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For the standard catenoid, the two principal curvatures are opposite, so its mean curvature vanishes. Its Gaussian curvature is $K=-{\mathrm{sech}}^{4}u<0$, which also shows that no neighbourhood is locally isometric to a plane, cylinder, or regular part of a cone, all of which have zero Gaussian curvature.

Let a boundaryless minimal surface be closed in ${\mathbb{R}}^3$, and let its distance to a plane tend to infinity along every sequence escaping bounded sets. If it has no planar point, it must meet the plane. Otherwise absolute signed height has a positive attained minimum by properness. Its Hessian there is semidefinite and equals the second fundamental form up to sign because the plane is tangent. Minimality makes its trace zero, so the entire form vanishes, contradicting the absence of planar points. This argument uses curvature and attained extrema, rather than an unproved contact comparison for Gaussian curvature.

The graph $z=x^2+y^2$ in Euclidean three-space has the displayed induced Riemannian metric and positive Gaussian curvature. It is smooth at its vertex; the polar-coordinate singularity is only a coordinate artifact. The metric dominates the Euclidean plane metric, so upward stability of Riemannian completeness proves completeness. It has infinite diameter. In dimension two Ricci curvature equals Gaussian curvature times the metric, so this is a counterexample to compactness under merely pointwise positive Ricci curvature. Its curvature tends to zero at infinity.

A surface metric has a cone singularity of total angle $\Theta >0$ if a punctured neighbourhood has the metric obtained by joining the radial boundaries of a sector of angle $\Theta$. For constant Gaussian curvature $-1$ away from the vertex, its polar expression is $d{r}^2+(\Theta /2\pi {)}^2{\sinh }^{2}rd{\theta }^2$, where $\theta$ has period $2\pi$. A circle of small radius $r$ has length asymptotic to $\Theta r$. A smooth Riemannian surface instead has circumference asymptotic to $2\pi r$, so the metric extends smoothly at the vertex exactly when $\Theta =2\pi$.

If the oriented coordinate tangent vectors meet at a constant angle with cosine $k$, the first fundamental form has $F=k\sqrt{EG}$. The geodesic coordinate grid identities reduce to $k(\sqrt{E}{)}_v=(\sqrt{G}{)}_u$ and $k(\sqrt{G}{)}_u=(\sqrt{E}{)}_v$. Since positive definiteness gives $|k|<1$, both derivatives vanish. Thus $E=E(u)$ and $G=G(v)$ locally. Changing coordinates to $U=\int \sqrt{E}du$ and $V=\int \sqrt{G}dv$ gives the constant metric $d{U}^2+2kdUdV+d{V}^2$. It is locally Euclidean after a linear change of coordinates, hence has zero Gaussian curvature.

// Target: geometry-and-topology.bigb

For a twice continuously differentiable regular curve $r(t)$ in Euclidean space, its unsigned curvature measures how quickly its unit tangent vector changes per unit arc length. WriteThe curvature iswhere the norm is the Euclidean norm. Differentiating with respect to arc length removes the effect of traversal speed; differentiating $T$ with respect to $t$ alone generally does not. See Ghomi's university lecture notes, section 1.7.

For a circle of radius $R>0$, use $r(t)=(R\cos t,R\sin t)$. Then $v=R$, $T=(-\sin t,\cos t)$ and $\Vert dT/dt\Vert =1$, giving $\kappa =1/R$. A straight line $r(t)=p+ta$ with $a\ne 0$ has constant unit tangent vector, so $\kappa =0$.

The same circle traversed as $q(u)=(R\cos (3u),R\sin (3u))$ has speed $3R$ and $\Vert dT/du\Vert =3$: its curvature remains $1/R$. By contrast, enlarging the circle to radius $2R$ changes its geometry and gives curvature $1/(2R)$. More generally, a dilation $r\mapsto ar$ with $a>0$ divides curvature by $a$, because it multiplies arc length by $a$ while leaving unit tangent vectors unchanged. Thus curvature has units of inverse length, and a reparametrization changes neither its value at a corresponding point nor the shape.

Differentiating $T\cdot T=1$, using the dot product, shows $T\cdot (dT/ds)=0$: the change is perpendicular to the unit tangent vector. Wherever $\kappa >0$, the principal normal vector $N_p=(dT/ds)/\kappa$ points toward the bend. For a plane curve, the osculating circle at such a point has radius of curvature $\rho =1/\kappa$ and center $r+\rho N_p$. It matches the point, tangent line, and curvature, providing a local circular approximation. At $\kappa =0$ there is no finite osculating circle defined by this formula. See Ghomi's university lecture notes, section 1.13.

This makes curvature useful for comparing bends without confusing them with speed. If $t$ denotes time, differentiating $r^{\prime }=vT$ gives acceleration $r^{\prime \prime }=v^{\prime }T+v^2(dT/ds)$, whose component perpendicular to the unit tangent vector has magnitude $v^2\kappa$. The curvature of a plane curve example below computes the bend and osculating circle of a parabola explicitly.

For smooth surfaces, bending has more than one direction. The principal curvatures $k_1,k_2$ instead define Gaussian curvature $K=k_1{k}_2$ and mean curvature $H=(k_1+k_2)/2$. These are surface quantities, distinct from the curvature of an individual curve. In particular, the circle value $1/R$ must not be confused with the Gaussian curvature $1/R^2$ of a sphere of radius $R$. See Ritter's Oxford lecture notes, section 12.2.

Let $S\subset {\mathbb{R}}^3$ be a smooth surface. Suppose its Gaussian curvature tends to infinity in absolute value along every maximal geodesic with a finite affine-parameter endpoint. Then $S$ is an inextendible embedded surface: a smooth extension would let some geodesic reach the extension boundary in finite time while its curvature remained locally bounded.

A surface locally swept out by ambient geodesics has $II(T,T)=0$ in its unit ruling direction $T$. For a perpendicular unit tangent $E$, the Gauss equation in a curved ambient manifold therefore gives the displayed identity. Its Gaussian curvature is at most the ambient sectional curvature in its tangent plane, with equality precisely when $II(T,E)=0$. An independent variation argument applies the Jacobi field equation to the length of a perpendicular connecting field; its ambient derivative has the extra normal component $II(T,E)$. The Euclidean surface $(t,s,ts)$ is ruled by straight lines and has Gaussian curvature $-(1+t^2+s^2{)}^{-2}<0$.

For a finite isometric group action on a closed Riemannian surface, choose a disk in the free locus whose translates are disjoint. Modify the Riemannian metric there, and identically on its translates, by small supported changes with three distinguished high Gaussian curvature maxima. Give their heights distinct values occurring nowhere else, arrange them as a tight noncollinear cluster, and keep separate clusters far apart. Such markers can be made by local conformal bump functions controlling curvature and its derivatives. Every quotient isometry must send an entire labelled cluster to another. After identifying the marked disks with the original one, an isometry fixes its three noncollinear points and is therefore the identity locally. If $p_i:M\to U_i\backslash M$ are free finite quotients, any quotient isometry $F$ consequently makes $F\circ p_1=p_2\circ t$ on an open disk for some element $t$ of the original group. Two local isometries agreeing on an open set agree on the connected surface, by propagation along geodesics. The equality therefore holds globally and implies $t{U}_1{t}^{-1}\subseteq U_2$, hence equality for equal subgroup orders. Nonconjugate equal-order subgroups thus have nonisometric quotients for this marked invariant metric; constant curvature is not required.

For positive twice differentiable $f$, the only nonzero Christoffel symbols are ${\Gamma }_{yy}^x=-f{f}^{\prime }$ and ${\Gamma }_{xy}^y={\Gamma }_{yx}^y=f^{\prime }/f$. In the convention $R^d{}_{abc}={\partial }_b{\Gamma }_{ac}^d-{\partial }_c{\Gamma }_{ab}^d+{\Gamma }_{ac}^e{\Gamma }_{eb}^d-{\Gamma }_{ab}^e{\Gamma }_{ec}^d$, substitution gives $R^x{}_{yxy}=-f{f}^{\prime \prime }$. Dividing $R_{xyxy}$ by $g_{xx}{g}_{yy}-g_{xy}^2=f^2$ gives the Gaussian curvature $K=-f^{\prime \prime }/f$. Thus $f=x$ gives the flat metric in polar coordinates away from its axis, $f=\sin x$ gives unit positive curvature, and $f=\sinh x$ gives unit negative curvature.

The differential geometry of smooth surfaces studies their induced Riemannian metrics and intrinsic or extrinsic curvature. The first fundamental form measures lengths, while the second fundamental form and shape operator describe bending in an ambient Euclidean space. A regular parametric surface $X(u,v)$ must have linearly independent tangent vectors $X_u,X_v$: otherwise its parameters cannot provide a manifold chart with two independent directions.

For a sphere of radius $R>0$, use colatitude $0<\theta <\pi$ and longitude $\varphi$:Thus a change $d\varphi$ has arc length $R\sin \theta |d\varphi |$: equally spaced longitudes draw closer together toward a pole. The coordinate degeneracy at the poles belongs to this parametrization, not to the smooth surface.

Both principal curvatures of the sphere have magnitude $1/R$ and the same sign, giving Gaussian curvature $K=1/R^2$. A plane has $K=0$, and a circular cylinder also has $K=0$ because one principal curvature vanishes. These three familiar shapes show why visible bending alone cannot measure intrinsic Gaussian curvature.

An elliptic point of a surface is a point at which the Gaussian curvature is positive, equivalently where the two principal curvatures have the same nonzero sign.

For a proper Euclidean motion of Euclidean three-space $E(x)=Ax+b$, transport the unit normal by $\tilde{N}(E(p))=AN(p)$. The corresponding shape operators are orthogonally conjugate:Their determinant and trace, hence Gaussian curvature and mean curvature, are unchanged.

If a unit tangent makes angle $\theta$ with the first principal direction, the normal curvature is ${\kappa }_n={\kappa }_1{\cos }^2\theta +{\kappa }_2{\sin }^2\theta$. This follows by diagonalizing the second fundamental form relative to the first fundamental form. When the Gaussian curvature is nonnegative, $|{\kappa }_n|\le 2|H|$.

On a connected regular radial interval, trivial holonomy around circular fibres forces the continuous function $f^{\prime }$ to be integer-valued, hence constant. The resulting Riemannian metrics have $f(r)=nr+b$, with $n\in \mathbb{Z}$ and $f>0$ on the interval. Their Gaussian curvature is $-f^{\prime \prime }/f=0$. For $n\ne 0$, $\rho =f/|n|$ and $\theta =|n|\varphi$ give a local isometry to the Euclidean plane; for $n=0$, $r,b\varphi$ give a flat cylindrical chart. The polar developing map is injective on the regular domain when $|n|=1$, and is a multiple covering when $|n|>1$. Trivial holonomy therefore does not imply a global Euclidean chart. The slope is a discrete parameter, not an unrestricted real one.

Rotate an ellipse with positive semiaxes $a,b$ about an axis a distance $r>a$ from its centre. For the parametrized surface $\sigma (u,v)=((r+a\sin u)\cos v,(r+a\sin u)\sin v,b\cos u)$, put $R=r+a\sin u$ and $D^2=a^2{\cos }^{2}u+b^2{\sin }^{2}u$. An outward unit normal is $N=(b\sin u\cos v,b\sin u\sin v,a\cos u)/D$. Direct differentiation gives the first fundamental form and second fundamental form, with the convention $I{I}_{ij}=⟨{\sigma }_{ij},N⟩$:Reversing the unit normal reverses $II$, but the Gaussian curvature $K=a{b}^2\sin u/(R{D}^4)$ is unchanged.

Here $R(X,Y)=D_{[X,Y]}-[D_X,D_Y]$, the negative of the convention in the ordinary Gauss equation in a curved ambient manifold. Insert the Gauss formula and Weingarten formula into this definition and project tangentially to obtain the displayed identity. Positive sectional curvature uses $⟨R(X,Y)X,Y⟩/|X\wedge Y{|}^2$ with this convention. Thus a Euclidean surface still has Gaussian curvature $K=\det A_{\xi }$; reversing the operator sign without changing the slot order would give the wrong sign.

Rolling a sheet into a circular cylinder bends it without changing its internal lengths and angles. Fitting that same sheet smoothly onto a sphere requires distortion of its first fundamental form. Gaussian curvature distinguishes these situations: it measures the intrinsic curvature of a smooth surface, even though its simplest definition uses how the surface bends in Euclidean space.

The Gaussian curvature at a point is the determinant of the shape operator, or the product of the two principal curvatures:Here $I=Ed{u}^2+2Fdudv+Gd{v}^2$ is the first fundamental form and $II=ed{u}^2+2fdudv+gd{v}^2$ is the second fundamental form, with $S=-dN$. Regularity makes $EG-F^2>0$. Reversing the unit normal negates $e,f,g$ and both principal curvatures, leaving Gaussian curvature unchanged. ^[ref]

The sign describes bending at the point: positive Gaussian curvature means the principal curvatures have the same nonzero sign, as at an elliptic point; negative Gaussian curvature means opposite signs, as on a saddle; zero Gaussian curvature means at least one principal curvature vanishes. Zero Gaussian curvature at a single point does not imply that a neighborhood is a plane. ^[ref]

Four worked models make the signs concrete:

The patches use a common length unit, with $R=1$ for the sphere and circular cylinder. The marked red and blue curves have principal directions at the black point; the arrow is the chosen unit normal. For physical lengths, principal curvature and mean curvature have units of inverse length, while Gaussian curvature has units of inverse squared length. Rescaling a surface by $\lambda >0$ divides its principal curvatures by $\lambda$ and its Gaussian curvature by ${\lambda }^2$. Writing the saddle as $h=(x^2-y^2)/(2L)$ restores an explicit length scale: $K(0)=-1/L^2$.

The Theorema Egregium says that Gaussian curvature depends only on the first fundamental form and its first two coordinate derivatives. A local isometry therefore preserves Gaussian curvature, even if the shape operator and the principal curvatures change. ^[ref]

Here is the outline, rather than a full proof. The Gauss formula splits second derivatives of a parametric surface into tangential Christoffel symbols and the second fundamental form. The Christoffel symbols are determined by the first fundamental form and its first derivatives. Commuting the next partial derivatives gives the Gauss equation, which identifies $\det S$ with the intrinsic sectional curvature computed from the Riemann curvature tensor. Thus the apparently extrinsic product $k_1{k}_2$ is determined by the Riemannian metric. ^[ref]

One can see the distinction directly by rolling a plane strip with coordinates $(u,v)$ into the circular cylinder $X(u,v)=(R\cos (u/R),R\sin (u/R),v)$. Both have $I=d{u}^2+d{v}^2$, so the map is a local isometry, and is one-to-one on an open strip of width less than $2\pi R$. Extending $u$ over all real numbers wraps around periodically; it does not give a global isometry between the entire plane and the entire circular cylinder. A nonempty open patch of a sphere cannot be flattened by a local isometry into a plane, because its Gaussian curvature $1/R^2$ cannot become zero. The obstruction concerns preservation of the first fundamental form, rather than a particular drawing or choice of seam.

The same contact does not order Gaussian curvature, because determinant is not monotone under addition of a positive-semidefinite matrix when the original Hessian is indefinite or negative definite. For example,satisfy $g\ge f$ and are tangent at zero, but $K_g(0)=1<4=K_f(0)$.

For a ring torus of radii $a>b>0$, the Gaussian curvature isIt is positive on the outer side, negative on the inner side and zero on the top and bottom circles. The sign contrast expresses two principal curvatures of the same sign outside and opposite signs inside.