Vector fields of shadows over surfaces
Given an oriented surface \(\Sigma\) embedded in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) and a non-zero vector \(v\in\mathbb{R}^3\), the shadow field \(S\) generated by \(v\) on \(\Sigma\) is the vector field given, for each \(p\in\Sigma\), by the projection along the direction \(v\) of the unit normal vector \(n_p\) into the affine tangent plane \(p+T_p\Sigma\) of \(\Sigma\) at~\(p\). The shadow field is well defined except at points \(p\in\Sigma\) where \(v\) is parallel to~\(T_pS\). The shadow lines are the integral curves of the shadow field. The isoshadow curves are the level curves of the function \(\|S\|\) on~\(\Sigma\).\N\NThis paper describes differential equations satisfied by shadow lines and implicit equations satisfied by isoshadow curves. A few examples (graphs, rotation surfaces, hyperboloids, tori, etc.) are studied. Finally, the author gives similar definitions for the case of orientable hypersurfaces embedded in \(\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\).
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