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Is there a two dimensional surface like a cone but whose base is elliptic or any non circular but smooth closed curve ? The surface should be smooth everywhere except at the vertex.

Rajesh D
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  • let $f(t)=(x(t),y(t),0), t\in[0,1], f(0)=f(1)$ be a planar curve in $\mathbb{R}^3$, and let $p=(a,b,c)$ be point in $\mathbb{R}^3$. then the surface $f(t)+s(p-f(t)), (s,t)\in[0,1]\times[0,1]$ is what you are looking for. this is differentiable if $f$ is. – yoyo Apr 25 '11 at 21:17

1 Answers1

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Yes.

bzc
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  • Can the contour of the base be any other smooth planar curve other than an ellipse ? – Rajesh D Apr 24 '11 at 03:41
  • Yes. Take any smooth planar curve $C$, embed this plane in ${\bf R}^3$ so that it doesn't contain the origin, and consider the surface consisting of points $t {\bf p}$ for ${\bf p} \in C$ and $t \in R$. – Robert Israel Apr 24 '11 at 04:40
  • @Robert Israel : Please suggest me some reference/text book to look into. I am not able to understand the notation and notions in your comment. – Rajesh D Apr 24 '11 at 06:18