Line congruences on singular surfaces (Q6876757)

A line congruence in 3-dimensional Euclidean space \(\mathbb{R}^3\) can be defined as a pair of smooth maps \N\[\Nx: U \to \mathbb{R}^3, \quad \xi: U \to \mathbb{R}^3 \setminus 0, \N\]\Nwhere \(U \subset \mathbb{R}^2\) is an open set and \(\xi(u_1,u_2)\) denotes the direction of the line passing through the point \(x(u_1,u_2)\), for all \((u_1,u_2) \in U\). An example of line congruences is given by the set of normal lines of a surface in \(\mathbb{R}^3\). Kummer's theory gives a connection between the classical geometry of surfaces in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) and line congruences. Most results in this theory are formulated for the case that the maps \(x\) and \(\xi\) are immersions.\N\NIn the present paper, the authors extend this theory to the case where \(x\) is a smooth map and \(\xi\) is a proper frontal. This gives new tools for the study of curvature lines near singular points of surfaces in \(\mathbb{R}^3\). The main result is that if \((x, \xi)\) is a normal congruence, then the equation of the principal surfaces is a multiple of the equation of the developable surfaces, and furthermore the zero set of this multiplicative factor is the singular set of \(\xi\). As a consequence, they prove that every surface of the congruence which is either developable or has a directrix curve in \(\Sigma (\xi)\) must be a principal surface.