No label defined (Q4220186)

The article presents an elementary introduction to the theory of bending of surfaces in Euclidean 3-space. The author gives a formal definition of the bending of a surface and interprets it in naive terms, he introduces (in a formal way) the first and the second fundamental forms of a surface and presents (without proof) the Gauss and Codazzi-Mainardi equations (following the Russian tradition, the author refers to the latter equations as the Peterson-Codazzi equations). He formulates and proves the well-known Hilbert theorem which asserts that the sphere is uniquely determined by its intrinsic metrics among all \(C^3\)-smooth surfaces in Euclidean 3-space. The latter part of the article deals with bendings of surfaces with boundaries. The author uses elementary methods for demonstrating that each small simply connected piece of a surface of constant curvature admits nontrivial continuous bendings. The article is based on a lecture given by the author for secondary school teachers in the framework of the ``International Soros Science Educational Program'' and is aimed at presenting contemporary developments in mathematics at an elementary level comprehensible for secondary school teachers and pupils.