On gradient flows with obstacles and Euler's elastica (Q1985796)

With any specified energy functional defined on a space of measurable functions is associated an \textit{Obstacle Problem} described in full details in the first section. This situation is exemplified in the following four sections by the elastic energy of the plane curves in the framework of Hilbert spaces. The author examine in detail the condition which is sufficient for the convergence of the De Giorgi minimizing movement flow that exists for all positive times. The technical proofs are collected in the Appendix.