Generic smooth connection functions: a new analytic approach to Hermite interpolation

Abstract: We present a generic solution to the fundamental problem of how to connect two points in a plane by a smooth curve that goes through these points with a given slope. The smoothness of any curve depends both on its curvature and its length. The smoothest curves correspond to a particular compromise between minimal curvature and minimal length. They can be described by a class of functions that satisfy certain boundary conditions and minimize a weight functional. The value of this functional is given essentially by the average of the curvature raised to some power

u times the length of the curve. The parameter u determines the importance of minimal curvature with respect to minimal length. In order to find the functions that obtain the minimal weight, we use extensively notions that are well-known in classical mechanics. The minimization of the weight functional via the Euler-Lagrange formalism leads to a highly non-trivial differential equation. Using the symmetries of the problem it is possible to find conserved quantities, that help to simplify the problem to a level where the solution functions can be written in a closed form for any given

u. Applying the appropriate coordinate transformation to these solutions allows to adjust them to all possible boundary conditions.

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The theory of connections: connecting points

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