Transformations and singularities of polarized curves

Abstract

We study the limiting behaviour of Darboux and Calapso transforms of polarized curves in the conformal n-dimensional sphere, when the polarization has a pole of first or second order at some point. We prove that for a pole of first order, as the singularity is approached all Darboux transforms converge to the original curve and all Calapso transforms converge. For a pole of second order, a generic Darboux transform converges to the original curve while a Calapso transform has a limit point or a limit circle, depending on the value of the transformation parameter. In particular, our results apply to Darboux and Calapso transforms of isothermic surfaces when a singular umbilic with index 1/2 or 1 is approached along a curvature line.