Some characterizations of spheres and elliptic paraboloids (Q417567)

Archimedes has proved that the surface area of a zone of distance \(h\) of a sphere \(S^2(a)\) of radius \(a\) in Euclidean 3-space, intersecting \(S^2(a)\), is \(2\pi ah\), i.e. only depends on the width \(h\) of the zone. The authors prove conversely that if for a closed and convex surface \(M\) in Euclidean 3-space \(\mathbb{E}^3\) the surface area between two parallel planes of distance \(h\) (which intersect \(M\)) depends only on \(h\) then \(M\) is a Euclidean sphere. Hereby the tool of proof is a new meaning of Gauss curvature \(K(p)\) at a point \(p\) of \(M\). -- In a similar manner the authors characterize elliptic paraboloids in \(\mathbb{E}^{n+1}\).