The evolution of space curves by curvature and torsion

We apply Lie group based similarity methods to the study of a new, and widely relevant, class of objects, namely motions of a space curve. In particular, we consider the motion of a curve evolving with a curvature κ and torsion τ dependent velocity law. We systematically derive the Lie point symmetries of all such laws of motion and use these to catalogue all their possible similarity reductions. This calculation reveals special classes of law with high degrees of symmetry (and a correspondingly large number of similarity reductions). Of particular note is one class which is invariant under general linear transformations in space. This has potential applications in pattern and signal recognition