Curve
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In [[mathematics]], the concept of a '''curve''' tries to capture the intuitive idea of a geometrical '''one-dimensional''' and '''continuous''' object. A simple example is the [[circle]]. In everyday use of the term "curve", a straight line is not curved, but in mathematical parlance curves include straight lines and line segments. A [[list of curves|large number of other curves]] have been studied in [[geometry]].
This article is about the general theory. The term '''''curve''''' is also used in ways making it almost synonymous with [[mathematical function]] (as in ''[[learning curve]]''), or [[graph of a function]] ([[Phillips curve]]).
[[Image:HypotrochoidCurve.png|frame|right|An example of a (simple, closed) curve: a [[hypotrochoid]].]]
==Definitions==
In [[mathematics]], a (topological) '''curve''' is defined as follows: let <math>I</math> be an [[Interval (mathematics)|interval]] of [[real number]]s (i.e. a [[Set|non-empty]] [[connected space | connected]] [[subset]] of <math>\mathbb{R}</math>); then a curve <math>\!\,\gamma</math> is a [[continuous function (topology)|continuous]] [[mapping]] <math>\,\!\gamma : I \rightarrow X</math>, where <math>X</math> is a [[topological space]]. The curve <math>\!\,\gamma</math> is said to be '''simple''' if it is [[injective]], i.e. if for all <math>x</math>, <math>y</math> in <math>I</math>, we have <math>\,\!\gamma(x) = \gamma(y) \implies x = y</math>. If <math>I</math> is a closed bounded interval <math>\,\![a, b]</math>, we also allow the possibility <math>\,\!\gamma(a) = \gamma(b)</math> (this convention makes it possible to talk about closed simple curve).
<!-- I think the use of all \!\, above is against WP guideline "avoid at all cost inline PNGs", I can't see justification for it. -MFH -->
If <math>\gamma(x)=\gamma(y)</math> for some <math>x\ne y</math> (other than the extremities of <math>I</math>), then <math>\gamma(x)</math> is called a '''double''' (or '''multiple''') '''point''' of the curve.
A curve <math>\!\,\gamma</math> is said to be '''closed''' or '''a loop''' if <math>\,\!I = [a, b]</math> and if <math>\!\,\gamma(a) = \gamma(b)</math>. A closed curve is thus a continuous mapping of the circle <math>S^1</math>; a '''simple closed curve''' is also called a '''Jordan curve''' or a '''Jordan arc'''.
A '''[[plane curve]]''' is a curve for which ''X'' is the [[Euclidean plane]] — these are the examples first encountered — or in some cases the [[projective plane]]. A '''space curve''' is a curve for which ''X'' is of three dimensions, usually [[Euclidean space]]; a '''skew curve''' is a space curve which lies in no plane. These definitions also apply to [[algebraic curve]]s (see below). However, in the case of algebraic curves it is very common not to restrict the curve to having points only defined over the real numbers.
This definition of curve captures our intuitive notion of a curve as a connected, continuous geometric figure that is "like" a line, without thickness and drawn without interruption, although it also includes figures that can hardly be called curves in common usage. For example, the image of a curve can cover a [[Square (geometry)|square]] in the plane ([[space-filling curve]]). The image of simple plane curve can have [[Hausdorff dimension]] bigger than one (see [[Koch snowflake]]) and even [[negative and non-negative numbers|positive]] [[Lebesgue measure]]<ref>{{cite journal|last=Osgood|first=William F.|year=1903|month=January|title=A Jordan Curve of Positive Area|journal=Transactions of the American Mathematical Society|publisher=American Mathematical Society|volume=4|issue=1|pages=107–112|language=English|url=http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9947(190301)4%3A1%3C107%3AAJCOPA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T|accessdate=2008-06-04|doi=10.2307/1986455}}</ref> (the last example can be obtained by small variation of the Peano curve construction). The [[dragon curve]] is another unusual example.
==Conventions and terminology==
The distinction between a curve and its [[image (mathematics)|image]] is important. Two distinct curves may have the same image. For example, a [[line segment]] can be traced out at different speeds, or a circle can be traversed a different number of times. Many times, however, we are just interested in the image of the curve. It is important to pay attention to context and convention in reading.
Terminology is also not uniform. Often, topologists use the term "[[path (topology)|path]]" for what we are calling a curve, and "curve" for what we are calling the image of a curve. The term "curve" is more common in [[vector calculus]] and [[differential geometry]].
==Lengths of curves==
{{main|Arc length}}
If <math>X</math> is a [[metric space]] with metric <math>d</math>, then we can define the ''length'' of a curve <math>\!\,\gamma : [a, b] \rightarrow X</math> by
:<math>\mbox{Length} (\gamma)=\sup \left\{ \sum_{i=1}^n d(\gamma(t_i),\gamma(t_{i-1})) : n \in \mathbb{N} \mbox{ and } a = t_0 < t_1 < \cdots < t_n = b \right\}. </math>
A '''rectifiable curve''' is a curve with [[wiktionary:finite|finite]] length.
A [[Parametric_equation|parametrization]] of <math>\!\,\gamma</math> is called '''natural''' (or '''unit speed''' or '''parametrised by arc length''') if for any <math>t_1</math>, <math>t_2</math> in <math>[a, b]</math>, we have
:<math> \mbox{length} (\gamma|_{[t_1,t_2]})=|t_2-t_1|. </math>
If <math>\!\,\gamma</math> is a [[Lipschitz continuity|Lipschitz-continuous]] function, then it is automatically rectifiable. Moreover, in this case, one can define speed of <math>\!\,\gamma</math> at <math>t_0</math> as
:<math>\mbox{speed}(t_0)=\limsup_{t\to t_0} {d(\gamma(t),\gamma(t_0))\over |t-t_0|} </math>
and then
:<math>\mbox{length}(\gamma)=\int_a^b \mbox{speed}(t) \, dt.</math>
In particular, if <math>X = \mathbb{R}^n</math> is [[Euclidean space]] and <math>\gamma : [a, b] \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^n</math> is [[differentiable]] then
:<math>\mbox{Length}(\gamma)=\int_a^b \| \gamma '(t) \| \, dt. </math>
==Differential geometry==
{{main|Differential geometry of curves}}
While the first examples of curves that are met are mostly plane curves (that is, in everyday words, ''curved lines'' in ''two-dimensional space''), there are obvious examples such as the [[helix]] which exist naturally in three dimensions. The needs of geometry, and also for example [[classical mechanics]] are to have a notion of curve in space of any number of dimensions. In [[general relativity]], a [[world line]] is a curve in [[spacetime]].
If <math>X</math> is a [[differentiable manifold]], then we can define the notion of ''differentiable curve'' in <math>X</math>. This general idea is enough to cover many of the applications of curves in mathematics. From a local point of view one can take <math>X</math> to be [[Euclidean space]]. On the other hand it is useful to be more general, in that (for example) it is possible to define the [[tangent vector]]s to <math>X</math> by means of this notion of curve.
If <math>X</math> is a [[smooth manifold]], a ''smooth curve'' in <math>X</math> is a [[smooth map]]
:<math>\!\,\gamma : I \rightarrow X.</math>
This is a basic notion. There are less and more restricted ideas, too. If <math>X</math> is a <math>C^k</math> manifold (i.e., a manifold whose [[chart (topology)|charts]] are <math>k</math> times [[continuously differentiable]]), then a <math>C^k</math> curve in <math>X</math> is such a curve which is only assumed to be <math>C^k</math> (i.e. <math>k</math> times continuously differentiable). If <math>X</math> is an [[manifold|analytic manifold]] (i.e. infinitely differentiable and charts are expressible as [[power series]]), and <math>\!\,\gamma</math> is an analytic map, then <math>\!\,\gamma</math> is said to be an ''analytic curve''.
A differentiable curve is said to be ''regular'' if its [[derivative]] never vanishes. (In words, a regular curve never slows to a stop or backtracks on itself.) Two <math>C^k</math> differentiable curves
:<math>\!\,\gamma_1 :I \rightarrow X</math> and
:<math>\!\,\gamma_2 : J \rightarrow X</math>
are said to be ''equivalent'' if there is a [[bijection|bijective]] <math>C^k</math> map
:<math>\!\,p : J \rightarrow I</math>
such that the [[inverse map]]
:<math>\!\,p^{-1} : I \rightarrow J</math>
is also <math>C^k</math>, and
:<math>\!\,\gamma_{2}(t) = \gamma_{1}(p(t))</math>
for all <math>t</math>. The map <math>\!\,\gamma_2</math> is called a ''reparametrisation'' of <math>\!\,\gamma_1</math>; and this makes an [[equivalence relation]] on the set of all <math>C^k</math> differentiable curves in <math>X</math>. A <math>C^k</math> ''arc'' is an [[equivalence class]] of <math>C^k</math> curves under the relation of reparametrisation.
==Algebraic curve==
{{main|Algebraic curve}}
Algebraic curves are the curves considered in [[algebraic geometry]]. A plane algebraic curve is the locus of points ''f''(''x'', ''y'') = 0, where ''f''(''x'', ''y'') is a polynomial in two variables defined over some field ''F''. Algebraic geometry normally looks at such curves in the context of [[algebraically closed field]]s. If ''K'' is the [[algebraic closure]] of ''F'', and ''C'' is a curve defined by a polynomial ''f''(''x'', ''y'') defined over ''F'', the points of the curve defined over ''F'', consisting of pairs (''a'', ''b'') with ''a'' and ''b'' in ''F'', can be denoted ''C''(''F''); the full curve itself being ''C''(''K'').
Algebraic curves can also be space curves, or curves in even higher dimensions, obtained as the intersection (common solution set) of more than one polynomial equation in more than two variables. By eliminating variables by means of the [[resultant]], these can be reduced to [[plane algebraic curve]]s, which however may introduce singularities such as cusps or double points. We may also consider these curves to have points defined in the [[projective plane]]; if
''f''(''x'', ''y'') = 0 then if ''x'' = ''u''/''w'' and ''y'' = ''v''/''w'', and ''n'' is the total degree of ''f'', then by expanding out ''w''<sup>''n''</sup>''f''(''u''/''w'', ''v''/''w'') = 0 we obtain ''g''(''u'', ''v'', ''w'') = 0, where ''g'' is [[homogeneous polynomial|homogeneous]] of degree ''n''. An example is the [[Fermat curve]] '''u'''<sup>''n''</sup> + '''v'''<sup>''n''</sup> = '''w'''<sup>''n''</sup>, which has an affine form '''x'''<sup>''n''</sup> + '''y'''<sup>''n''</sup> = 1.
Important examples of algebraic curves are the [[conic]]s, which are nonsingular curves of degree two and [[genus (mathematics)|genus]] zero, and [[elliptic curve]]s, which are nonsingular curves of genus one studied in [[number theory]] and which have important applications to [[cryptography]]. Because algebraic curves in fields of [[characteristic (algebra)|characteristic]] zero are most often studied over the [[complex number]]s, algbebraic curves in algebraic geometry look like [[real number|real]] surfaces. Looking at them projectively, if we have a nonsingular curve in ''n'' dimensions, we obtain a picture in the complex projective space of dimension ''n'', which corresponds to a real [[manifold]] of dimension 2''n'', in which the curve is an embedded smooth and compact surface with a certain number of holes in it, the genus. In fact, non-singular complex projective algebraic curves are [[compact space|compact]] [[Riemann surface]]s.
==History==
A curve may be a [[Locus (mathematics)|locus]], or a path. That is, it may be a graphical representation of some property of points; or it may be traced out, for example by a stick in the sand on a beach. Of course if one says curved in ordinary language, it means bent (not straight), so refers to a locus. This leads to the general idea of [[curvature]]. As we now understand, after [[Newtonian dynamics]], to follow a curved path a body must experience [[acceleration]]. Before that, the application of current ideas to (for example) the [[physics]] of [[Aristotle]] is probably anachronistic. This is important because major examples of curves are the [[orbit]]s of the planets. One reason for the use of the [[Ptolemaic system]] of [[epicycle and deferent]] was the special status accorded to the [[circle]] as curve.
The [[conic section]]s had been deeply studied by [[Apollonius of Perga]]. They were applied in [[astronomy]] by [[Johannes Kepler|Kepler]]. The Greek [[geometers]] had studied many other kinds of curves. One reason was their interest in geometric constructions, going beyond [[compass and straightedge]]. In that way, the intersection of curves could be used to solve some [[polynomial equation]]s, such as that involved in [[trisecting an angle]].
Newton also worked on an early example in the [[calculus of variations]]. Solutions to variational problems, such as the [[brachistochrone]] and [[tautochrone]] questions, introduced properties of curves in new ways (in this case, the [[cycloid]]). The [[catenary]] gets its name as the solution to the problem of a hanging chain, the sort of question that became routinely accessible by means of [[differential calculus]].
In the eighteenth century came the beginnings of the theory of plane algebraic curves, in general. Newton had studied the [[cubic curve]]s, in the general description of the real points into 'ovals'. The statement of [[Bézout's theorem]] showed a number of aspects which were not directly accessible to the geometry of the time, to do with singular points and complex solutions.
From the nineteenth century there is not a separate curve theory, but rather the appearance of curves as the one-dimensional aspect of [[projective geometry]], and [[differential geometry]]; and later [[topology]], when for example the [[Jordan curve theorem]] was understood to lie quite deep, as well as being required in [[complex analysis]]. The era of the [[space-filling curve]]s finally provoked the modern definitions of curve.
==See also==
*[[Differential geometry of curves]]
*[[Curve orientation]]
*[[Curves in differential geometry]]
*[[List of curves]]
*[[List of curve topics]]
*[[Osculating circle]]
*[[Parametric surface]]
*[[Path (topology)]]
*[[Position vector]]
*[[Vector-valued function]]
==References==
<references />
*{{springer|author=B.I. Golubov|id=r/r080130|title=Rectifiable curve}}
*[http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Curves/Curves.html Famous Curves Index], School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland
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