Fig. 1
From: MS3ALIGN: an efficient molecular surface aligner using the topology of surface curvature
a Curvature κ of a regular curve at a point is defined as the magnitude of the second differential at that point. b The principal curvatures of a point x on a smooth surface is defined as the maximal κ 1 and minimal κ 2 curvature of regular curves formed by intersecting planes rotated about the surface normal n x with the surface. Mean curvature is defined as (κ 1+κ 2)/2. Mean curvature is c high at convex regions d and low at concave regions. Green arrows depict surfaces normals at respective surface points