Curvature properties of the slowness surface of the system of crystal acoustics for cubic crystals. II (Q436050)

The authors study geometric properties of the slowness surface of the system of crystal acoustics for cubic crystals in the special case when the stiffness constants satisfy the condition \(a = -2b\). The paper is a continuation of the paper [the first author, Osaka J. Math. 45, No. 1, 173--210 (2008; Zbl 1140.53002)] in which related properties were studied for general constants \(a\) and \(b\), but assuming that we are in the nearly isotropic case, in which \(a - b\) has to be small. The main theorem states that for \(a = -2b,\;b >0\), there are no non-trivial curves embedded in a certain quartic surface \(S\) with a common tangent plane. The proof is carried out in several steps, including an old theorem of Zeuthen, which states that a non-singular quartic in the real plane has at most eight real inflection points. A statement made in [loc. cit.] (see Remark 1.3) is also corrected.