Submanifolds with flat normal bundle (Q5903193)

The behavior of the principal curvatures of a submanifold in a space form has close relation with the topology and geometry of the submanifold. In this paper a submanifold \(M^ n\) of a space form \(N^{n+k}(c)\) is called Weingarten if \(\nu\) (M) is flat and the principal curvatures satisfy some functional relation. The classical Bonnet transformations are generalized. M is called weakly isoparametric if every line of curvature is a standard circle, \(\nu\) (M) is flat, and for every parallel normal field v the shape operator \(A_ v\) has constant multiplicities. We prove that if M is weakly isoparametric then M is \({\mathbb{Z}}_ 2\)-taut, and the rank of \(H_*(M,{\mathbb{Z}}_ 2)\) is the number of components of the non-focal points in \(\nu (M)_ X\). This generalizes the homology theorem for isoparametric submanifolds and also generalizes Thorbergsson's theorem for Dupin hypersurfaces with constant multiplicities.