The width of embedded circles

Abstract We develop a Morse–Lusternik–Schnirelmann theory for the distance between two points of a smoothly embedded circle in a complete Riemannian manifold. This theory suggests very naturally a definition of width that generalises the classical definition of the width of plane curves. Pairs of points of the circle realising the width bound one or more minimising geodesics that intersect the curve in special configurations. When the circle bounds a totally convex disc, we classify the possible configurations under a further geometric condition. We also investigate properties and characterisations of curves that can be regarded as the Riemannian analogues of plane curves of constant width.