Bifurcations of robust features on surfaces in the Minkowski 3-space (Q6192122)

Let \(M\) be a surface in Minkowski 3-space \(\mathbb{R}^{3}_{1}\). The Lorentzian metric induces a pseudo metric on \(M\). The locus of points on \(M\) where the induced pseudo metric is degenerate is called the locus of degeneracy (LD). This separates the surface into regions where the induced metric is Riemannian or Lorentzian. On such regions the Gaussian and mean curvature of the surface are well defined. The zero sets of the Gaussian and mean curvature functions extend to the LD and are called, respectively, the parabolic curve (PC) and mean curvature null curve (MCNC). The equation of the lines of principal curvature also extends to the LD: in the Riemannian region the discriminant of that equation consists of the umbilic points; in the Lorentzian region it is the locus of points where two principal directions coincide and become lightlike and is labelled LPL. In this paper the authors classify all possible local bifurcations of the LD, the LPL, the MCNC and the PC when the surface is deformed in generic 1-parameter families of surfaces.