Quasi-minimizing surfaces in hyperbolic space (Q1202207)

Let \(H^ 3\) denote 3-dimensional hyperbolic space with constant curvature \(-1\). A surface \(F\subset H^ 3\) is called homotopically quasi-minimizing with constant \(Q\) if the following is true: If \(i_ t: F\to H^ 3\), \(0\leq t\leq 1\), is a homotopy of the inclusion \(i_ 0: F\to H^ 3\) with compact support \(D\subset F\), then \(\text{area}(D)\leq Q \text{area}(i_ 1| D)\), where \(Q\) is a constant \(\geq 1\) which does not depend on the homotopy. Let \(E\subset H^ 3\) be a totally geodesic plane, \(F\subset H^ 3\) a properly embedded plane with asymptotic boundary \(\partial_ \infty F=\partial_ \infty E\). The result presented in the paper is that if \(F\) is homotopically quasi-minimizing with constant \(Q\), then \(\text{dist}(p,E)\leq (\pi/2)\sqrt{Q^ 2-1}\) for all \(p\in F\). Results of this type are essential if one attempts to prove the existence of surfaces which minimize area with respect to a metric on \(H^ 3\) being the lift of a metric on a compact quotient of \(H^ 3\).