Prescribing mean curvature: existence and uniqueness problems.
NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines) belong to special approximation curves and surfaces which are described by control points with weights and B-spline basis functions. They are often used in modern areas of computer graphics as free-form modelling, modelling of processes. In literature, NURBS surfaces are often called tensor product surfaces. In this article we try to explain the relationship between the classic algebraic point of view and the practical geometrical application on NURBS.
We define relaxed hyperelastic curve, which is a generalization of relaxed elastic lines, on an oriented surface in three-dimensional Euclidean space E³, and we derive the intrinsic equations for a relaxed hyperelastic curve on a surface. Then, by examining relaxed hyperelastic curves in a plane, on a sphere and on a cylinder, we show that geodesics are relaxed hyperelastic curves in a plane and on a sphere. But on a cylinder, they are relaxed hyperelastic curves only in special cases.