The weighted Fermat-Torricelli problem on a surface and an ``inverse'' problem (Q710906)

The classical Fermat-Torricelli problem is to find the unique point \(P_{F}\) that minimizes the sum of distances from three points in \(\mathbb{R}^{2}.\) When the points are equipped with a positive weight the problem is referred to as the weighted Fermat-Torricelli (w.F-T) problem. Both problems have been studied and established in the plane. The main result in this paper is to prove the existence and uniqueness of the w.F-T point \(P_{F}\) in the case of a geodesically complete \(C^{2}\) surface. The inverse w.F-T problem in the case of a geodesically complete \(C^{2}\) surface is the following: given the w.F-T point \(P_{F}\) of a geodesic triangle with the vertices lying on three prescribed geodesic arcs that meet at \(P_{F},\) find the three non-negative weights such that the sum of these three weights is a constant number. A complete characterization of the w.F-T point \(P_{F}\) is given by the authors in the following two cases: (i) the w.F-T point \(P_{F}\) is in the interior of a triangle \(ABC\); (ii) the w.F-T point \(P_{F}\) is one of the vertices \(A\), or \(B\), or \(C\) of \(ABC\). Finally, the existence and uniqueness of the w.F-T point \(P_{F}\) on an Alexandrov space of curvature bounded above by a real number is established.