Total curvature of complete surfaces in hyperbolic space (Q990748)

This paper deals with an original Gauss-Bonnet formula for the extrinsic curvature of complete surfaces in hyperbolic space. Namely, let \(f: M^2\hookrightarrow H^3\) be a \(C^2\)-immersed complete surface with cone-like ends. It means that (a) \(M^2\) is the interior of a compact surface with boundary, \(\bar M^2\), and taking the Poincaré half-space model of the hyperbolic space, \(f\) extends to a \(C^2\)-immersion \(f: \bar M^2 \hookrightarrow \mathbb R^3\); (b) \(f(\bar M^2)\) is a collection of simple closed curves \(C_1\),\dots, \(C_n\) in \(\partial_\infty H^3\), the boundary of the model; (c) \(f (\bar M^2)\) is orthogonal to \(\partial_\infty H^3\) along \(C_1\),\dots, \(C_n\). Then it is proved that the following formula for the extrinsic curvature \(K\) holds: \[ \int\limits_M K dS = 2\pi (\chi (M) - n) +\frac{1}{\pi}\int\limits_{\mathcal L}\left( \sharp(l\cap M) -\sum\limits_{i=1}^n \lambda^2(l,C_i)\right) dl - \frac{1}{\pi}\sum\limits_{i=1}^n\int\limits_{C_i\times C_i}\theta\sin\theta\frac{dx\,dy}{|| y-x||^2}, \] and all the integrals are absolutely convergent. The second term is written with the following notation: \({\mathcal L}\) denotes the space of geodesics in \(H^3\), \(dl\) is the invariant measure on \({\mathcal L}\), \(\lambda^2(l,C_i)\) is the linking number of \(C_i\) with \(l\in{\mathcal L}\), \(\sharp\) stands for the cardinality. This term is called the measure of non-trivial geodesics of \(M\), it is considered as a ``truncated area'' of \(M\) in view of the Crofton formula, [cf. \textit{T. F. Banchoff, W. F. Pohl}, J. Differ. Geom. 6, 175--192 (1971; Zbl 0227.53040)], \textit{E. Teufel}, Result. Math. 22, No.~1--2, 622--630 (1992; Zbl 0762.53045)]. The third term is called the ideal defect of \(M\), [cf. \textit{R. Langevin, J. O'Hara}, J. Inst. Math. Jussieu 4, No.~2, 219--280 (2005; Zbl 1077.57006)]. The function \(\theta:C_i\times C_i \to \mathbb{R}\) in this term is defined as follows: Given a pair of distinct points \(x,y\in C_i\), \(\theta (x,y)\) is equal to the oriented angle at \(x\) from \(C_i\) to the oriented circle through \(x\) that is positively tangent to \(C_i\) at \(y\), and \(\theta(x,x)=0\) is symmetric and independent of the orientation of \(C_i\). Next, \(dx\) and \(dy\) denote length elements on \(C_i\) with respect to the Euclidean metric \({|| \cdot ||}\) on \(\partial_\infty H^3 =\mathbb R^3\). Both \(\theta\) and \(dx dy /|| y-x||^2\) are invariant under Möbius transformations. The proved statement is analogous to those obtained in [\textit{F. Dillen, W. Kühnel}, Tohoku Math. J., II. Ser. 57, No.~2, 171--200 (2005; Zbl 1087.53007)], see also [\textit{N. Dutertre}, [Adv. Geom. 8, No.~1, 33--51 (2008; Zbl 1222.14124)].