Helical polynomial curves and double Pythagorean hodographs II. Enumeration of low-degree curves

AbstractA “double” Pythagorean-hodograph (DPH) curve r(t) is characterized by the property that |r′(t)| and |r′(t)×r″(t)| are both polynomials in the curve parameter t. Such curves possess rational Frenet frames and curvature/torsion functions, and encompass all helical polynomial curves as special cases. As noted by Beltran and Monterde, the Hopf map representation of spatial PH curves appears better suited to the analysis of DPH curves than the quaternion form. A categorization of all DPH curve types up to degree 7 is developed using the Hopf map form, together with algorithms for their construction, and a selection of computed examples of (both helical and non-helical) DPH curves is included, to highlight their attractive features. For helical curves, a separate constructive approach proposed by Monterde, based upon the inverse stereographic projection of rational line/circle descriptions in the complex plane, is used to classify all types up to degree 7. Criteria to distinguish between the helical and non-helical DPH curves, in the context of the general construction procedures, are also discussed