English

The Prytz connections

Differential Geometry 2023-09-06 v1

Abstract

The Prytz planimeter is a simple mechanical device that historically was used to approximate areas of plane regions. In this article, we present a mathematical description and analysis of the planimeter in terms of sub-Riemannian geometry and in terms of connections and horizontal lifts -- central concepts in differential geometry.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2309.02174,
  title  = {The Prytz connections},
  author = {Geir Bogfjellmo and Charles Curry and Sylvie Vega-Molino},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2309.02174},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T12:13:03.158Z