Totally quasi-umbilic timelike surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^{1,2}$

Abstract

For a regular surface in Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^3$, umbilic points are precisely the points where the Gauss and mean curvatures $K$ and $H$ satisfy $H^2 = K$; moreover, it is well-known that the only totally umbilic surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$ are planes and spheres. But for timelike surfaces in Minkowski space $\mathbb{R}^{1,2}$, it is possible to have $H^2 = K$ at a non-umbilic point; we call such points quasi-umbilic, and we give a complete classification of totally quasi-umbilic timelike surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^{1,2}$.