On minimizing problems with a volume constraint in hyperbolic 3-manifolds (Q1284227)

The main result of the paper is an existence theorem for closed surfaces of constant mean curvature in a hyperbolic 3-manifold. More precisely, let \(\Sigma\) be a closed Riemann surface of genus \(g>0\), \(N\) a hyperbolic 3-manifold without cusps, \(\gamma\) a free homotopy class of maps from \(\Sigma\) to \(N\), \(u_0\in\gamma\), and let \(V_\gamma(T)\), \(T\in\mathbb{R}\), denote the set of all \(u\in\gamma\) such that the volume \(V(u,u_0)\) ``between'' \(u\) and \(u_0\) has the value \(T\). Then the author considers the following problems: (i) for a given \(T\in\mathbb{R}\), and a given \(\Sigma\), find a minimizer \(u\) of the Dirichlet integral \(D(u,\Sigma)\) in \(V_\gamma(T)\), (ii) for a given \(T\in\mathbb{R}\), find a minimizer \((u,\Sigma)\) of the Dirichlet integral in \(V_\gamma(T)\times{\mathcal M}_g\), where \({\mathcal M}_g\) denotes the module space of closed surfaces of genus \(g\), (iii) for given \(H\in\mathbb{R}\) find a minimizer of the functional \(I_H(u):= D(u,\Sigma)+ 2HV(u,u_0)\) in \(\gamma\times{\mathcal M}_g\). It is well known that solutions of (ii) and (iii) are immersed surfaces of constant mean curvature, which comes out as a Lagrange parameter in (ii) and has the prescribed value \(H\) in (iii). The author proves in this paper that (i) has a solution if \(\gamma\) is nontrivial, (ii) possesses a solution if \(\gamma\) acts injectively on the fundamental groups, and (iii) has a solution under the assumption of (ii) and if \(| H|<1\). Moreover, he shows that the mean curvature of the solutions of (ii) is necessarily bounded by 1 in absolute value, thus demonstrating the optimality of the assumption \(| H|< 1\) in (iii). The existence proofs for (i) and (ii) follow the strategy of H. C. Wente's pioneering work in the Euclidean case: the key point is a sharp estimate for the volume jump in terms of the Dirichlet energy loss in the weak \(H^{1,2}\) limit of a minimizing sequence of maps and a delicate patching argument by which one compensates for the volume jump while saving a small amount of energy.