English

Hilbert's Theorem, via moving frames

Differential Geometry 2021-11-11 v1

Abstract

We present a proof that the hyperbolic plane cannot be isometrically immersed in Euclidean 33-space by a CC^\infty map. Ideas from many topics in (essentially) undergraduate mathematics are applied; the use of moving frames and connection forms to express the geometry simplifies the outline of the proof, compared to, say, using coordinate patches and Christoffel symbols. The key transition is from expressions in terms of the principal directions on the immersed surface (which give access to the Gaussian curvature) to expressions in terms of the asymptotic directions (which yield a coordinate system and give access to surface area).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2111.05462,
  title  = {Hilbert's Theorem, via moving frames},
  author = {William D. Dunbar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2111.05462},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

17 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-24T07:33:08.107Z