No label defined (Q4487956)

The Möbius energy of a rectifiable curve \(\gamma:{\mathbb R}/(l{\mathbb Z}) \to {\mathbb R}^3\) is defined as \[ E(\gamma) =\int\int_{{\mathbb R}/(l{\mathbb Z})} \left[ {1\over | \gamma(v)-\gamma(u)| ^2}- {1\over D(\gamma(v),\gamma(u))^2} \right]\; | \gamma'(u)| \,| \gamma'(v)| \,du\,dv, \] where \(D(\gamma(u),\gamma(v))\) denotes the minimum length of subarcs of \(\gamma\) with endpoints \(\gamma(u)\) and \(\gamma(v)\). In the paper under review it is proven that the heat equation associated with the Möbius energy has a unique solution for short time. Furthermore, it is shown that a critical loop for the Möbius energy is smooth if it has cube-integrable curvature. Using \textit{M. H. Freedman, Z. Whang, Z. X. He} [Ann. Math. (2) 139, 1--50 (1994; Zbl 0817.57011)] one obtains as a corollary, that any local minimizer of the energy must be smooth. A third result states that circles are the only two-dimensional critical loops with cube-integral curvature. The article is well-written, nice to read and contains a short introduction into the history of subject.