On two conjectures concerning convex curves

We recall two basic conjectures on the developables of convex projective curves, prove one of them and disprove the other in the firdt nontrivial case of curves in RP^3. Namely, we show that i) the tangent developable surface of any convex curve in RP^3 has 'degree' 4 and ii) construct an example of 4 tangent lines to a convex curve in RP^3 such that no real line intersects all four of them.Comment: AMSTEX, 15 pages, 3 eps pictures. to appear in Int. J. Mat

Region of the anomalous compression under Bondi-Hoyle accretion

We investigate the properties of an axisymmetric non-magnetized gas flow without angular momentum on a small compact object, in particular, on a Schwarzschild black hole in the supersonic region near the object; the velocity of the object itself is assumed to be low compared to the speed of sound at infinity. First of all, we see that the streamlines intersect (i.e., a caustic forms) on the symmetry axis at a certain distance $r_x$ from the center on the front side if the pressure gradient is neglected. The characteristic radial size of the region, in which the streamlines emerging from the sonic surface at an angle no larger than $\theta_0$ to the axis intersect, is $\Delta r= r_x\theta^2_0/3.$ To refine the flow structure in this region, we numerically compute the system in the adiabatic approximation without ignoring the pressure. We estimate the parameters of the inferred region with anomalously high matter temperature and density accompanied by anomalously high energy release.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure