# A stereological version of the Gauss-Bonnet formula

## 1. Introduction

Let $`DS^3`$ be a domain with boundary in an orientable smooth surface $`S`$ in $`^3`$. Then the Gauss-Bonnet formula gives a method to compute the Euler-Poincaré characteristic of $`D`$ in terms of the Gauss curvature $`K`$ of $`S`$, and the geodesic curvature $`k_g`$ of $`D`$ in $`S`$:

$$2\pi \chi (D)=_DK+_Dk_g.$$

This can be found in any elementary book of Classical Differential Geometry. In this paper, we give a stereological version of this formula, in the following sense: let $`uS^2`$ and denote by $`\pi _{u,\lambda }`$ the plane orthogonal to $`u`$ given by the equation $`x,u=\lambda `$. When $`\lambda `$ varies on $``$, the different planes $`\pi _{u,\lambda }`$ can be considered as a “sweeping” plane in $`^3`$ and its contact with $`D`$ and with $`D`$ will give a method to compute $`\chi (D)`$:

$$\chi (D)=\underset{xA}{}\mathrm{sign}K(x)+\frac{1}{2}\underset{yB}{}\mathrm{sign}(k_g(y)k_g^u(y)).$$

Here, $`A`$ is given by the points $`xD`$ such that $`D`$ is tangent to $`\pi _{u,\lambda }`$ at $`x`$ for some $`\lambda `$, $`B`$ is equal to the subset of points $`yD`$ where $`D`$ is tangent to $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ for some $`\lambda `$, and $`k_g^u`$ denotes the geodesic curvature of $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$. We will show that for a generic $`uS^2`$:

1. the sets $`A,B`$ are finite;
2. if $`xA`$, then $`K(x)0`$;
3. if $`yB`$, then $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ is a regular curve in $`S`$ and $`k_g(y)k_g^u(y)`$.

In this way, the above formula has sense for almost any $`uS^2`$ (that is, for any $`uS^2N`$, where $`N`$ is a null set in $`S^2`$). Moreover, this generalizes the result of , which computes the Euler-Poincaré characteristic of a plane domain $`D^2`$ by looking at contact with lines.

## 2. Proof of the formula

The classical Poincaré-Hopf Theorem stays that if $`S`$ is a closed orientable smooth surface and $`v`$ is a smooth vector field on $`S`$ with isolated zeros, then

$$\chi (S)=\underset{v(x)=0}{}\mathrm{Ind}_x(v),$$

where $`\chi (S)`$ is the Euler-Poincaré characteristic of $`S`$ and the index, $`\mathrm{Ind}_x(v)`$, is just the local degree of $`v`$ at $`x`$. As an immediate consequence, we get that if $`f:S`$ is a Morse function (that is, a function with non-degenerate critical points), then

$$\chi (S)=\underset{x\mathrm{\Sigma }(f)}{}\mathrm{Ind}_x(f),$$

where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(f)`$ denotes the set of singular points of $`f`$ and the index, $`\mathrm{Ind}_x(f)`$, is given by $`+1`$ when $`x`$ is a local extreme of $`f`$, or $`1`$ when $`x`$ is a saddle point.

The Poincaré-Hopf Theorem was generalized for surfaces with boundary by Morse  in the following way: suppose that $`D`$ is a compact orientable smooth surface with boundary (that we can assume embedded in an orientable smooth surface $`S`$ without boundary) and let $`v`$ be a smooth vector field on $`D`$ such that

1. $`v`$ has isolated zeros on $`D`$,
2. $`v`$ is not zero on $`D`$, and
3. $`v`$ is tangent to $`D`$ only at a finite number of points.

If $`yD`$ is a point where $`v`$ is tangent to $`D`$, generically we have that the integral curve of $`v`$ at $`y`$ is locally contained in $`SD`$ or in $`D`$ and we can assign an index $`+1`$ or $`1`$ respectively. In the general case, we can extend this by using the Transversality Theorem and define an index, $`\mathrm{Ind}_y(v)\{1,0,+1\}`$. Then, the Morse Theorem stays that

$$\chi (D)=\underset{v(x)=0}{}\mathrm{Ind}_x(v)+\frac{1}{2}\underset{v(y)T_yD}{}\mathrm{Ind}_y(v).$$

Now, we can interpret this in terms of critical points of functions. Suppose that $`f:D`$ is a Morse function such that $`f`$ has no critical points on $`D`$ and the restriction $`f|_D:D`$ is also a Morse function. For each point $`y\mathrm{\Sigma }(f|_D)`$, we have that the level set $`f^1(f(y))`$ is locally contained either in $`SD`$ or in $`D`$. In the first case, we say that $`y`$ is a point of type “island” and we assign an index $`\mathrm{Ind}_y(f)=+1`$ and in the second case, we say that it is point of type “bridge” and assign an index $`\mathrm{Ind}_y(f)=1`$ (see Figure 1).

a) “Island” b) “Bridge”

Figure 1

###### Lemma 2.1.

Let $`D`$ be a compact orientable smooth surface with boundary and let $`f:D`$ be a Morse function such that $`f`$ has no critical points on $`D`$ and the restriction $`f|_D:D`$ is also a Morse function. Then,

$$\chi (D)=\underset{x\mathrm{\Sigma }(f)}{}\mathrm{Ind}_x(f)+\frac{1}{2}\underset{y\mathrm{\Sigma }(f|_D)}{}\mathrm{Ind}_y(f).$$

An interesting application of this formula is obtained when $`DS^3`$ and we consider the family of height functions. Given $`uS^2`$, we define the height function $`h_u:^3`$ by $`h_u(x)=x,u`$. When we restrict this function to $`D`$ (or $`S`$), the level sets are the plane curves $`\pi _{u,\lambda }D`$ (resp. $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$), where $`\pi _{u,\lambda }`$ is the plane $`h_u^1(\lambda )`$. In particular, if $`\lambda `$ is a regular value of $`h_u|_D`$ (and hence of $`h_u|_S`$), we have that $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ is in fact a smooth curve in $`S`$.

We will give a geometrical interpretation of the critical points of $`h_u|_D`$ and $`h_u|_D`$ and the corresponding indices. Before that, we need to fix some notation. Given $`xD`$, we denote by $`N(x)`$ and $`K(x)`$ the normal vector and the Gauss curvature of $`D`$ at $`x`$ respectively. Given $`yD`$, we denote by $`n(y)`$ and $`k_g(y)`$ the normal vector and the geodesic curvature of $`D`$ in $`D`$ at $`y`$ respectively (we choose the orientation in $`D`$ so that $`n(y)`$ points to the interior of $`D`$). Finally, we denote by $`k_g^u(y)`$ the geodesic curvature of the curve $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ at a regular point $`y`$ of $`h_u|_D`$ (in the case that $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ and $`D`$ are tangent at $`y`$, we choose in $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ the same orientation).

###### Theorem 2.2.

Let $`DS^3`$ be a domain with boundary in an orientable smooth surface $`S`$ in $`^3`$ and let $`uS^2`$.

1. Let $`xD`$. It is a critical point of $`h_u|_D`$ if and only if $`\pi _{u,\lambda }`$ is tangent to $`D`$ at $`x`$ (where $`h_u(x)=\lambda `$) if and only if $`u=\pm N(x)`$.
2. Let $`xD`$ be a critical point of $`h_u|_D`$. It is non-degenerate if and only if $`K(x)0`$. Moreover, it is a local extreme of $`h_u|_D`$ when $`K(x)>0`$ and a saddle point when $`K(x)>0`$.
3. Let $`yD`$ be a regular point of $`h_u|_D`$. It is a critical point of $`h_u|_D`$ if and only if $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ is tangent to $`D`$ at $`y`$ if and only if $`\stackrel{~}{u}=\pm n(y)`$, where $`\stackrel{~}{u}`$ denotes the normalized orthogonal projection of $`u`$ in $`T_yD`$.
4. Let $`yD`$ be a regular point of $`h_u|_D`$ which is also a critical point of $`h_u|_D`$. It is non-degenerate if and only if $`k_g(y)k_g^u(y)`$. Moreover, it is an island when $`k_g(y)>k_g^u(y)`$ and a bridge when $`k_g(y)<k_g^u(y)`$.

###### Proof.

Parts (1) and (2) are standard results on Generic Geometry and can be found for instance in . We will prove (3) and (4). Suppose that $`\alpha (s)`$ is a parametrization of $`D`$ by arc length, so that $`y=\alpha (s_0)`$ and $`n(y)=N(y)\alpha ^{}(s_0)`$. Since $`\{N(y),\alpha ^{}(s_0),n(y)\}`$ is a orthonormal basis of $`^3`$, we have that

$$u=u,N(y)N(y)+u,\alpha ^{}(s_0)\alpha ^{}(s_0)+u,n(y)n(y).$$

In particular, provided that $`u\pm N(y)`$, we have that $`\stackrel{~}{u}=v/v`$, where

$$v=u,\alpha ^{}(s_0)\alpha ^{}(s_0)+u,n(y)n(y).$$

Thus, $`\stackrel{~}{u}=\pm n(y)`$ if and only if $`u,\alpha ^{}(s_0)=0`$ if and only if $`y`$ is a critical point of $`h_u|_D`$.

On the other hand, let $`\beta (s)`$ be a parametrization of $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ by arc length, with $`\beta (s_0)=y`$. In this case, $`u,\beta (s)=\lambda `$ for all $`s`$ and thus $`u,\beta ^{}(s_0)=0`$. This gives that $`\stackrel{~}{u}`$ is also equal to the normal vector to $`\beta ^{}(s_0)`$ in $`T_yD`$. In particular, $`y`$ is a critical point of $`h_u|_D`$ if and only if the two curves are tangent.

Suppose now that $`y`$ is a critical point of $`h_u|_D`$. We have that

$$\alpha ^{\prime \prime }(s_0)=k_n(y)N(y)+k_g(y)n(y),$$

where $`k_n(y)`$ is the normal curvature of $`\alpha `$. This gives that

$$u,\alpha ^{\prime \prime }(s_0)=k_n(y)u,N(y)+k_g(y)u,n(y).$$

But we can do the same with $`\beta (s)`$, getting

$$0=u,\beta ^{\prime \prime }(s_0)=k_n(y)u,N(y)+k_g^u(y)u,n(y).$$

This implies that

$$u,\alpha ^{\prime \prime }(s_0)=(k_g(y)k_g^u(y))u,n(y).$$

Since $`u,n(y)0`$, we conclude that $`y`$ is a non-degenerate critical point of $`h_u|_D`$ if and only if $`k_g(y)k_g^u(y)`$. The fact that the cases $`k_g(y)>k_g^u(y)`$ and $`k_g(y)<k_g^u(y)`$ correspond to an island or a bridge respectively can be deduced from the way we have chosen the orientation on $`D`$. ∎

The following consequence can be seen as a stereological version of the Gauss-Bonnet formula.

###### Corollary 2.3.

Let $`DS^3`$ be a domain with boundary in an orientable smooth surface $`S`$ in $`^3`$. For a generic $`uS^2`$ the height function $`h_u|_D`$ is a Morse function, has no critical points on $`D`$ and its restriction to $`D`$ is also a Morse function. In particular, we have that

$$\chi (D)=\underset{xD/N(x)=\pm u}{}\mathrm{sign}K(x)+\frac{1}{2}\underset{yD/n(y)=\pm \stackrel{~}{u}}{}\mathrm{sign}(k_g(y)k_g^u(y)).$$

###### Proof.

The formula for $`\chi (D)`$ is a direct consequence of Lemma 3.1 and Theorem 3.2. We will see the first part of the statement. Given $`uS^2`$, $`h_u|_D`$ is a Morse function if and only if $`u`$ is a regular value of the Gauss map $`N:DS^2`$ (just note that the points $`xD`$ where $`K(x)=0`$ are the critical points of the Gauss map). Therefore, the Sard Theorem implies that for a generic $`uS^2`$, $`h_u|_D`$ is a Morse function. The other two conditions are also an easy consequence of this theorem. ∎

It is also interesting to look at some particular cases. Suppose for instance, that $`S`$ is a plane, namely $`S=^2`$. Then we can use height functions $`h_u:^2`$ for $`uS^1`$, instead of the height functions of $`^3`$. The level curves in this case are the orthogonal lines to $`u`$, which have zero curvature. Moreover, $`h_u`$ has no critical points in $`^2`$ and the geodesic curvature is equal to the classical curvature of a plane curve. Thus, we get the following formula method to obtain the Euler number of a domain in $`^2`$ based on 1-dimensional observations, modified from , and that has been used in Stereology, .

###### Corollary 2.4.

Let $`D^2`$ be a domain with boundary. For a generic $`uS^1`$ the restriction of the height function $`h_u|_D`$ is a Morse function and

$$\chi (D)=\frac{1}{2}\underset{yD/n(y)=\pm u}{}\mathrm{sign}k(y).$$

In the case that $`S=S^2`$, the level curves associated to $`uS^2`$ are the corresponding parallels. Note that $`h_u|_{S^2}`$ is a Morse function with two critical points, $`u`$ and $`u`$. Moreover, if we denote by $`\theta _u,\gamma _u`$ the spherical coordinates associated to $`u`$, we have that the geodesic curvature of the parallel $`\gamma _u=\gamma _0`$ is $`\mathrm{tan}\gamma _0`$.

###### Corollary 2.5.

Let $`DS^2`$ be a domain with boundary. For a generic $`uS^2`$,

$$\chi (D)=\frac{1}{2}\underset{yD/n(y)=\pm \stackrel{~}{u}}{}\mathrm{sign}(k_g(y)+\mathrm{tan}\gamma _u(y))+\mathrm{\#}(\{u,u\}D),$$

where $`\mathrm{\#}(\{u,u\}D)`$ means the number of times that $`u`$ or $`u`$ belong to $`D`$.

It is also possible to compute the Euler number of $`DS^2`$ from observations on a meridian that sweeps through $`D`$. This is not a consequence of the construction associated to the height functions, but a different family of functions. Let $`uS^2`$ and let $`S^1`$ be the circle in $`S^2`$ orthogonal to $`u`$. Then, we have the regular function $`\theta _u:S^2\{u,u\}S^1`$, whose level sets are the meridians $`\theta _u=\theta _0`$ (which have zero geodesic curvature). Moreover, for a generic $`uS^2`$, the restriction of $`\theta _u`$ to $`D`$ is a Morse function, .

###### Corollary 2.6.

Let $`DS^2`$ be a domain with boundary. For a generic $`uS^2`$,

$$\chi (D)=\frac{1}{2}\underset{yD/n(y)\stackrel{~}{u}}{}\mathrm{sign}k_g(y)+\mathrm{\#}(\{u,u\}D).$$

###### Proof.

Let $`S=S^2\{u,u\}`$ and let $`\stackrel{~}{D}`$ be the domain with boundary in $`S`$ given by $`D(B_1B_2)`$, where $`B_1,B_2`$ are small geodesic balls centered at $`u,u`$ which do not intersect $`D`$. It follows from Lemma 3.1 that

$$\chi (\stackrel{~}{D})=\frac{1}{2}\underset{yD/n(y)\stackrel{~}{u}}{}\mathrm{sign}k_g(y).$$

On the other hand, $`\chi (D)=\chi (\stackrel{~}{D})+\mathrm{\#}(\{u,u\}D)`$, which concludes the proof. ∎

###### Remark 2.7.

The preceding result may be extended to ovaloids in the following way: Let $`S`$ be an ovaloid (compact and connected surface in $`^3`$ for which the Gaussian curvature $`K>0`$) and $`\stackrel{~}{D}`$ a domain in $`S`$; then, $`S`$ is diffeomorphic to a sphere $`S^2`$ through its Gauss map. Let $`DS^2`$ denote the image of $`\stackrel{~}{D}`$ under this diffeomorphism; then, $`\chi (D)=\chi (\stackrel{~}{D})`$ and it is possible to obtain $`\chi (\stackrel{~}{D})`$ from observations in the curves which are image of the meridians in $`S^2`$.

## 3. Stereological applications

The Euler-Poincaré characteristic for domains in $`^2`$ and $`^3`$ has been studied in several stereological applications (see, for instance ). The principle used to obtain the Euler number of an $`n`$-dimensional domain in $`^n`$ ($`n=2`$ or $`3`$), is based on what happens in an $`(n1)`$-dimensional plane that sweeps through the domain. For domains in $`^2`$, this principle is based on Corollary 2.4. Now, we will extend this principle to domains in a surface.

Let $`DS^3`$ be a domain with boundary in an orientable smooth surface $`S`$ in $`^3`$ and let $`uS^2`$. When $`\lambda `$ varies on $``$, the different planes $`\pi _{u,\lambda }`$ can be considered as a “sweeping” plane in $`^3`$, and Corollary 2.3 can be expressed as:

$$\chi (D)=(I_2B_2)+\frac{1}{2}(I_1B_1),$$

where $`I_1,B_1`$ denote the number of islands and bridges, respectively, observed in the level curves $`\pi _{u,\lambda }S`$ (see Figure 2) and $`I_2,B_2`$, similarly to , denote the number of islands and bridges observed in the “sweeping” plane $`\pi _{u,\lambda }`$, which contribute to the sum $`_{x\mathrm{\Sigma }(h_u)}\mathrm{Ind}_x(h_u)`$ (see Figure 2).

Figure 2