Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ii/paper-2/25h/d/i/solution

False. Vanishing torsion only controls each connected region on which the curvature is nonzero. A smooth curve can pass through a flat point or straight segment and emerge in a different plane.
For an explicit local construction on , put for and , and define a unit tangent field
This field is smooth because is flat at zero. Its integral is parametrized by arc length, has nonzero curvature for , and has zero torsion on both sides. Its negative half lies nontrivially in the -plane and its positive half lies nontrivially in the -plane, so the whole curve is not planar.

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