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Gauss Maps in Hyperbolic Surface Theory:A Unified Perspective

Differential Geometry 2026-07-26 v1

Abstract

Immersed surfaces in hyperbolic three-space carry several natural Gauss-type maps with distinct geometric roles. The hyperbolic Gauss maps record the ideal endpoints of oriented normal geodesics; the Legendre Gauss lift retains the position-normal data and its contact structure; adjusted Gauss maps arise from gauge normalization and Iwasawa splitting in Weierstrass--Kenmotsu representations; and the conformal Gauss map encodes the mean-curvature sphere congruence in M\"obius geometry. We present these constructions in a common framework, emphasizing their target spaces, analytic properties, and mutual relations. Particular attention is given to the generalized DPW method, the necessity of flatness in adjusted rank-one data, and the harmonic-map characterization of Willmore surfaces. The resulting viewpoint distinguishes the asymptotic, contact, integrable, and conformal information carried by an immersed surface in H3(1)\mathbb{H}^{3}(-1).

Cite

@article{arxiv.2608.00051,
  title  = {Gauss Maps in Hyperbolic Surface Theory:A Unified Perspective},
  author = {Magdalena Toda and Erhan Güler},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.00051},
  year   = {2026}
}

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19 pages