Circular Isoptics in Flatland

Abstract

We explore convex shapes $S$ in the Euclidean plane which have the following property: there is a circle $C$ such that the angle between the two tangents from any point of $C$ to $S$ is constant equal to $\alpha$. A dynamical formulation allows to analyze the existence of such shapes. Interestingly, the existence of non-circular shapes depends in a non-trivial way on the angle $\alpha$.