A new isoperimetric inequality for the elasticae (Q1676086)

Summary: For a smooth curve \(\gamma\), we define its elastic energy as \(E(\gamma)=\frac12\int_\gamma k^2(s)ds\) where \(k(s)\) is the curvature. The main purpose of the paper is to prove that among all smooth, simply connected, bounded open sets of prescribed area in \(\mathbb{R}^2\), the disc has the boundary with the least elastic energy. In other words, for any bounded simply connected domain \(\Omega\), the following isoperimetric inequality holds: \(E^2(\partial\Omega)A(\Omega)\geq\pi^3\). The analysis relies on the minimization of the elastic energy of drops enclosing a prescribed area, for which we give as well an analytic answer.