Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2023 / ii / Paper 3 / 25G / a / Solution

Choose the orientation of a surface represented by a smooth Gauss map $N:S\to {\mathbb{S}}^2$. The shape operator at $p$ isIf its principal curvatures are $k_1,k_2$, then by definition

Let $E(x)=Ax+b$ be a proper Euclidean motion of Euclidean three-space, so $A\in SO(3)$. Orient $\tilde{S}=E(S)$ by transporting the normal:The chain rule gives the orthogonal conjugacyThe determinant and trace are invariant under similarity, so the Euclidean invariance of the shape operator yields

If the surface orientation is reversed, then $N$ and $S_p$ are multiplied by $-1$. Therefore the orientation reversal of surface curvature says

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.