Boundary torsion and convex caps of locally convex surfaces (Q524875)

The author investigates an open question by Yau, regarding when a closed curve in three-space bounds a disk of positive curvature. Following up on prior conjecture, he finds that the curve must have at least four vertices, establishing a new requirement for the existence of such curves. The majority of the paper is dedicated to proving this result. However, the last section contains a collection of examples to cast some relief on the proof, showing applications to real curves.