English

The Weierstrass-Enneper Representation using hodographic coordinates on a minimal surface

Differential Geometry 2007-05-23 v3 Analysis of PDEs

Abstract

In this paper we obtain the general solution to the minimal surface equation, namely its local Weierstrass-Enneper representation, by using a system of hodographic coordinates. This is done by using the method of solving the Born-Infeld equations by Whitham. We directly compute conformal coordinates on the minimal surface which give the Weierstrass-Enneper representation. From this we derive the hodographic coordinate ρD\CC\rho \in D \subset {\CC} and σ\sigma its complex conjugate which enables us to write the Weierstrass-Enneper representation in a new way.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0309340,
  title  = {The Weierstrass-Enneper Representation using hodographic coordinates on a minimal surface},
  author = {Rukmini Dey},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0309340},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

5-pages, semi-expository article, published in Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, 2003 (an electronic journal)