A Note on Surfaces in Space Forms with Pythagorean Fundamental Forms

Abstract

In the present note we introduce a Pythagorean-like formula for surfaces immersed into 3-dimensional space forms M 3 ( c ) of constant sectional curvature c = − 1 , 0 , 1 . More precisely, we consider a surface immersed into M 3 c satisfying I 2 + II 2 = III 2 , where I , II and III are the matrices corresponding to the first, second and third fundamental forms of the surface, respectively. We prove that such a surface is a totally umbilical round sphere with Gauss curvature φ + c , where φ is the Golden ratio.