Regularity results for solutions to the \(c\)-Plateau problem with free boundary having small singular set, and generally in codimension zero (Q2629559)

If, for an integer \(n\)-rectifiable current \(T\) of \(\mathbb R^{n+k}\), the \(c\)-isoperimetric mass of \(T\) is \(\mathbf M^c(T)=\mathbf M(T)+c\mathbf M(\partial T)^\kappa\), where \(\kappa=\frac{n}{n-1}\) is the exponent as in the isoperimetric inequality and \(\mathbf M\) is the usual mass, then this minimization problem for integer rectifiable currents is called the \(c\)-Plateau problem. If \(\Gamma\) is an integer multiplicity \((n-1)\)-rectifiable current, then an integer \(n\)-rectifiable current \(\mathbf T_c\) is said to be a solution to the \(c\)-Plateau problem with respect to fixed boundary \(\Gamma\) if \(\text{spt}\,(\partial\mathbf T_c-\Gamma)\cap\text{spt}\,\Gamma=\varnothing\) and if \(\mathbf T_c\) minimizes the \(c\)-isoperimetric mass amongst all integer \(n\)-rectifiable currents \(T\) with \(\text{spt}\,(\partial T-\Gamma)\cap\text{spt}\,\Gamma=\varnothing\). \(\Sigma_c=\partial\mathbf T_c-\Gamma\) is called the free boundary of \(\mathbf T_c\). In [J. Geom. Anal. 25, No. 1, 471--511 (2015; Zbl 1311.49111)], the present author showed that there is no solution \(\mathbf T_c\) to the \(c\)-Plateau problem in \(\mathbb R^{n+k}\) with respect to some fixed boundary \(\Gamma\), such that there is a nonempty smooth compact \((n-1)\)-dimensional submanifold of constant mean curvature such that \(\mathbf T_c\) corresponds to a smooth \(n\)-dimensional submanifold-with-boundary, with boundary \(G\), in some open neighborhood of \(G\). In this paper, the author proves two results for the \(c\)-Plateau problem. The first one is a generalization of the above result and states that if \(\mathbf T_c\) is a solution to the \(c\)-Plateau problem in \(\mathbb R^{n+k}\) with respect to some fixed boundary \(\Gamma\), then there is no open set \(W\) with compact closure in \(\mathbb R^n\setminus\text{spt}\,\Gamma\) so that \(\text{spt}\,\Sigma_c\cap W\neq\varnothing\) is compactly contained in \(W\), \({\mathcal H}^{(n-1)-2}(\mathbf{sing}_\partial\mathbf T_c\cap W)<\infty\), and \(\mathbf{reg}_\partial\mathbf T_c\cap W\) has constant mean curvature, where \(\mathbf{reg}_\partial T\) is the set of points \(x\in\text{spt}\,\partial T\) near which \(\partial T\) is an \((n-1)\)-dimensional \(C^1\) submanifold and \(T\) is an \(n\)-dimensional \(C^1\) submanifold-with-boundary, and \(\mathbf{sing}_\partial\, T=\text{spt}\,\partial T\setminus\mathbf{reg}_\partial\,T\). The second result of the paper estimates the size of the singular set of the free boundary \(\Sigma_c\), when an integer \(n\)-rectifiable current \(\mathbf T_c\) in \(\mathbb R^n\) is a solution to the \(c\)-Plateau problem with respect to some fixed boundary \(\Gamma\). The author shows that \(\mathbf{sing}\,\Sigma_c\) satisfies Federer's alternatives (i)\,\(\mathbf{sing}\,\Sigma_c=\varnothing\) if \(n\leq 7\), (ii)\,\(\mathbf{sing}\,\Sigma_c\) is locally finite if \(n=8\), and (iii)\, \(\mathbf{sing}\,\Sigma_c\) is of Hausdorff dimension at most \(n-8\) in case \(n>8\). Also, it is shown that there is no open set \(W\) with compact closure so that \(\text{spt}\,\Sigma_c\cap W\neq\varnothing\) is a compact subset of \(W\).