English

Tangent cones and regularity of real hypersurfaces

Algebraic Geometry 2013-09-17 v3 Complex Variables Differential Geometry Metric Geometry Optimization and Control

Abstract

We characterize embedded \C1\C^1 hypersurfaces of Rn\R^n as the only locally closed sets with continuously varying flat tangent cones whose measure-theoretic-multiplicity is at most m<3/2m<3/2. It follows then that any (topological) hypersurface which has flat tangent cones and is supported everywhere by balls of uniform radius is \C1\C^1. In the real analytic case the same conclusion holds under the weakened hypothesis that each tangent cone be a hypersurface. In particular, any convex real analytic hypersurface XRnX\subset\R^n is \C1\C^1. Furthermore, if XX is real algebraic, strictly convex, and unbounded then its projective closure is a \C1\C^1 hypersurface as well, which shows that XX is the graph of a function defined over an entire hyperplane.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1005.2761,
  title  = {Tangent cones and regularity of real hypersurfaces},
  author = {Mohammad Ghomi and Ralph Howard},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1005.2761},
  year   = {2013}
}

Comments

Minor revisions; to appear in J. Reine Angew. Math. (Crelle's Journal)