Parametric surfaces

Extract

We shall first give some definitions concerning parametric surfaces. Denote by H a closed circle (disk) and by M a variable point on it. Let P = Ф(M) be a continuous function on H whose value P is a point in three-dimensional space. The symbols Ф(E), Ф⁻¹(P), where E is a set of points on H and P a point in the three-dimensional space, will have their usual meaning. Ф⁻¹(P) is a closed set. Any saturated continuum in Ф⁻¹(P) or any point of Ф⁻¹(P) that does not belong to such continua is called a Ф-element of H. Thus to any continuous function Ф(M) corresponds a representation of H in the form of the sum σQ of Ф-elements. The set of the pairs (P, Q), where Q runs through all Ф-elements of H and, for any Q, P = Ф(Q), is called a parametric surface, and any pair (P, Q) is called a point of the parametric surface. We shall often speak of a point Ф(M) of the parametric surface, by which we shall mean either the point (P, Q), where P = Ф(M) and Q is the Ф-element containing M, or the point P = Ф(M) of the three-dimensional space. The exact meaning will always be clear from the context. If there are exactly k points of the parametric surface whose first member is P₀ we say that P₀ is a point of multiplicity k. If k = 1, P₀ is a simple point.