Letter to the editor: On the definition of geometric continuity (Q1118331)
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English | Letter to the editor: On the definition of geometric continuity |
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Letter to the editor: On the definition of geometric continuity (English)
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1988
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During the last ten years several definitions of the ``smoothness'' of composite curves have been given. Most of them were called ``visual'' or ``geometric'' continuity. In the letter the author shows that there are only two different kinds of smoothness, namely ``contact of order n'' and ``continuity of geometric invariants''. Let \(x=x(t)\) be a composite continuous curve in \(R^ d\). It is shown that the smoothness of order n at the junction point \(x_+=x_-\) can be written as \([x,\dot x,...,x^{(n)}]_+=[x,\dot x,...,x^{(n)}]_-A.\) Both definitions of smoothness differ in elements of the connection matrix A, which has a special form \[ \left[\begin{matrix} 1 & 0 & \ldots & 0 \\ & \alpha & \ldots & * \\ && \ddots & \vdots \\ &&& \alpha^ n \end{matrix}\right], \] and in the resulting algebraic and geometric properties.
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geometric continuity
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connection matrix
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smoothness
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composite curves
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contact of order n
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continuity of geometric invariants
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