The capillary Minkowski problem

Nonlinear boundary value problems for nonlinear elliptic equations (35J66) Differential geometry of immersions (minimal, prescribed curvature, tight, etc.) (53C42) Integral geometry (53C65) Boundary value problems on manifolds (58J32)

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The authors consider the smooth capillary Minkowski problem. First, they consider the (necessary) condition,\N\[\N \int_{\mathcal{C}_{\theta}} \frac{\xi \cdot E_{\alpha}}{f(\xi)}\ d\mathcal{H}^{n}(\xi) =0, \quad \forall 1\le \alpha\le n,\tag{1}\N\]\Nwhere \(d\mathcal{H}^{n}\) is the \(n\)-dimensional Hausdorff measure on \(\mathcal{C}_{\theta}\).\N\NThe principal result of this article is the following:\N\NTheorem 1. Let \(\theta\in \left(0,\frac{\pi}{2}\right],\) \(f\in C^{2}\left(\mathcal{C}_{\theta}\right)\) be a positive function that satisfies (1). Then, there exists a \(C^{3,\gamma}\) (\(\gamma\in (0,1)\)) strictly convex, capillary hypersurface \(\Sigma \subset \overline{\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}}\) such that its Gauss-Kronecker curvature \(K\) satisfies\N\[\NK\left(\tilde \nu^{-1}(\xi)\right)=f(\xi)\N\]\Nfor all \(\xi\in \mathcal{C}_{\theta}\). Moreover, \(\Sigma\) is unique up to a horizontal translation in \(\overline{\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}}\).\N\NHere, \(\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}=\{\xi=(\xi_{1}\dots,\xi_{n+1})\in \mathbb{R}^{n+1} : \xi_{n+1}>0\},\) \(\mathcal{C}_{\theta}=\{\xi\in \overline{\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}} : |\xi-\cos\theta e|=1\},\) \(E_{\alpha}\) is the \(\alpha\)-th unit coordinate vector in \(\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\) (\(\alpha=1,\dots,n+1\)), \(e=-E_{n+1}\) is the unit outward normal to \(\partial \overline{\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}}\), \(\tilde \nu=T\circ \nu,\) \(\nu\) is the unit outward normal to \(\Sigma\) (i.e. the Gauss map of \(\Sigma\) with respect to the domain \(\tilde\Sigma\) bounded by \(\Sigma\) and \(\partial \mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}\)), \(T:\mathcal{S}^{n}_{\theta} \to \mathcal{C}_{\theta}\) is defined by \(T(y)=y+\cos\theta e\) and \(\mathcal{S}^{n}_{\theta}=\{x\in \mathcal{S}^{n} : x\cdot E_{n+1} \ge \cos\theta\}.\) By a capillary hypersurface \(\Sigma\) in this paper is meant a hypersurface in \(\overline{\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}}\) such that \(\partial\Sigma \subset \partial \mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}\) and \(\cos(\pi-\theta)=\nu(\xi)\cdot e\) for each \(\xi\in\partial\Sigma;\) the authors note that ``a capillary hypersurface in this paper is not necessarily a hypersurface of constant mean curvature.\N\NThe authors observe that the ``main contribution in this paper is the existence, more precisely the estimates for the corresponding Monge-Ampère equation with a Robin boundary value condition for a function \(h:\mathcal{C}_{\theta}\to \mathbb{R}\) which is\N\begin{align*}\N\det\left(\nabla^{2}h+h\sigma\right) & = f^{-1}, \text{ in } \mathcal{C}_{\theta}, \tag{2}\\\N\nabla_{\mu}h & = \cot\theta h, \text{ on } \partial \mathcal{C}_{\theta}, \tag{3}\N\end{align*}\Nwhere \(\nabla h\) and \(\nabla^{2}h\) are the gradient and Hessian of \(h\) on \(\mathcal{C}_{\theta}\) with respect to the standard spherical metric on \(\mathcal{C}_{\theta}\) respectively, \(\mu\) is the unit outward normal of \(\partial \mathcal{C}_{\theta}\subset \mathcal{C}_{\theta}\) and \(\sigma\) is the standard metric on \(\mathcal{S}^{n}.\) The authors write: ``We emphasize that for the \(C^{0}\) and \(C^{1}\) estimates we do not need the restriction \(\theta\in \left(0,\frac{\pi}{2}\right)\). This condition will be used crucially in proving \(C^{2}\) estimates and it implies that the boundary of \(\mathcal{C}_{\theta}\) is strictly convex. They also state: ``Nevertheless, we believe that Theorem 1 holds true for the whole range \(\theta\in (0,\pi)\).\N\NThe paper discusses the context in which it sits with respect to the literature and the importance of the Minkowski problem for the study of closed convex hypersurfaces and convex bodies. One might alternatively call \(\Sigma\) a constant contact angle hypersurface or a hypersurface which meets \(\partial \mathbb{R}^{n+1}_{+}\) in a constant contact angle.

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