This paper establishes a connection between the total curvature of embedded polyhedra and critical poiont theory for non-degenerate height functions. A new interpretation of the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic curvature is also formulated.
A generalization of the classical critical point theorem for non- degenerate functions on smooth manifolds is proven, and this is used to show that the curvature of an even-dimensional differentiable manifold depends only on intrinsic quantities.
An intrinsic form of the Guass-Bonnet theorem is proven, and these results are generalized to other complexes and maps.