The ability to directly manipulate an embedded object in the free-form deformation (FFD) method improves controllability. However, the existing solution to this problem involves a pseudo-inverse matrix that requires complicated calculations. This paper solves the problem using a constrained optimization method. We derive the explicit solutions for deforming an object which is to pass through a given target point. For constraints with multiple target points, the proposed solution also involves simple calculations, only requiring solving a system of linear equations.We show that the direct manipulations exhibit the commutative group property, namely commutative, associative, and invertible properties, which further enhance the controllability of FFD. In addition, we show that multiple point constraints can be decomposed into separate manipulations of single point constraints, thus providing the user the freedom of specifying the constraints in any appropriate order.

We prove that if a complete, properly embedded, finite-topology minimal surface in S2×R contains a line, then its ends are asymptotic to helicoids, and that if the surface is an annulus, it must be a helicoid.

We show that any star-shaped convex hypersurface with constantWeingarten curvature in the deSitter-Schwarzschildmanifold is a sphere of symmetry.Moreover, we study an isoperimetric problem for bounded domains in the doubled Schwarzschild manifold. We prove the existence of an isoperimetric surface for any value of the enclosed volume, and we completely describe the isoperimetric surfaces for very large enclosed volume. This complements work in H. Bray’s thesis, where isoperimetric surfaces homologous to the horizon are studied.

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