Calabi-Bernstein results for maximal surfaces in Lorentzian product spaces (Q1017429): Difference between revisions

Let \((N=M^2\times \mathbb R\), \(g=g_M-dt^2)\) be a Lorentzian 3-manifold which is a direct product of a Riemannian surface \((M, g_M)\) and the straight line. The authors prove the following version of the Calabi-Bernstein theorem: If \((M,g_M)\) has non negative curvature \(K\), then any maximal (i.e. with zero mean curvature) space-like surface \(\Sigma\) is totally geodesic. In particular, if \(K>0\) at some point, then \(\Sigma=M\times \{t_0\}\) is a slice. A non-parametric version of the Calabi-Bernstein theorem for entire maximal graph in \(M\times\mathbb R\) is also proved and some counter-examples, showing that the condition \(K\geq 0\) is essential, are given.