Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/ii/paper-3/23h/b/solution

A minimal surface has , so and . For a nonflat example take the catenoid parametrization . Its first fundamental form has and . Choosing the normal appropriately, its second fundamental form has coefficients , , . Thus its principal curvatures are , proving and .

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