\(G^{1}\) Hermite interpolation by Minkowski Pythagorean hodograph cubics (Q2495953)

For the Minkowski Pythagorean hodograph (MPH) curve see \textit{H. P. Moon} [Comput. Aided Geom. Des. 16, 739--753 (1999; Zbl 0997.65023)]. In the present paper the authors deal with MPH cubics. As it is already mentioned in the title, they analyze the problem of G1 Hermite interpolation by MPH cubics. The authors formulate an algorithm for computing the interpolants in Bernstein-Bézier form. In order to simplify the analysis, they use Lorentz transforms to map the given Hermite data to one among five canonical positions. The problem has in the ``regular'' case four solutions, witch can be computed by solving two quadratic equations. Sufficient and necessary conditions for the existence of interpolants are given. The authors give conditions for converting curves into MPH cubic splines and establish that any space-like analytic curve can be approximately converted into a G1 MPH cubic spline. The approximation order is four, if the curve has no isolated inflexions. Otherwise, the approximation order drops to two. Theoretical results are illustrated by several examples.