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Chmutov Surface


A Chmutov surface of degree d>=1 is an algebraic surface with affine equation

 P_d(x_1,x_2)+1/2[T_d(x_3)+1]=0,
(1)

where T_d(x) is a Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind and P_d(x_1,x_2) is a polynomial defined by

 P_d(x_1,x_2)=2+|x_1 1 0 ... 0 0 0
2x_2 x_1 1 ... 0 0 0
3 x_2 x_1 ... ... ... |
0 1 x_2 ... 1 0 0
0 0 1 ... x_1 1 0
| ... ... ... x_2 x_1 1
0 0 0 ... 1 x_2 x_1|+|x_2 1 0 ... 0 0 0
2x_1 x_2 1 ... 0 0 0
3 x_1 x_2 ... ... ... |
0 1 x_1 ... 1 0 0
0 0 1 ... x_2 1 0
| ... ... ... x_1 x_2 1
0 0 0 ... 1 x_1 x_2|,
(2)

where the matrices have dimensions d×d (Chmutov 1992; Breske et al. 2008, p. 49). The projective closures of these surfaces lie in CP^3 and have only ordinary double points as singularities. The first few surfaces are given by

2x+2y+z+5=0
(3)
x^2+y^2+z^2=2x+2y-2
(4)
17+2x^3+2y^3+4z^3=3(4xy+z).
(5)

The dth order such surface has

 N(d)={1/(12)(5d^3-13d^2+12d)   if d=0 (mod 6); 1/(12)(5d^3-13d^2+16d-8)   if d=2,4 (mod 6); 1/(12)(5d^3-14d^2+13d-4)   if d=1,5 (mod 6); 1/(12)(5d^3-14d^2+9d)   if d=3 (mod 6)
(6)

singular points (Chmutov 1992; Breske et al. 2008, p. 50), giving the sequence 0, 1, 3, 14, 28, 57, 93, 154, 216, 321, 425, 576, 732, 949, 1155, ... (OEIS A057870) for d=1, 2, .... These surfaces give explicit lower bounds for the maximum number of ordinary double points on a surface of degree d, with N(d)∼5d^3/12 as d->infty.

Chmutov surfaces of order 4, 6, and 10
CmutovSurface

Based on Chmutov's equations, Banchoff (1991) defined the simpler set of surfaces

 T_n(x)+T_n(y)+T_n(z)=0,
(7)

where n is a positive even number and T_n(x) is again a Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind. This is a separate family whose projective closures are nonsingular. For example, the surfaces illustrated above have orders 2, 4, and 6 and are given by the equations

2(x^2+y^2+z^2)=3
(8)
3+8(x^4+y^4+z^4)=8(x^2+y^2+z^2)
(9)
2[x^2(3-4x^2)^2+y^2(3-4y^2)^2+z^2(3-4z^2)^2]=3.
(10)

See also

Goursat's Surface, Ordinary Double Point, Superellipse, Tanglecube

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References

Banchoff, T. F. "Computer Graphics Tools for Rendering Algebraic Surfaces and for Geometry of Order." In Geometric Analysis and Computer Graphics: Proceedings of a Workshop Held May 23-25, 1988 (Ed. P. Concus, R. Finn, and D. A. Hoffman). New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 31-37, 1991.Breske, S.; Labs, O.; and van Straten, D. "Real Line Arrangements and Surfaces with Many Real Nodes." In Geometric Modeling and Algebraic Geometry (Ed. B. Jüttler and R. Piene). Berlin, Germany: Springer, pp. 47-54, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72185-7_3.Chmutov, S. V. "Examples of Projective Surfaces with Many Singularities." J. Algebraic Geom. 1, 191-196, 1992.Hirzebruch, F. "Singularities of Algebraic Surfaces and Characteristic Numbers." In The Lefschetz Centennial Conference, Part I: Proceedings of the Conference on Algebraic Geometry, Algebraic Topology, and Differential Equations, Held in Mexico City, December 10-14, 1984 (Ed. S. Sundararaman). Providence, RI: Amer. Math. Soc., pp. 141-155, 1986.Sloane, N. J. A. Sequence A057870 in "The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences."Trott, M. Graphica 1: The World of Mathematica Graphics. The Imaginary Made Real: The Images of Michael Trott. Champaign, IL: Wolfram Media, pp. 3 and 82, 1999.Trott, M. The Mathematica GuideBook for Graphics. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2004. https://www.mathematicaguidebooks.org/.

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Chmutov Surface

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Chmutov Surface." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ChmutovSurface.html

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