On the Problem of Optimal Cutting (Q4785873)

Let \(\Omega\) denote a smooth domain in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) (the membrane) in which two points \(A\) and \(B\) are fixed. The class of admissible cuts of the membrane is the set \(U=\{\Gamma \subset\overline \Omega:A,B \in\Gamma\), \(\Gamma\) is compact and connected\}, and for each cut \(\Gamma\) the associated energy is given by \[ {\mathcal E}(\Gamma)= \min\left\{ \int_{\Omega-\Gamma} |\nabla u |^2 dx:u\in H^1_{\text{loc}}(\Omega-\Gamma),\;u=u_0\text{ on }\partial \Omega\right\} \] for some boundary function \(u_0\in H^1(\Omega)\). The problem of optimal cutting is then to find a solution of \[ \max\bigl\{{\mathcal E}(\Gamma): \Gamma\max \in U\bigr\}. \] In the introduction the authors compare this problem to related ones (image segmentation), then they prove the existence of an optimal solution. A final section collects open problems and five examples for which an optimal cut can be constructed explicitly.