title: Global curvature, thickness, and the ideal shapes of knots.
abstract: The global radius of curvature of a space curve is introduced. This function is related to, but distinct from, the standard local radius of curvature and is connected to various physically appealing properties of a curve. In particular, the global radius of curvature function provides a concise characterization of the thickness of a curve, and of certain ideal shapes of knots as have been investigated within the context of DNA.
authors.affiliation: Departement de Mathematiques, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Maddocks