Geometric measure theory and differential inclusions (Q2074202)

In this work, the authors consider Lipschitz graphs of functions which are stationary points of strictly polyconvex energies, \textit{i.e.} energies \(E:\mathrm{Lip}(\Omega,\mathbb{R}^n)\to \mathbb{R}\) of the form: \[ E(u)=\int_\Omega f(Du)\,d\mathcal{L}^m, \] where \(f\in C^1(\mathbb{R}^{n\times m},\mathbb{R})\) is (stictly) polyconvex in the sense that one has \(f(X)=g(\Phi(X))\) for a (strictly) convex \(C^1\) function \(g\) where \(\Phi(X)\) denotes the vector of all subdeterminants of \(X\) of all orders -- here \(\Omega\subseteq\mathbb{R}^m\) is an open set. Such graphs can be thought as integral currents, resp. varifolds, which are stationary for some elliptic integrands. The regularity theory for the latter is a widely open problem, in particular no counterpart of the classical Allard's theorem is known. The authors address the issue from the point of view of differential inclusions and show that the relevant ones do not contain the class of laminates which are used by \textit{S. Müller} and \textit{V. Šverák} [Ann. Math. (2) 157, No. 3, 715--742 (2003; Zbl 1083.35032)] and \textit{L. Székelyhidi jun.} [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 172, No. 1, 133--152 (2004; Zbl 1049.49017)] to construct nonregular solutions. The authors' result is thus an indication that an Allard's type result might be valid for general elliptic integrands. The paper is concluded by listing a series of open questions concerning the regularity of stationary points for elliptic integrands. Reviewer's remark: The review is highly orientated on the authors' abstract.