On the geometry of the cross-cap in the Minkoswki 3-space and binary differential equations (Q312737)

Let \(M\) and \(N\) be smooth manifolds of dimension two and three, respectively. Similarly to the case of maps between surfaces, Whitney described the singularities of generic smooth maps \(f : M \rightarrow N\) and proved that there is a finite number of these. The image of such a map forms a surface in the Euclidean three-dimensional space. This surface may have lines where two sheets of the surface intersect each other at a nonzero angle and particular points where three sheets intersect. It turns out that apart from these obvious singularities generic maps may only have one other type of singularity which is stable. The image of the corresponding map is a remarkable surface in the Euclidean 3-space; it is often called the Whitney or Cayley umbrella, the pinch-point surface, the crosscap, etc. The differential geometry of Whitney umbrella has been investigated in many works (see, e.g. [\textit{J. W. Bruce} and \textit{J. M. West}, Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 123, No. 1, 19--39 (1998; Zbl 1006.53005)]). In the paper under review the authors consider the vector space \(\mathbb R^3\) endowed with the metric given by the pseudo-scalar product, the so-called the Minkowski 3-space (see [\textit{B. O'Neill}, Semi-Riemannian geometry. With applications to relativity. New York-London etc.: Academic Press (1983; Zbl 0531.53051)]). Similarly to the above, the singularities of generic maps \(f : \mathbb R^2 \rightarrow \mathbb R^3_1\) are well-defined, as well as crosscaps. At the crosscap point, the tangent plane to the surface degenerates to a line called the tangential line of the crosscap. The three types of this line (spacelike, timelike, lightlike) determine the three types of crosscaps. The authors study the differential geometry of the corresponding surfaces with the use of explicit parametrisations, solutions of certain binary differential equations, discriminant curves, and so on.