Distributed branch points and the shape of elastic surfaces with constant negative curvature (Q2022605)

The paper studies surfaces of constant negative curvature with branch points. Such surfaces are not of class $C^2$ at the branch points, but have a well defined tangent plane, and are therefore of class $C^{1,1}$. The authors define a topological index for the branch points and prove its robustness. There is also a discrete version of such surfaces based on discrete differential geometry. The authors argue that these surfaces are good candidates for minimizing bending energy. By using the discrete model, they made numerical experiments that corroborate this expectation. They also show numerically that fractal-like patterns appear in the distribution of branch points, and so this model can partially explain the appearance of buckling patterns in hyperbolic surfaces, which is the motivating question of the paper.