The Gauss image of entire graphs of higher codimension and Bernstein type theorems (Q353125)

From MaRDI portal
scientific article
Language Label Description Also known as
English
The Gauss image of entire graphs of higher codimension and Bernstein type theorems
scientific article

    Statements

    The Gauss image of entire graphs of higher codimension and Bernstein type theorems (English)
    0 references
    0 references
    0 references
    0 references
    12 July 2013
    0 references
    It is well-known that an entire minimal graph of dimension \(\leq 7\) and codimension \(1\) in Euclidean space has to be planar, but there are counterexamples to such a Bernstein type problem in dimension \(8\) or higher. However when the additional condition that the slope of the graph is uniformly bounded is imposed, a theorem of \textit{J. Moser} [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 14, 577--591 (1961; Zbl 0111.09302)], called a weak Bernstein theorem, asserts that such an entire minimal graph has to be planar. Let \(M^n\) be an oriented \(n\)-dimensional submanifold in \({\mathbb R}^{n+m}\). Moser's result [loc. cit.] has been extended to higher codimension by \textit{S.-s. Chern} and \textit{R. Osserman} [J. Anal. Math. 19, 15--34 (1967; Zbl 0172.22802)] for dimension \(n=2\) and \(m \geq 2\), and Barbosa and Fisher-Colbrie [\textit{D. Fischer-Colbrie}, Acta Math. 145, 29--46 (1980; Zbl 0464.53047)] for dimension \(n=3\). For dimension \(n = 4\) and codimension \(m \geq 3\), however, there is a counterexample given by \textit{H. B. Lawson} and \textit{R. Osserman} [Acta Math. 139, 1--17 (1977; Zbl 0376.49016)]. While the work of Lawson and Osserman produced a counterexample for a general Bernstein theorem, there are also some positive results in this direction (cf. [\textit{S. Hildebrandt} et al., Invent. Math. 62, 269--298 (1980; Zbl 0446.58006)]; [the first two authors, Calc. Var. Partial Differ. Equ. 9, No. 4, 277--296 (1999; Zbl 0960.53035)]; [\textit{M.-T. Wang}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 355, No. 1, 265--271 (2003; Zbl 1021.53005)]; [the second author and \textit{L. Yang}, Adv. Math. 219, No. 4, 1298--1326 (2008; Zbl 1147.49034)]). In this paper, the authors obtain a generalized Bernstein type theorem for entire minimal graphs of codimension \(\geq 2\), which substantially improve their previous results. Let \(f^\alpha(x^1, \dots, x^n)\), \(\alpha = 1, \dots, m\) be smooth functions on \({\mathbb R}^n\) with \(n\geq 3, m\geq 2\). The authors prove that if their graph \(M:= (x, f(x))\) is a submanifold with parallel mean curvature in \({\mathbb R}^{n+m}\), and there exists a number \(\beta_0 <3\) such that \[ v:= \left[\det\left(\delta_{ij}+\sum_\alpha \frac{\partial f^\alpha}{\partial x^i} \frac{\partial f^\alpha}{\partial x^j}\right)\right]^{\frac{1}{2}} \leq \beta_0, \] then \((f^1, \dots, f^m)\) has to be an affine \(n\)-plane.
    0 references
    0 references
    Bernstein type theorem
    0 references
    harmonic map
    0 references
    minimal submanifold
    0 references
    parallel mean curvature
    0 references

    Identifiers