In the geometry of

plane curve In mathematics, a plane curve is a curve in a plane that may be either a Euclidean plane, an affine plane or a projective plane. The most frequently studied cases are smooth plane curves (including piecewise smooth plane curves), and algebraic ...

s, a vertex is a point of where the first derivative of curvature is zero. This is typically a local maximum or minimum of curvature, and some authors define a vertex to be more specifically a local extremum of curvature. However, other special cases may occur, for instance when the second derivative is also zero, or when the curvature is constant. For space curves, on the other hand, a vertex is a point where the

torsion Torsion may refer to: Science * Torsion (mechanics), the twisting of an object due to an applied torque * Torsion of spacetime, the field used in Einstein–Cartan theory and ** Alternatives to general relativity * Torsion angle, in chemistry Bi ...

vanishes.

Examples

A hyperbola has two vertices, one on each branch; they are the closest of any two points lying on opposite branches of the hyperbola, and they lie on the principal axis. On a parabola, the sole vertex lies on the axis of symmetry and in a quadratic of the form: :

ax^2 + bx + c\,\!

it can be found by

completing the square : In elementary algebra, completing the square is a technique for converting a quadratic polynomial of the form :ax^2 + bx + c to the form :a(x-h)^2 + k for some values of ''h'' and ''k''. In other words, completing the square places a perfe ...

or by differentiation., p. 127. On an ellipse, two of the four vertices lie on the major axis and two lie on the minor axis. For a circle, which has constant curvature, every point is a vertex.

Cusps and osculation

Vertices are points where the curve has 4-point contact with the

osculating circle In differential geometry of curves, the osculating circle of a sufficiently smooth plane curve at a given point ''p'' on the curve has been traditionally defined as the circle passing through ''p'' and a pair of additional points on the curve i ...

at that point., p. 126., p. 142. In contrast, generic points on a curve typically only have 3-point contact with their osculating circle. The

evolute In the differential geometry of curves, the evolute of a curve is the locus of all its centers of curvature. That is to say that when the center of curvature of each point on a curve is drawn, the resultant shape will be the evolute of that cur ...

of a curve will generically have a

cusp A cusp is the most pointed end of a curve. It often refers to cusp (anatomy), a pointed structure on a tooth. Cusp or CUSP may also refer to: Mathematics * Cusp (singularity), a singular point of a curve * Cusp catastrophe, a branch of bifurc ...

when the curve has a vertex; other, more degenerate and non-stable singularities may occur at higher-order vertices, at which the osculating circle has contact of higher order than four. Although a single generic curve will not have any higher-order vertices, they will generically occur within a one-parameter family of curves, at the curve in the family for which two ordinary vertices coalesce to form a higher vertex and then annihilate. The

symmetry set In geometry, the symmetry set is a method for representing the local symmetries of a curve, and can be used as a method for representing the shape of objects by finding the topological skeleton. The medial axis The medial axis of an object is ...

of a curve has endpoints at the cusps corresponding to the vertices, and the medial axis, a subset of the

, also has its endpoints in the cusps.

Other properties

According to the classical

four-vertex theorem The four-vertex theorem of geometry states that the curvature along a simple, closed, smooth plane curve has at least four local extrema (specifically, at least two local maxima and at least two local minima). The name of the theorem derives fro ...

, every simple closed planar smooth curve must have at least four vertices. A more general fact is that every simple closed space curve which lies on the boundary of a convex body, or even bounds a locally convex disk, must have four vertices. Every

curve of constant width In geometry, a curve of constant width is a simple closed curve in the plane whose width (the distance between parallel supporting lines) is the same in all directions. The shape bounded by a curve of constant width is a body of constant width ...

must have at least six vertices.; If a planar curve is bilaterally symmetric, it will have a vertex at the point or points where the axis of symmetry crosses the curve. Thus, the notion of a vertex for a curve is closely related to that of an optical vertex, the point where an optical axis crosses a

lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

surface.

Notes

References

*. *. * * *. *. *{{citation, last1=Sedykh, first1=V.D., title=Four vertices of a convex space curve, journal=Bull. London Math. Soc., date=1994, volume=26, issue=2, page=177–180 Curves