Global Polynomial Level Sets for Numerical Differential Geometry of Smooth Closed Surfaces

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

We present a computational scheme that derives a global polynomial level set parameterization for smooth closed surfaces from a regular surface-point set and prove its uniqueness. This enables us to approximate a broad class of smooth surfaces by affine algebraic varieties. From such a global polynomial level set parameterization, differential-geometric quantities like mean and Gauss curvature can be efficiently and accurately computed. Even fourth-order terms such as the Laplacian of mean curvature are approximated with high precision. The accuracy performance results in a gain of computational efficiency, significantly reducing the number of surface points required compared to classic alternatives that rely on surface meshes or embedding grids. We mathematically derive and empirically demonstrate the strengths and the limitations of the present approach, suggesting it to be applicable to a large number of computational tasks in numerical differential geometry.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)A1995-A2018
JournalSIAM journal on scientific computing
Volume45
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-4414-4340/work/148145971

Keywords

Keywords

  • Gauss curvature, level set, mean curvature, numerical differential geometry, surface approximation, surface diffusion