Conditions on a surface \(F^2 \subset E^n\) to lie in \(E^4\) (Q2860838)

This article investigates conditions on a two-dimensional parametric surface \(F^2\) in \(n\)-dimensional Euclidean space to lie in a four-dimensional subspace. A well-known necessary condition is that the plane of the ellipse \(e\) of normal curvature contains the corresponding surface point \(x\). Under this assumption, surface points may be classified into hyperbolic, elliptic, and parabolic, depending on weather \(x\) lies outside, inside, or on~\(e\).NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEFor surface patches with exclusively hyperbolic, elliptic, or parabolic points, the authors provide additional conditions that ensure containment in a subspace of dimension four. In the hyperbolic and parabolic case, these conditions refer to the integral curves of the tangents to the ellipse of normal curvature through its corresponding surface point. Typically, the statements follow from uniqueness results for differential equations arising from differential geometric requirements.NEWLINENEWLINEThe article concludes with a construction of two-dimensional surfaces in \(E^5\) for which the plane of the normal curvature ellipse passes through the corresponding surface point.