On evolutoids of planar convex curves. II (Q5964965)

Consider a convex body \(K\) in a plane, and denote by \(\partial K\) its boundary. Suppose \(\partial K\) is parametrized by a convex smooth curve \(\gamma\) defined on [0, 2\(\pi\)], \(\gamma(t) = p(t)u(t) + p'(t)u'(t)\), where \(u(t)=(\mathrm{cost},\mathrm{sint})\) and \(p(t)\) is the distance with sign from the origin to the tangent line \(l(t)\) in \(\gamma(t)\). Let \(\alpha \in [0, 2\pi]\) be a fixed angle; for every \(t\), consider the line through \(\gamma(t)\) which makes an angle \(\alpha\) counterclockwise with respect to \(l(t)\). The envelope of all these lines is called the (left) evolutoid of angle \(\alpha\) and is denoted by \(\gamma_{\alpha}\). (The right evolutoid is defined analogously.) Only the case when \(\gamma_{\alpha}\) is (also) convex is considered in the sequel. The authors prove that: (i) The Steiner centroids of \(\gamma\) and \(\gamma_{\alpha}\) coincide. (ii) Suppose \(\gamma\) is strictly convex and \(\alpha \in (0, 2\pi)\); then \(\gamma\) and \(\gamma_{\alpha}\) are homothetic if and only if \(\gamma\) is a circle. Other results involve the situation when the left evolutoid coincides with the right evolutoid or necessary conditions in order for \(\gamma\) to be a circle.