no invariant notion of inner product on tangent vectors that is preserved by the full equiaffine symmetry group. Nevertheless, it is possible to define an invariant notion of arc length for nondegenerate curves, and an invariant first fundamental form for nondegenerate surfaces in equiaffine space. This leads to two possible notions of arc length for a curve contained in a surface, and these two arc length functions do not necessarily agree. In this paper we will derive necessary and sufficient conditions under which the two arc length functions do agree, and illustrate with examples.

Spatial constant equi-affine speed and motion perception

The two-thirds power law, postulating an inverse local relation between the velocity and cubed root of curvature of planar trajectories, is a long-established simplifying principle of human hand movements. In perception, the motion of a dot along a planar elliptical path appears most uniform for speed profiles closer to those predicted by the power law than to constant Euclidean speed, a kinetic-visual illusion. Mathematically, complying with this law is equivalent to moving at constant planar equi-affine speed, while unconstrained three-dimensional drawing movements generally follow constant spatial equi-affine speed. Here we test the generalization of this illusion to visual perception of spatial motion for a dot moving along five differently shaped paths, using stereoscopic projection. The movements appeared most uniform for speed profiles closer to constant spatial equi-affine speed than to constant Euclidean speed, with path torsion (i.e., local deviation from planarity) directly affecting the speed profiles perceived as most uniform, as predicted for constant spatial equi-affine speed. This demonstrates the dominance of equi-affine geometry in spatial motion perception. However, constant equi-affine speed did not fully account for the variability among the speed profiles selected as most uniform for different shapes. Moreover, in a followup experiment, we found that viewing distance affected the speed profile reported as most uniform for the extensively studied planar elliptical motion paths. These findings provide evidence for the critical role of equi-affine geometry in spatial motion perception and contribute to the mounting evidence for the role of non-Euclidean geometries in motion perception and production.

Equi-affine Invariant Geometry for Shape Analysis

Traditional models of bendable surfaces are based on the exact or approximate invariance to deformations that do not tear or stretch the shape, leaving intact an intrinsic geometry associated with it. These geometries are typically defined using either the shortest path length (geodesic distance), or properties of heat diffusion (diffusion distance) on the surface. Both measures are implicitly derived from the metric induced by the ambient Euclidean space. In this paper, we depart from this restrictive assumption by observing that a different choice of the metric results in a richer set of geometric invariants. We apply equi-affine geometry for analyzing arbitrary shapes with positive Gaussian curvature. The potential of the proposed framework is explored in a range of applications such as shape matching and retrieval, symmetry detection, and computation of Voroni tessellation. We show that in some shape analysis tasks, equi-affine-invariant intrinsic geometries often outperform their Euclidean-based counterparts. We further explore the potential of this metric in facial anthropometry of newborns. We show that intrinsic properties of this homogeneous group are better captured using the equi-affine metric.

Contact Geometry of Curves

Cartan's method of moving frames is briefly recalled in the context of immersed curves in the homogeneous space of a Lie group G. The contact geometry of curves in low dimensional equi-affine geometry is then made explicit. This delivers the complete set of invariant data which solves the G-equivalence problem via a straightforward procedure, and which is, in some sense a supplement to the equivariant method of Fels and Olver. Next, the contact geometry of curves in general Riemannian manifolds (M,g) is described. For the special case in which the isometries of (M,g) act transitively, it is shown that the contact geometry provides an explicit algorithmic construction of the differential invariants for curves in M. The inputs required for the construction consist only of the metric g and a parametrisation of structure group SO(n); the group action is not required and no integration is involved. To illustrate the algorithm we explicitly construct complete sets of differential invariants for curves in the Poincare half-space H 3 and in a family of constant curvature 3-metrics. It is conjectured that similar results are possible in other Cartan geometries.

Movement Timing and Invariance Arise from Several Geometries

Human movements show several prominent features; movement duration is nearly independent of movement size (the isochrony principle), instantaneous speed depends on movement curvature (captured by the 2/3 power law), and complex movements are composed of simpler elements (movement compositionality). No existing theory can successfully account for all of these features, and the nature of the underlying motion primitives is still unknown. Also unknown is how the brain selects movement duration. Here we present a new theory of movement timing based on geometrical invariance. We propose that movement duration and compositionality arise from cooperation among Euclidian, equi-affine and full affine geometries. Each geometry posses a canonical measure of distance along curves, an invariant arc-length parameter. We suggest that for continuous movements, the actual movement duration reflects a particular tensorial mixture of these canonical parameters. Near geometrical singularities, specific combinations are selected to compensate for time expansion or compression in individual parameters. The theory was mathematically formulated using Cartan's moving frame method. Its predictions were tested on three data sets: drawings of elliptical curves, locomotion and drawing trajectories of complex figural forms (cloverleaves, lemniscates and limaçons, with varying ratios between the sizes of the large versus the small loops). Our theory accounted well for the kinematic and temporal features of these movements, in most cases better than the constrained Minimum Jerk model, even when taking into account the number of estimated free parameters. During both drawing and locomotion equi-affine geometry was the most dominant geometry, with affine geometry second most important during drawing; Euclidian geometry was second most important during locomotion. We further discuss the implications of this theory: the origin of the dominance of equi-affine geometry, the possibility that the brain uses different mixtures of these geometries to encode movement duration and speed, and the ontogeny of such representations.

A Compact Representation of Drawing Movements with Sequences of Parabolic Primitives

Some studies suggest that complex arm movements in humans and monkeys may optimize several objective functions, while others claim that arm movements satisfy geometric constraints and are composed of elementary components. However, the ability to unify different constraints has remained an open question. The criterion for a maximally smooth (minimizing jerk) motion is satisfied for parabolic trajectories having constant equi-affine speed, which thus comply with the geometric constraint known as the two-thirds power law. Here we empirically test the hypothesis that parabolic segments provide a compact representation of spontaneous drawing movements. Monkey scribblings performed during a period of practice were recorded. Practiced hand paths could be approximated well by relatively long parabolic segments. Following practice, the orientations and spatial locations of the fitted parabolic segments could be drawn from only 2–4 clusters, and there was less discrepancy between the fitted parabolic segments and the executed paths. This enabled us to show that well-practiced spontaneous scribbling movements can be represented as sequences (“words”) of a small number of elementary parabolic primitives (“letters”). A movement primitive can be defined as a movement entity that cannot be intentionally stopped before its completion. We found that in a well-trained monkey a movement was usually decelerated after receiving a reward, but it stopped only after the completion of a sequence composed of several parabolic segments. Piece-wise parabolic segments can be generated by applying affine geometric transformations to a single parabolic template. Thus, complex movements might be constructed by applying sequences of suitable geometric transformations to a few templates. Our findings therefore suggest that the motor system aims at achieving more parsimonious internal representations through practice, that parabolas serve as geometric primitives and that non-Euclidean variables are employed in internal movement representations (due to the special role of parabolas in equi-affine geometry).

Equiaffine structures on statistical manifolds and Bayesian statistics

Relations between equiaffine geometry and Bayesian statistics are studied. A prior distribution in Bayesian statistics is regarded as a volume form on a statistical manifold. Applying equiaffine geometry to Bayesian statistics, the relation between alpha-parallel priors and the Jeffreys prior is given. As geometric results, conditions for a statistical submanifold to have an equiaffine structure are also given.

What is plane equiaffine geometry?

We provide $ \forall\exists $-axiom systems for two variants of plane equiaffine geometry, one whose automorphisms are area preserving affinities, the other whose automorphisms are oriented area preserving affinities. The axiom systems are formulated in first order languages with points as the only individual variables, and a single ternary primitive notion, standing for ’triangle of fixed (oriented or non-oriented) area‘. The theorem of G. Martin on area preserving bijections of the plane is seen in a new light.

Duality for Curves in Affine Plane Geometry

The dual of a plane curve in equiaffine geometry is defined as a curve in the space of conics. The image and inverse of this duality are described. It is shown that the duality transforms equiaffine vertices into cusps. As an application, an analogue of Kneser's lemma for osculating conics is proved.

Cubic Form Methods and Relative Tchebychev Hypersurfaces

We introduce the concept of a relative Tchebychev hypersurface which extends that of affine spheres in equiaffine geometry and also that of centroaffine Tchebychev hypersurfaces and give partial local and global classifications for this new class. Our tools concern a new operator and interesting properties of the traceless part of the cubic form.

Partial decay on simple manifolds

Existence, uniqueness and weighted regularity of solutions of linear and nonlinear second-order uniformly elliptic differential equations on complete punctured compact N-manifolds, N > 2. Application to prescribed curvature problems: scalar curvature in a quasi-isometry class (including a contribution to the Lichnerowicz-York equation of General Relativity); Ricci curvature in a weighted Kahler class (with a related result in equiaffine geometry). A new asymptonic behaviour is allowed throughout, called partial decay, which requires its own maximum principle.

Equiaffine Geometry of Paths

Equiaffine Geometry of Paths