A bridge principle for minimal and constant mean curvature submanifolds of R^ N

DOI10.1007/BF01389177MaRDI QIDQ1098403zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Nathan Smale

Publication date 1987

Published in Inventiones Mathematicae (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://eudml.org/doc/143520

zbMATH Keywords

bridge principleconstant mean curvatureoriented stable minimal surfaces

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Minimal surfaces and optimization (49Q05) Minimal surfaces in differential geometry, surfaces with prescribed mean curvature (53A10)

Review text

The bridge principle states that if \(N_ 1\) and \(N_ 2\) are two stable minimal discs, then there exists a minimal disc which is close to \(N_ 1\) and \(N_ 2\) joined by a thin strip. While soap films act this way, it seems that it took thirty years until an acceptable version was stated, proved, and published by \textit{W. W. Meeks} and \textit{S.-T. Yau} [Math. Z. 179, 151-168 (1982; Zbl 0479.49026)] for oriented stable minimal surfaces in \({\mathbb{R}}^ 3.\) In this paper the author generalizes the statement of the Meeks-Yau bridge principle to arbitrary dimensions and codimensions. The stability hypothesis is also weakened to the assumption that \(N_ 1\) and \(N_ 2\) have no Jacobi fields. A further result extends the bridge principle to codimension one surfaces of constant mean curvature. The method of proof is to first establish a bridge of width \(\epsilon\) which, while it does not form a minimal surface, is well adapted to the subsequent construction. The new connected surfaces is called the approximate solution because the \(L^ p\) norm of the mean curvature is small. The proof of the theorem is thereby reduced to solving an elliptic boundary value problem for small enough \(\epsilon\). This is done by using the Schauder fixed point theorem, for which the author proves a substantial number of technical estimates.

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Cites work

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Cited in

(10)

• Bridge principle for constant and positive Gauss curvature surfaces
• The bridge principle for stable minimal surfaces
• A bridge principle for harmonic diffeomorphisms between surfaces
• The sharp isoperimetric inequality for minimal surfaces with radially connected boundary in hyperbolic space
• The bridge principle for unstable and for singular minimal surfaces
• A bridge principle for harmonic maps
• Higher codimension minimal submanifold with isolated singularity
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 8366 (Why is no real title available?)
• Harmonic Maps with Prescribed Finite Singularities
• Helicoidal minimal surfaces of prescribed genus

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