On the Gauss curvature of maximal surfaces in the 3-dimensional Lorentz- Minkowski space (Q1327469): Difference between revisions

It is well known that the only spacelike complete maximal surfaces in 3- dimensional Minkowski space are the spacelike planes. In this very nice paper, the following inequality is obtained for spacelike maximal surfaces \(M\) with boundary in 3-dimensional Minkowski space: \[ K(p) \leq {4 \over d(p,\partial M)^ 2} \] where \(p\) is any point, \(K\) is the Gauss curvature of \(M\), and \(d\) is the distance function on \(M\). Since \(K \leq 0\), this inequality implies the previously quoted result. Actually this inequality is implied by the following more general inequality: let \(M\) be a spacelike maximal surface, let \(U\) be an open set of \(M\), containing \(p\), and suppose that the normal to \(M\) at \(p\) makes a hyperbolic angle of less than \(\beta\) with the normal at any other point of \(U\) and that \(d(p, \partial U) \geq \delta\), then \[ K(p) \leq \left( {4 \over \delta^ 2} \right) \left (\tanh {\beta \over 2} \right). \]