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An elliptic cone is a real quadric surface consisting of the two nappes $u=\pm \sqrt{(b{v}^2+c{w}^2)/a}$, joined at the vertex. Its intersections with planes $u=u_0\ne 0$ are ellipses. It is the zero level of an indefinite quadratic form of signature $(1,2)$. Changing the level to a positive value produces a two-sheeted hyperboloid; changing it to a negative value produces a one-sheet hyperboloid, when the positive coefficient is assigned to the axial coordinate $u$.

The displayed surfaces, with positive semiaxes, are hyperboloids. The plus sign gives a one-sheet hyperboloid, while the minus sign gives a two-sheeted hyperboloid.

In the standard spherical coordinate system, $\theta$ is measured from the positive $z$ axis. The radial unit vector in spherical coordinates isThe coordinate forms of the elliptic paraboloid are given in the labelled parts below.

For the other surface, $r^2\cos 2\theta =r^2({\cos }^2\theta -{\sin }^2\theta )$ converts toFor $a>0$, this is a two-sheeted hyperboloid, with two disconnected sheets starting at $z=\pm \sqrt{a}$ and opening along the $z$ axis. For $a<0$, it is a one-sheet hyperboloid:Its waist is the circle $z=0$, $x^2+y^2=|a|$. Both are surfaces of revolution about the $z$ axis and approach the cone $z^2=x^2+y^2$ far from the origin.

The figure shows $a=1$ and $a=-1$; scaling all coordinates by $\sqrt{|a|}$ gives the other magnitudes.

Use the positive graph $z=g(x,y)=\sqrt{1+x^2+y^2}$. The printed PDF bounds are $\sqrt{2}\le z\le \sqrt{5}$, so its projection is the annulus $1\le r\le 2$. The surface is the corresponding band of the upper sheet of a two-sheeted hyperboloid, bounded by circles of radii $1$ and $2$ at heights $\sqrt{2}$ and $\sqrt{5}$.

For the parametrization $\mathbf{R}(x,y)=(x,y,g(x,y))$, its tangent vectors are $(1,0,x/z)$ and $(0,1,y/z)$. Their cross product gives the upward vector surface element of a graph:Its magnitude gives the scalar surface area of a graph:Both formulas apply on $1\le \sqrt{x^2+y^2}\le 2$. Reversing the orientation changes only the sign of the vector element.

Stokes theorem equates the circulation around the induced boundary orientation of an oriented surface to the normal flux of curl:The usual version requires a piecewise smooth oriented surface and a vector field continuously differentiable on a neighbourhood of it. We use the upward orientation wherever the surface is a graph; each outer circle is counterclockwise viewed from above, and an inner circle is clockwise.

Write $\rho =(x^2+y^2{)}^{1/2}$. The surface of revolution has $z=\sqrt{{\rho }^2+1-\lambda }$ with $0\le z\le 1$. For $0<\lambda <1$, it is a disk-shaped cap of a two-sheeted hyperboloid, running from $\rho =0,z=\sqrt{1-\lambda }$ to $\rho =\sqrt{\lambda },z=1$. For $\lambda =1$, it is a right circular cone, $z=\rho$, including its apex. For $\lambda >1$, it is an annular strip of a one-sheet hyperboloid, between the circles $\rho =\sqrt{\lambda -1},z=0$ and $\rho =\sqrt{\lambda },z=1$.

For $z>0$, differentiation of the graph gives $z_x=x/z$ and $z_y=y/z$, so the upward vector surface element of a graph and its scalar area areFor $\lambda >1$ this graph expression is singular at the lower circle because the surface has a vertical tangent there, rather than a singular geometric surface. A regular parametrization isIt proves that the graph surface integral is interpreted by its integrable endpoint limit. The same parametrization works away from the pole or apex in the other regimes.

Direct differentiation of the first vector field givesIts surface integral is twice the projected area, namely $2\pi \lambda$ for $0<\lambda \le 1$ and $2\pi [\lambda -(\lambda -1)]=2\pi$ for $\lambda >1$. On an oriented circle of radius $R$, $\mathbf{F}\cdot d\mathbf{x}=R^{2}d\varphi$. The outer circulation is $2\pi \lambda$; an inner circle, when present, contributes $-2\pi (\lambda -1)$. ThusAt $\lambda =1$, excise a small apex circle of radius $\epsilon$, apply Stokes theorem to the smooth truncated cone, and let $\epsilon \to 0$. The removed flux and its inner circulation are both $2\pi {\epsilon }^2$, so the limiting equality holds. This avoids silently applying a smooth-surface theorem at the cone's nonsmooth apex.

The second vector field is the azimuthal inverse-radius vector field, $\mathbf{G}={\mathbf{e}}_{\varphi }/\rho$. Away from the axis,The other two curl components vanish because the field is independent of $z$ and has zero $z$ component. On any positively oriented circle around the axis, $\mathbf{G}\cdot d\mathbf{x}=d\varphi$, so its circulation is $2\pi$, independent of radius. ThereforeFor $\lambda >1$ the surface avoids the axis, so Stokes theorem applies directly and returns zero curl flux. For $0<\lambda <1$ the disk cap meets the axis, and for $\lambda =1$ the apex lies on it: $\mathbf{G}$ is undefined there, so the neighbourhood hypothesis of Stokes theorem fails. Removing a small circle gives cancelling inner and outer circulations; the inner circulation remains $-2\pi$ as its radius tends to zero. Hence it cannot be discarded as it could for $\mathbf{F}$. A nonzero circulation here is compatible with zero curl away from the excluded axis.

The real vector space of symmetric matrices has dimension $n(n+1)/2$. On its invertible part the derivative of the determinant isAt a determinant-one symmetric matrix, this derivative is nonzero: the symmetric direction $C=B$ gives value $n$. The regular level set theorem therefore yieldsThis applies to every signature component, not only positive-definite matrices.

The special linear congruence action on symmetric matrices preserves symmetry because $(AB{A}^T{)}^T=AB{A}^T$, and preserves determinant because $\det (AB{A}^T)=(\det A{)}^2\det B=1$. The identity acts trivially andThese verify a smooth left Lie group action of the special linear group. By Sylvester's law of inertia, it also preserves the numbers of positive and negative eigenvalues.

For $n=2$, parametrize the symmetric matrices byThus $M$ is exactly the two-sheeted hyperboloidThe two sheets consist respectively of positive-definite and negative-definite matrices. Each is preserved by the special linear congruence action on symmetric matrices. They are individually transitive: on the positive sheet $B=A{A}^T$ with $A=B^{1/2}$ and $\det A=1$; on the negative sheet use $B=-A{A}^T$. The stabilizer of either $I$ or $-I$ is $SO(2)$.

Differentiating the left Lie group action along $\exp (sX)$ gives the fundamental vector fieldFor the three matrices in the question, their coordinate components areA sign convention matters here. With the usual Lie bracket of vector fields $[U,V]f=U(Vf)-V(Uf)$, the fundamental fields of this left action obey $[u_X,u_Y]=-u_{[X,Y]}$. Indeed, for linear coordinate fields $u_X(z)=R_{X}z$, the bracket has coefficient $(R_Y{R}_X-R_X{R}_Y)z$. To obtain a Lie algebra representation rather than an anti-representation, use the infinitesimal left-action sign conventionAn explicit answer is thereforeThese are tangent to the two-sheeted hyperboloid: applying each to $Q=t^2-x^2-y^2$ gives zero. For example,They can be written on either sheet using $t=\pm \sqrt{1+x^2+y^2}$:Here the omitted ${\partial }_t$ component is determined by tangency, and derivatives of $t(x,y)$ must be included when computing brackets in these coordinates.

Direct matrix multiplication givesDirect differentiation of the displayed vector fields gives exactlyFor instance, in ambient $(t,x,y)$ coordinates, $[v_1,v_3]=(-2x,-2t,0)=v_2$. These are the defining relations of the sl2 Lie algebra. The three fields are linearly independent over constant real coefficients: if $a{v}_1+b{v}_2+c{v}_3$ vanishes on a sheet, its ${\partial }_x$ coefficient $(-a+c)y-2bt$ forces $b=0,c=a$, and its ${\partial }_y$ coefficient then equals $-2at$, forcing $a=c=0$. Thus the representation is faithful. Their pointwise span need only have dimension two, consistent with the dimension of each sheet.

In the orthonormal basis of part (b), the three quadric surfaces have the following forms. For $\alpha =1$,a two-sheeted hyperboloid with axis $u$, vertices $(\pm 1/\sqrt{6},0,0)$, and one sheet on each side of the plane $u=0$. For $\alpha =0$,an elliptic cone with vertex at the origin and the same axis. For $\alpha =-1$,a one-sheet hyperboloid with axis $u$ and a waist ellipse at $u=0$, whose semiaxes are $1/\sqrt{3}$ along $v$ and $1/2$ along $w$. The sections at fixed $u$ enlarge away from the waist.

The displayed coordinates identify determinant-one real symmetric matrices of size two with the two-sheeted hyperboloid. The special linear congruence action on symmetric matrices is transitive on each sheet, with stabilizer $SO(2)$. In particular the positive sheet is the homogeneous space $SL(2,\mathbb{R})/SO(2)$, a model of the hyperbolic plane.