Existence and soap film regularity of solutions to Plateau's problem (Q323096)

The authors provide an alternative approach to classical Plateau's problem, using a new definition of span using linking numbers, and the notions of differential and film chains. Consider an \((n-2)\)-dimensional compact, oriented submanifold \(M\) in \({\mathbb R}^n\), \(n\geq 3\). Writing \(M\) as the union of their connected components \(\cup_j M_j\), a circle embedded in \(M\setminus {\mathbb R}^n\) is defined as a simple link of \(M\) if there exists \(i\) such that the absolute value of the linking number \(L(S,M_i)\) equals \(1\) and \(L(S,M_j)=0\) for \(j\neq i\). A compact set \(X\subset {\mathbb R}^n\) spans \(M\) if every simple link of \(M\) intersects \(X\). The set of compact sets spanning \(M\) is called \({\mathfrak S}(M)\). This notion was introduced in [\textit{J. Harrison}, J. Geom. Anal. 24, 271--297 (2014; Zbl 1302.49059)] for curves in \({\mathbb R}^3\). Film chains are defined in Section~6 as a particular type of differential chains, and generalize dipole surfaces introduced in [loc. cit.]. While they are not rectifiable currents, minimizing film chains have rectifiable supports. The main result in the paper is the following version of Plateau's problem: given an \((n-2)\)-dimensional compact, oriented submanifold \(M\) in \({\mathbb R}^n\), \(n\geq 3\), there exists a film chain \(S_0\) spanning \(M\) with minimal \((n-1)\)-dimensional Hausdorff spherical measure. In addition, the support of any minimizer is contained in the convex hull of \(M\), has minimal \((n-1)\) Hausdorff spherical measure in \(\mathfrak S(M)\), and is almost everywhere a real analytic \((n-1)\)-dimensional minimal submanifold. In case \(n=3\), the support of a minimizer has the structure of a soap film. The proof of the main result is built on many intermediate interesting ones, such as a deformation theorem (Theorem 5.0.6), a compactness result (Corollary 6.0.10), deformation of minimizing sequences (Theorem 1.7.1), convergence of minimizing sequences in Hausdorff distance (\S~7.1), and lower continuity of Hausdorff spherical measure for Reifenberg regular minimizing sequences (Theorem 7.3.10), among others. A different proof of the main result in this paper has been given in [\textit{C. de Lellis}, \textit{F. Ghiraldin} and \textit{F. Maggi}, ``A direct approach to Plateau's problem'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1408.4047}] using the same notion of span, but Radon measures instead of film chains.