MINIMAL ROTATION SURFACES IN R4

NGUYEN VAN HOANG

DA NANG ARCHITECTURE UNIVERSITY
We denote by Oe1 e2 e3 a fixed orthonomal base of R3 . Let c be a smooth curve in R3 , parameterized:

c(u) = (x1 (u), x2 (u), r(u)); u ∈ J ⊂ R .

Without loss of gererality we can assume that c is parameterized with respect to the arc-length, i.e.

(x01 )2 + (x02 )2 + (r0 )2 = 1. (0.1)

We assume r(u) > 0, u ∈ J. Rotate c around the 2-dimensional plane Oe1 e2 we have the rotation
surface M 2 in R4 given by:

X(u, v) = (x1 (u), x2 (u), r(u) cos v, r(u) sin v); u ∈ J, v ∈ (0, 2π).

• If c is a line in R3 (Oe1 e2 e3 is a fixed orthonormal base), we rotate c around the 2-dimensional

plane Oe1 e2 we have a rotation surface in Oe1 e3 e4 : cylinder (c is parallel with Oe1 e2 ) or cone
(c intersects Oe1 e2 at a point) or plane (c perpendicular to Oe1 e2 ). Thus, M is minimal surface
if c perpendicular to Oe1 e2 .

• If c is not a line, we have:

Xu = (x01 , x02 , r0 cos v, r0 sin v),

Xv = (0, 0, −r sin v, r cos v).

Hence
E = hXu , Xu i = 1, F = hXu , Xv i = 0, G = hXv , Xv i = r2 .
The second partial derivatives of X(u, v) are expressed as follows

Xuu = (x001 , x002 , r00 cos v, r00 sin v),

Xuv = (0, 0, −r0 sin v, r0 cos v),
Xvv = (0, 0, −r cos v, −r sin v).

We consider the normal vector fields defined by:

1 00 00 00
e3 = (x , x , r cos v, r00 sin v);
κ 1 2
1
e4 = (x02 r00 − x002 r0 , x001 r0 − x01 r00 , (x01 x002 − x001 x02 ) cos v, (x01 x002 − x001 x02 ) sin v),
κ

(x1 )2 + (x002 )2 + (r00 )2 is the curvature of the curve c (in R3 ). Calculate

p 00
with κ =

a = 1, e = 0,
b = 0, f = 0,
−rr00 −r(x01 x002 − x001 x02 )
c= , g= .
κ κ

1
Rotation surface is minimal surface if only if
 a c (
 =− κr − r00 = 0
Ee Gg ⇔
 =− x01 x002 − x001 x02 = 0.
E G
Associate with (0.1), we have system of equations
 p
00 00 00
 (x1 )2 + (x2 )2 + (r00 )2 r − r = 0 (1)

x01 x002 − x001 x02 = 0 (2)
 (x0 )2 + (x0 )2 + (r0 )2 = 1

(3)
1 2
0
x01

- Case 1: If x2 6= C, (2), we have = 0 hence x01 = C1 x02
x02
• If C1 6= 0, we have x1 = C1 x2 + C3 . Associate with (1) and (3), we have:
 p
2 00 00
 (C1 + 1)(x1 )2 + (r00 )2 r − r = 0
 (4)
(C12 + 1)(x01 )2 + (r0 )2 = 1 (5)

 x =C x +C
1 1 2 3 (6)
s
1 − (r0 )2
Since (5) hence x01 = ± (−1 ≤ r0 ≤ 1).
C12 + 1
+ Consider (r0 )2 = 1, i.e. r = ±u + C0 thus x1 = C00 (unaccepted).
+ Consider −1 < r0 < 1, then

r0 r00 (r0 r00 )2

x001 = ± p 2 ⇒ (x001 )2 =
(C1 + 1)(1 − (r0 )2 (C12 + 1)(1 − (r0 )2

Associate with (4) we have s

(r0 r00 )2
+ (r00 )2 r = r00
(1 − (r0 )2
It is easy to see that r00 > 0, so we have:

r02
( + 1)r2 − 1 = 0
1 − r02

Hence r02 + r2 − 1 = 0.
Thus r = ± sin(−u + C4 ). At this time, associate with (5), find x1 we have:
1
x1 = ∓ p 2 cos(u + C4 ) + C5
C1 + 1

• If C1 = 0 then x1 = C2 , We have system of equations

( p
(x002 )2 + (r00 )2 r − r00 = 0 (7)
(x02 )2 + (r0 )2 = 1 (8)

Similar to system (4)-(6), we have solutions: r = ± sin(u + C4 ) and associate with (8), we get

x2 = ∓ cos(u + C4 ) + C5

2
- Case 2: If x2 = C then we have
( p
(x001 )2 + (r00 )2 r − r00 = 0
(x01 )2 + (r0 )2 = 1

The solutions of this system are similar to the solution of system (7) - (8).
Associate with two cases considered, we could conclude system of equations (1) - (3) have a solution:
1


 x1 = ± √ cos(u + b) + c
a2 + 1


a
x2 = ± √ cos(u + b) + d

 2
a +1

r = ∓ sin(u + b); a, b, c, d ∈ R,


Conclusion: Suppose we rotate a smooth curve c in a hyperplane around a plane P also in this
hyperplane, we have a minimal surface if and only if c is a curve lying on a unit sphere or a line which
is perpendicular to P .