English

Affine Rigidity Without Integration

Differential Geometry 2021-03-16 v4 Complex Variables

Abstract

Real analytic (Cω\mathcal{C}^\omega) surfaces S2S^2 in R3(x,y,u)\mathbb{R}^3 \ni (x,y,u) graphed as {u=F(x,y)}\big\{ u = F(x,y) \big\} with Fxx0F_{xx} \neq 0 whose Gaussian curvature vanishes identically: 0FxxFyyFxy2, 0 \,\equiv\, F_{xx}\,F_{yy} - F_{xy}^2, possess, under the action of the affine transformation group Aff3(R)=GL3(R)R3{\sf Aff}_3(\mathbb{R}) = {\sf GL}_3(\mathbb{R}) \ltimes \mathbb{R}^3, a basic invariant analogous to 22-nondegeneracy for Cω\mathcal{C}^\omega real hypersurfaces M5C3M^5 \subset \mathbb{C}^3: Saff:=FxxFxxyFxyFxxxFxx2. S_{\sf aff} \,:=\, \frac{F_{xx}\,F_{xxy}-F_{xy}\,F_{xxx}}{ F_{xx}^2}. It is known (or easily recovered) that SS is affinely equivalent to {u=x2}\big\{ u = x^2 \big\} if and only if Saff0S_{\sf aff} \equiv 0. Assuming that Saff0S_{\sf aff} \neq 0 everywhere, two deeper affine invariants inspired from Pocchiola's Ph.D. are WaffW_{\sf aff} and JaffJ_{\sf aff}. Explicit expressions are given in this article. Theorem. SS is affinely equivalent to {u=x21y}\big\{ u = \frac{x^2}{1-y} \big\} if and only if Waff0JaffW_{\sf aff} \equiv 0 \equiv J_{\sf aff}. As a direct corollary of the (brief) proof, affine rigidity of CR-flat 22-nondegenerate Cω\mathcal{C}^\omega Levi rank 11 hypersurfaces M5C3M^5 \subset \mathbb{C}^3 is deduced. The arguments rely on pure affine geometry, avoid any tool from Analysis, and simplify A.V. Isaev, J. Differential Geom. 104 (2016), 111--141. An independent article will show, in a more general context, how C\mathcal{C}^\infty (even C7\mathcal{C}^7) F(x,y)F(x,y) can be handled.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1903.00889,
  title  = {Affine Rigidity Without Integration},
  author = {Joel Merker},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1903.00889},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

28 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-23T07:56:41.433Z