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In differential geometry, the twist of a ribbon is its rate of axial rotation. Let a ribbon ${\displaystyle (X,U)}$ be composed of a space curve, ${\displaystyle X=X(s)}$, where ${\displaystyle s}$ is the arc length of ${\displaystyle X}$, and ${\displaystyle U=U(s)}$ the a unit normal vector, perpendicular at each point to ${\displaystyle X}$. Since the ribbon ${\displaystyle (X,U)}$ has edges ${\displaystyle X}$ and ${\displaystyle X'=X+\varepsilon U}$, the twist (or total twist number) ${\displaystyle Tw}$ measures the average winding of the edge curve ${\displaystyle X'}$ around and along the axial curve ${\displaystyle X}$. According to Love (1944) twist is defined by

${\displaystyle Tw={\dfrac {1}{2\pi }}\int \left(U\times {\dfrac {dU}{ds}}\right)\cdot {\dfrac {dX}{ds}}ds\;,}$

where ${\displaystyle dX/ds}$ is the unit tangent vector to ${\displaystyle X}$. The total twist number ${\displaystyle Tw}$ can be decomposed (Moffatt & Ricca 1992) into normalized total torsion ${\displaystyle T\in [0,1)}$ and intrinsic twist ${\displaystyle N\in \mathbb {Z} }$ as

${\displaystyle Tw={\dfrac {1}{2\pi }}\int \tau \;ds+{\dfrac {\left_{X}}{2\pi }}=T+N\;,}$

where ${\displaystyle \tau =\tau (s)}$ is the torsion of the space curve ${\displaystyle X}$, and ${\displaystyle \left_{X}}$ denotes the total rotation angle of ${\displaystyle U}$ along ${\displaystyle X}$. Neither ${\displaystyle N}$ nor ${\displaystyle Tw}$ are independent of the ribbon field ${\displaystyle U}$. Instead, only the normalized torsion ${\displaystyle T}$ is an invariant of the curve ${\displaystyle X}$ (Banchoff & White 1975).

When the ribbon is deformed so as to pass through an inflectional state (i.e. ${\displaystyle X}$ has a point of inflection), the torsion ${\displaystyle \tau }$ becomes singular. The total torsion ${\displaystyle T}$ jumps by ${\displaystyle \pm 1}$ and the total angle ${\displaystyle N}$ simultaneously makes an equal and opposite jump of ${\displaystyle \mp 1}$ (Moffatt & Ricca 1992) and ${\displaystyle Tw}$ remains continuous. This behavior has many important consequences for energy considerations in many fields of science (Ricca 1997, 2005; Goriely 2006).

Together with the writhe ${\displaystyle Wr}$ of ${\displaystyle X}$, twist is a geometric quantity that plays an important role in the application of the Călugăreanu–White–Fuller formula ${\displaystyle Lk=Wr+Tw}$ in topological fluid dynamics (for its close relation to kinetic and magnetic helicity of a vector field), physical knot theory, and structural complexity analysis.

References

• Banchoff, T.F. & White, J.H. (1975) The behavior of the total twist and self-linking number of a closed space curve under inversions. Math. Scand. 36, 254–262.
• Goriely, A. (2006) Twisted elastic rings and the rediscoveries of Michell’s instability. J Elasticity 84, 281-299.
• Love, A.E.H. (1944) A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of Elasticity. Dover, 4th Ed., New York.
• Moffatt, H.K. & Ricca, R.L. (1992) Helicity and the Calugareanu invariant. Proc. R. Soc. London A 439, 411-429. Also in: (1995) Knots and Applications (ed. L.H. Kauffman), pp. 251-269. World Scientific.
• Ricca, R.L. (1997) Evolution and inflexional instability of twisted magnetic flux tubes. Solar Physics 172, 241-248.
• Ricca, R.L. (2005) Inflexional disequilibrium of magnetic flux tubes. Fluid Dynamics Research 36, 319-332.

• Differential geometry
• Topology