We introduce a new sequence of CR invariant determinants on a three dimensional CR manifold $M$ embedded in $\mathbb C^2$. The lowest order invariant $\det A_3$ represents E. Cartan's 6th order invariant (the umbilical "tensor"), whose zero locus yields the set of umbilical points on $M$. As an application of this new presentation of the umbilical invariant, we show that generic, almost circular perturbations of the unit sphere always contain curves or surfaces of umbilical points.
Categories: math.CV