The Steiner surface

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The figure above shows the Steiner surface. This surface is a real model of the generic projection (to 3-space)
of the Veronese surface. The singular locus is the union of the coordinate axes, but the projection of the set
of real points includes only a finite portion of each axis. There is a triple point at the origin. In the figure,
this is where the red, green, and yellow regions meet. There are 6 pinch points. In the figure, they are
at the narrowest parts of the dark blue regions. The rest of the singular points are ordinary double points:
two sheets of the surface cross transversally at such a point.

Click here to see:

a picture of region around the triple point of the Steiner surface,
along with discussion of some of its other features.

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I made this page by substituting my own data in a Geometry Center webpage.

Prof. Joel Roberts
School of Mathematics
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
USA

Office: 351 Vincent Hall
Phone: (612) 625-1076
Dept. FAX: (612) 626-2017
e-mail: roberts@math.umn.edu http://www.math.umn.edu/~roberts