Whitney umbrella
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Whitney_unbrella.png)
In mathematics, the Whitney umbrella (or Whitney's umbrella) is a self-intersecting surface placed in three dimensions. It is the union of all straight lines that pass through points of a fixed parabola and are perpendicular to a fixed straight line, parallel to the axis of the parabola and lying on its perpendicular bisecting plane.
Formulas
Whitney's umbrella can be given by the parametric equations in Cartesian coordinates
where the parameters u and v range over the real numbers. It is also given by the implicit equation
This formula also includes the negative z axis (which is called the handle of the umbrella).
Properties
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Whitney_umbrella.gif)
Whitney's umbrella is a ruled surface and a right conoid. It is important in the field of singularity theory, as a simple local model of a pinch point singularity. The pinch point and the fold singularity are the only stable local singularities of maps from R2 to R3.
It is named after the American mathematician Hassler Whitney.
See also
References
- "Whitney's Umbrella". The Topological Zoo. The Geometry Center. Retrieved 2006-03-08.
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