Monotonicity formulas for capillary surfaces (Q6913152)

The Willmore energy of an immersed surface \(F\colon\Sigma\to \mathbb{R}^3\) is defined by\N\[\N\mathcal{W}(F)=\int_\Sigma |H|^2 \,\mathrm{d}\mu,\N\]\Nwhere \(H\) is the mean curvature vector and \(\mu\) is the area measure, including multiplicity.\N\NIn this work, the monotonicity formula for the Willmore energy due to \textit{L. Simon} [Commun. Anal. Geom. 1, No. 2, 281--326 (1993; Zbl 0848.58012)] and its generalization to integral 2-varifolds by \textit{E. Kuwert} and \textit{R. Schätzle} [Ann. Math. (2) 160, No. 1, 315--357 (2004; Zbl 1078.53007)] are extended to capillary surfaces in the three-dimensional half-space \(\mathbb{R}^3_+=\mathbb{R}^2 \times (0,\infty)\) and the three-dimensional unit ball \(\mathbb{B}^3\subset \mathbb{R}^3\). The notion of generalized surfaces under consideration is the class of integral 2-varifolds in \(\overline{\mathbb{R}^3_+}\) and \(\overline{\mathbb{B}^3}\) with a contact angle condition \(\theta\in (0,\pi)\) as in [\textit{L. De Masi} and \textit{G. De Philippis}, J. Differ. Geom. 131, No. 2, 415--496 (2025; Zbl 08097554)].\N\NAs a consequence, the authors obtain a Li-Yau-type inequality in the spirit of \textit{P. Li} and \textit{S.-T. Yau} [Invent. Math. 69, 269--291 (1982; Zbl 0503.53042)]. For a compact immersed \(\theta\)-capillary surface \(F\colon \Sigma\to\overline{\mathbb{R}^3_+}\) such that \(F\vert_{\partial\Sigma}\) is positively oriented, it reads\N\[\N\mathcal{W}(F) \geq 2\pi(1-\cos\theta)\,\mathcal{H}^0(F^{-1}(x_0))\N\]\Nfor any \(x_0\in F(\partial \Sigma)\).\N\NThis implies a sharp lower bound on the Willmore energy (attained by spherical caps) and an energy threshold below which any capillary surface must be embedded. By conformal invariance, the same inequalities hold for capillary surfaces in the unit ball, thereby extending the results in [\textit{A. Volkmann}, Commun. Anal. Geom. 24, No. 1, 195--221 (2016; Zbl 1344.53007)] for surfaces with orthogonal free boundary (corresponding to \(\theta=\frac{\pi}{2}\)). Moreover, the authors deduce a new lower area bound for \(\theta\)-capillary minimal immersions in \(\overline{\mathbb{B}^3}\), yielding a new optimal estimate of a different type than the one obtained from the isoperimetric inequality [\textit{S. Brendle}, J. Am. Math. Soc. 34, No. 2, 595--603 (2021; Zbl 1482.53012)] and that involves the signed area of the ``wetting part''.