The classification of flat Riemannian metrics on the plane
Differential Geometry
2020-01-14 v1
Abstract
We classify all smooth flat Riemannian metrics on the two-dimensional plane. In the complete case, it is well-known that these metrics are isometric to the Euclidean metric. In the incomplete case, there is an abundance of naturally-arising, non-isometric metrics that are relevant and useful. Remarkably, the study and classification of all flat Riemannian metrics on the plane -- as a subject -- is new to the literature. Much of our research focuses on conformal metrics of the form , where \varphi : \mathbb{R}^2 \rightarrow \mathbb{R) is a harmonic function and is the standard Euclidean metric on . We find that all such metrics, which we call "harmonic", arise from Riemann surfaces.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2001.03888,
title = {The classification of flat Riemannian metrics on the plane},
author = {Vincent E. Coll, and Lee B. Whitt},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2001.03888},
year = {2020}
}