The global radius of curvature of a space curve is introduced. This function is related to, but distinct from, the standard local radius of curvature and is connected to various physically appealing properties of a curve. In particular, the global radius of curvature function provides a concise characterization of the thickness of a curve, and of certain ideal shapes of knots as have been investigated within the context of DNA.

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A concise account of various classic theories of fluids and solids, this book is for courses in continuum mechanics for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Thoroughly class-tested in courses at Stanford University and the University of Warwick, it is suitable for both applied mathematicians and engineers. The only prerequisites are an introductory undergraduate knowledge of basic linear algebra and differential equations. Unlike most existing works at this level, this book covers both isothermal and thermal theories. The theories are derived in a unified manner from the fundamental balance laws of continuum mechanics. Intended both for classroom use and for self-study, each chapter contains a wealth of exercises, with fully worked solutions to odd-numbered questions. A complete solutions manual is available to instructors upon request. Short bibliographies appear at the end of each chapter, pointing to material which underpins or expands upon the material discussed.

Many different physical systems, e.g. super-coiled DNA molecules, have been successfully modelled as elastic curves, ribbons or rods. We will describe all such systems as framed curves, and will consider problems in which a three dimensional framed curve has an associated energy that is to be minimized subject to the constraint of there being no selfintersection. For closed curves the knot type may therefore be specified a priori. Depending on the precise form of the energy and imposed boundary conditions, local minima of both open and closed framed curves often appear to involve regions of self-contact, that is, regions in which points that are distant along the curve are close in space. While this phenomenon of self-contact is familiar through every day experience with string, rope and wire, the idea is surprisingly difficult to define in a way that is simultaneously physically reasonable, mathematically precise, and analytically tractable. Here we use the notion of global radius of curvature of a space curve in a new formulation of the self-contact constraint, and exploit our formulation to derive existence results for minimizers, in the presence of self-contact, of a range of elastic energies that define various framed curve models. As a special case we establish the existence of ideal shapes of knots. (2000): 49J99, 53A04, 57M25, 74B20, 92C40 Mathematics Subject Classification