Orientation reversal of surface curvature Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Replacing the chosen unit normal by replaces the shape operator by . On a surface, Gaussian curvature is unchanged, while mean curvature changes sign.
At a regular point, choose the unit normal . The first fundamental form is the induced squared length
The second fundamental form is
The Gaussian curvature is the determinant of the shape operator, , independent of the normal orientation.
For the given graph, and , so with ,
Therefore
The surface is regular everywhere. The printed description “hyperboloid” is a naming error: this graph is a hyperbolic paraboloid, and the computation uses the actual parametrization.
For a geodesic triangle with interior angles , the local Gauss-Bonnet theorem is
because its geodesic sides have zero geodesic curvature.
Triangulate a closed oriented surface into geodesic triangles, with edges and vertices. Summing the local formula, the angles around each vertex total , so
Since every triangular face has three edges and every edge belongs to two faces, . Hence
which is the global Gauss-Bonnet theorem.
For the sphere , the unit normal is . Its shape operator is, up to the conventional sign, on each tangent plane. Both principal curvatures therefore have magnitude , and the Gaussian curvature is
An octant has one eighth of the sphere's area:
Thus . Its three great-circle sides meet at three right angles, so
The two sides of the local Gauss-Bonnet formula agree directly.
For a chosen unit normal field , the second fundamental form is
In a local parametrization , its coefficients, up to the equivalent simultaneous sign convention, are
The Gaussian curvature is the determinant of the shape operator, hence
Theorema Egregium states that is determined entirely by the first fundamental form. In particular, it is intrinsic and is preserved by every local isometry.