Normal geodesic graphs of constant mean curvature (Q874685)

This paper is devoted to obtain some results for normal geodesic graphs of constant mean curvature. Consider an open interval \(I\subset\mathbb{R}\), a warping function \(\rho\in C^\infty(I)\), and an \(n\)-dimensional Riemannian manifold \((P^n,\langle;\rangle_P)\). Let \(M^{n+1}= I\times_\rho P^n\) be the product manifold endowed with a certain Riemannian metric, and \(\text{Ricc}_M(;)\) the Ricci curvature of \(M^{n+d}\). The authors extend some results for compact constant mean curvature normal geodesic graphs with boundary in space forms in a unified way to a large class of ambient spaces. This extension is achieved by solving a constant mean curvature existence problem in a general setting presented in two isometrically equivalent versions related by generalized Mercator projection. Let \(\Omega\) be a domain in a nonnegatively curved totally umbilical hypersurface \(P^n\), \(\Gamma\) be the boundary of \(\Omega\), and \(H_\Gamma\) the mean curvature of \(\Gamma\). The authors deduce the following theorem: ``Assume that \(M^{n+1}= I\times_\rho P^n\) with \(\text{Ric}_P\geq 0\) satisfies: (1) \(\lim_{t\to a^+}\rho(t)= 0\), (2) \(\rho'(t)> 0\), and \(\rho''(t)\geq 0\) for all \(t\in I\), (3) condition \((*)\) holds on the subset \((a,0]\times P^n\subset M^{n+1}\). Suppose that \(\Gamma\) in \(C^{2,\alpha}\) is mean convex and let \(H\) satisfy \(-H_\Gamma< H\leq 0\). Then there exists a function \(u\in C^{2,\alpha}(\overline\Omega)\) whose normal graph is a hypersurface of constant mean curvature \(H\) in \(M^{n+1}\) with boundary \(\Gamma\).'' In this theorem, \((*)\) denotes the conditon \(\text{Ric}_M(X)\geq \text{Ric}_M(T)\) for \(\text{Ric}_M\), where \(T= \partial/\partial t= (1/\lambda(s))\partial/\partial s\), and \(X\in TM\). Two remarkable cases are examined. Finally, some examples are considered.