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In this thesis properties of the G&ouml / del spacetime are analyzed and it is explicitly shown that there exist closed timelike curves in this spacetime. Geodesic motions for massive particles and light rays are investigated. One observes the focusing effect as a result of the solution of the geodesic equations. The time it takes for a free particle released from a point to come back to its starting point is calculated. A geometrical interpretation of the G&ouml / del spacetime is given and the question of what the G&ouml / del spacetime looks like is answered.

The aim of this dissertation is to give explicit descriptions of the set of proper holomorphic mappings between two complex manifolds with reasonable restrictions on the domain and target spaces. Without any restrictions, this problem is intractable even when posed for do-mains in . We give partial results for special classes of manifolds. We study, broadly, two types of structure results: Descriptive. The first result of this thesis is a structure theorem for finite proper holomorphic mappings between products of connected, hyperbolic open subsets of compact Riemann surfaces. A special case of our result follows from the techniques used in a classical result due to Remmert and Stein, adapted to the above setting. However, the presence of factors that have no boundary or boundaries that consist of a discrete set of points necessitates the use of techniques that are quite divergent from those used by Remmert and Stein. We make use of a finiteness theorem of Imayoshi to deal with these factors. Rigidity. A famous theorem of H. Alexander proves the non-existence of non-injective proper holomorphic self-maps of the unit ball in . ,n >1. Several extensions of this result for various classes of domains have been established since the appearance of Alexander’s result, and it is conjectured that the result is true for all bounded domains in . , n > 1, whose boundary is C2-smooth. This conjecture is still very far from being settled. Our first rigidity result establishes the non-existence of non-injective proper holomorphic self-maps of bounded, balanced pseudo convex domains of finite type (in the sense of D’Angelo) in ,n >1. This generalizes a result in 2, by Coupet, Pan and Sukhov, to higher dimensions. As in Coupet–Pan–Sukhov, the aforementioned domains need not have real-analytic boundaries. However, in higher dimensions, several aspects of their argument do not work. Instead, we exploit the circular symmetry and a recent result in complex dynamics by Opshtein. Our next rigidity result is for bounded symmetric domains. We prove that a proper holomorphic map between two non-planar bounded symmetric domains of the same dimension, one of them being irreducible, is a biholomorphism. Our methods allow us to give a single, all-encompassing argument that unifies the various special cases in which this result is known. Furthermore, our proof of this result does not rely on the fine structure (in the sense of Wolf et al.) of bounded symmetric domains. Thus, we are able to apply our techniques to more general classes of domains. We illustrate this by proving a rigidity result for certain convex balanced domains whose automorphism groups are assumed to only be non-compact. For bounded symmetric domains, our key tool is that of Jordan triple systems, which is used to describe the boundary geometry.

The goal of the thesis is to study geodesics on surfaces of constant Gaussian curvature. The first three sections of the thesis is dedicated to the definitions and theorems necessary to study surfaces of constant Gaussian curvature. The fourth section contains examples of geodesics on these types of surfaces and discusses their properties. The thesis incorporates the use of Maple, a mathematics software package, in some of its calculations and graphs. The thesis' conclusion is that the Gaussian curvature is a surface invariant and the geodesics of these surfaces will be the so-called best paths.

The three geodesics theorem of Lusternik and Schnirelmann asserts that for every Riemannian metric on the 2-sphere, there exist at least three embedded closed geodesics. In the process of determining the geodesics as critical points of the energy or length functional, a suitable method of curve shortening is needed. It has been suggested to use the so-called curve shortening flow as it continuously deforms smooth embedded curves while naturally preserving their embeddedness. In the 1980s, the investigation of the curve shortening flow began and a proof of the Lusternik-Schnirelmann theorem using the flow was sketched. We build upon these results. After introducing the curve shortening flow, we prove the well-known result that the geodesic curvature of a smooth embedded closed curve on a smooth closed two-dimensional Riemannian manifold decreases smoothly to zero, provided the curve evolves forever under the flow. From this, we prove subconvergence to an embedded closed geodesic, using mainly local arguments. After introducing, in the form of Lusternik-Schnirelmann theory, the topological machinery employed in the process of determining critical points of certain functions, we turn to the three geodesics theorem which we prove under a few assumptions. For the round metric on the 2-sphere, we deformation retract a suitable space of unparametrized curves onto a simpler space of which we determine the homology groups relative to a subspace which deformation retracts onto the subspace of point curves. As this yields three subordinate homology classes, proving the validity of Lusternik-Schnirelmann theory for the curve shortening flow and the length functional on our space of curves completes the proof.

Although introductory courses in special relativity give an introduction to the causal structure of Minkowski space, it is common for causal structure in general space- times to be regarded as an advanced topic, and omitted from introductory courses in general relativity, although the related topic of gravitational lensing is often included. Here a numerical approach to visualizing the light cones in exterior Schwarzschild space taking advantage of the symmetries of Schwarzschild space and the conformal invariance of null geodesics is formulated, and used to make some of these ideas more accessible. By means of the Matlab software developed, a user is able to produce figures showing how light cones develop in Schwarzschild space, starting from an arbitrary point and developing for any length of time. The user can then interact with the figure, changing their point of view, or zooming in or out, to investigate them. This approach is then generalised, using the symbolic manipulation facility of Matlab, to allow the user to specify a metric as well as an initial point and time of development. Finally, the software is demonstrated with a selection of metrics.

The geometry of surfaces of rotation in three dimensional Euclidean space has been studied widely. The rotational surfaces in three dimensional Euclidean space are generated by rotating an arbitrary curve about an arbitrary axis. Moreover, the geodesics on surfaces of rotation in three dimension Euclidean space have been considered and discovered. Clairaut's [1713-1765] theorem describes the geodesics on surfaces of rotation and provides a result which is very helpful in understanding all geodesics on these surfaces. On the other hand, the Minkowski spaces have shorter history. In 1908 Minkowski [1864-1909] gave his talk on four dimensional real vector space, with asymmetric form of signature (+,+,+,-). In this space there are different types of vectors/axes (space-like- time-like and null) as well as different types of curves (space-like- time-like and null). This thesis considers the different types of axes of rotations, then creates three different types of surfaces of rotation in three dimensional Minkowski space, and generates Clairaut's theorem to each type of these surfaces, it also explains the analogy between three dimensional Euclidean and Minkowskian spaces. Moreover, this thesis produces different types of surfaces of rotation in four dimensional Minkowski spaces. It also generalises Clairaut's theorem for these surfaces of rotations in four dimensional Minkowski space. Then we see how Clairaut's theorem characterization carries over to three dimensional and four dimensional Minkowski spaces.

O processo de parametrização de malhas em planos é um tópico de pesquisa bastante explorado. Apesar do grande esforço despendido no desenvolvimento de técnicas mais eficientes e robustas, pouco se tem investido no uso das representações paramétricas geradas por estas técnicas. Este trabalho apresenta contribuições relacionadas ao uso do espaço paramétrico para computações eficientes. A principal motivação vem do fato de alguns algoritmos serem mais eficientes quando aplicados sobre a versão paramétrica da malha. Algoritmos para o cálculo de distância mínima, por exemplo, podem ter um aumento significativo de eficiência quando aplicados em versões paramétricas de malhas. Nossos resultados demonstram que esses aumentos de eficiência podem chegar a cerca de uma ordem de magnitude em alguns casos. As contribuições deste trabalho possuem aplicação direta em três campos de pesquisa relacionados à computação gráfica: displacement mapping, cálculo de distâncias sobre superfícies e movimentação de agentes. A contribuição relacionada a displacement mapping, apresentada no capítulo 4, é utilizada para aumentar a performance de renderização e a qualidade visual de terrenos em jogos. O novo método de cálculo de distâncias proposto, apresentado no capítulo 5, aumenta a eficiência de vários algoritmos de cálculo de distância sobre superfícies de malhas. Este novo método também é utilizado em uma nova técnica para cálculo de movimentação de agentes em superfícies de malhas arbitrárias. Esta técnica é apresentada no capítulo 6. O potencial da nova técnica de cálculo de distância sobre malhas não está restrito aos exemplos apresentados. Em geral, qualquer técnica que utilize o cálculo de distância sobre superfícies de malhas de triângulos se beneficia das contribuições deste trabalho, podendo-se citar como exemplos a geração de texturas procedurais, rotulamento de superfícies, re-triangulação de malhas e segmentação de malhas, entre outros. / The process of parameterizing a mesh to the plane is an ongoing research topic. Although there are several works dedicated to parameterization techniques the use of the resulting parameterizations has received less attention. This work presents contributions related to the use of the parametric space to improve the computational efficiency of several algorithms. The main motivation comes from the fact that some algorithms are more efficiently computed on the parametric version of the mesh, compared to the 3-D version. For example, shortest distances can be computed, usually, an order of magnitude faster on the parametric space. The contributions of this work can be applied to at least three research fields related to computer graphics: displacement mapping, distance computation on the surface of triangular meshes and agent path planning. The contribution related to displacement mapping, presented in chapter 4, is used to increase the rendering performance and visual quality of terrains in games. The new method to compute distances, presented in chapter 5, increases the efficiency of several distance computation algorithms. This new method was also used on a novel agent path planning algorithm, to navigate agents on the surface of arbitrary meshes. This technique is presented in chapter 6. The potential of the new distance computation method is not restricted to the applications presented in this thesis. In general, any technique that uses distance computation on the surface of triangular meshes can have the performance improved by the method. We can cite the following applications: procedural texture generation, surface labeling, re-meshing, mesh segmentation, etc.

From Birkoff's theorem, the geometry in four spacetime dimensions outside a spherically symmetric and static, gravitating source must be given by the Schwarzschild metric. This metric therefore satisfies the Einstein vacuum equations. If the mass which gives rise to the Schwarzschild spacetime geometry is concentrated within a radius of r=2M, a black hole will form. Non-accelerating particles (freely falling) traveling through this geometry will do so along parametrized curves called geodesics, which are curved space generalizations of straight paths. These geodesics can be found by solving the geodesic equation. In this thesis, the geodesic structure in the Schwarzschild geometry is investigated with an attempt to generalize the solution to higher dimensions.

Orbits of charged particles under the effect of a magnetic field are mathematically described by magnetic geodesics. They appear as solutions to a system of (nonlinear) ordinary differential equations of second order. But we are only interested in periodic solutions. To this end, we study the corresponding system of (nonlinear) parabolic equations for closed magnetic geodesics and, as a main result, eventually prove the existence of long time solutions. As generalization one can consider a system of elliptic nonlinear partial differential equations whose solutions describe the orbits of closed p-branes under the effect of a "generalized physical force". For the corresponding evolution equation, which is a system of parabolic nonlinear partial differential equations associated to the elliptic PDE, we can establish existence of short time solutions. / Bahnen von geladenen Teilchen, die sich unter dem Einfluss eines Magnetfeldes bewegen, werden in der Mathematik durch magnetische Geodäten beschrieben. Sie ergeben sich als Lösungen eines Systems (nichtlinearer) gewöhnlicher Differentialgleichungen zweiter Ordnung. Wir interessieren uns ausschließich für periodische Lösungen. Dazu studieren wir das zugehörige System (nichtlinearer) parabolischer Differentialgleichungen für geschlossene magnetische Geodäten. Als Hauptresultat beweisen wir die Existenz von Langzeitlösungen. Verallgemeinernd betrachten wir noch ein System von elliptischen nichtlinearen partiellen Differentialgleichungen, dessen Lösungen die Orbiten von geschlossenen p-Branen unter dem Einfluss einer verallgemeinerten physikalischen Kraft beschreiben. Für die entsprechende Evolutionsgleichung, welche ein System von parabolischen nichtlinearen partiellen Differentialgleichungen ist, das dem elliptischen Problem zugeordnet ist, können wir die Existenz von Kurzzeitlösungen beweisen.