Existence of minimal hypersurfaces in complete manifolds of finite volume (Q2288424)

The authors prove that every complete non-compact manifold of finite volume contains a (possibly non-compact) minimal hypersurface of finite volume. This is a corollary of the following theorem: Let \(M\) be an \((n+1)\)-dimensional complete Riemannian manifold with \(n\geq 2\). Suppose \(M\) contains a bounded open set \(U\) with smooth boundary, such that \(\mathrm{Vol}_n(\partial U) \le \frac{W_{\partial U}}{10}\). Then \(M\) contains a complete embedded minimal hypersurface \(\Gamma\) of finite volume. The hypersurface is smooth in the complement of a closed set of Hausdorff dimension \(n - 7\). The proof is based on Almgren-Pitts min-max theory. The main tool is the following result of independent interest: if a region \(U\) can be swept out by a family of hypersurfaces of volume at most \(V\), then it can be swept out by a family of mutually disjoint hypersurfaces of volume at most \(V + \epsilon\).