Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Minimal surface equation'

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of smoothness, specifically the smoothness of the boundary ∂Ω, in the behavior of the variational solution f on a domain Ω to the Dirichlet problem for the Minimal Surface Equation at a point O ∈ ∂Ω when the (generalized) curvature of ∂Ω has a negative upper bound in a neighborhood of O. We give examples which show that the assumption of boundary-regularity which Simon made in [12] or at least some weaker boundary-regularity assumption which excludes nonconvex corners in the boundary of the domain is necessary in order to guarantee that the variational solution of the Dirichlet problem for the Minimal Surface Equation is continuous in the closure of the domain for every Lipschitz-continuous boundary-data function ϕ : ∂Ω → R. This is independent of whether or not f equals ϕ on ∂Ω. Furthermore, these examples give credence to the Concus-Finn Conjecture, which still awaits to be proven in the case that the contact-angle is 0 or π at nonconvex corners.
Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Mathematics, Statistics, and Physics

This thesis is concerned with the study of qualitative properties of solutions of the minimal surface equation and of a class of prescribed mean curvature equations on complete Riemannian manifolds. We derive global gradient bounds for non-negative solutions of such equations on manifolds satisfying a uniform Ricci lower bound and we obtain Liouville-type theorems and other rigidity results on Riemannian manifolds with non-negative Ricci curvature. The proof of the aforementioned global gradient bounds for non-negative solutions u is based on the application of the maximum principle to an elliptic differential inequality satisfied by a suitable auxiliary function z=f(u,|Du|), in the spirit of Bernstein’s method of a priori estimates for nonlinear PDEs and of Yau’s proof of global gradient bounds for harmonic functions on complete Riemannian manifolds. The particular choice of the auxiliary function z parallels the one in Korevaar’s proof of a priori gradient estimates for the prescribed mean curvature equation in Euclidean space. The rigidity results obtained in the last part of the thesis include a Liouville theorem for positive solutions of the minimal surface equation on complete Riemannian manifolds with non-negative Ricci curvature, a splitting theorem for complete parabolic manifolds of non-negative sectional curvature supporting non-constant solutions with linear growth of the minimal surface equation, and a splitting theorem for domains of complete parabolic manifolds with non-negative Ricci curvature supporting non-constant solutions of overdetermined problems involving the mean curvature operator.

In recent years fractional operators have received considerable attention both in pure and applied mathematics. They appear in biological observations, finance, crystal dislocation, digital image reconstruction and minimal surfaces. In this thesis we study nonlocal minimal surfaces which are boundaries of sets minimizing certain integral norms and can be interpreted as a non-infinitesimal version of classical minimal surfaces. In particular, we consider critical points, with or withouth constraints, of suitable functionals, or approximations through diffuse models as the Allen-Cahn’s. In the first part of the thesis we prove an existence and multiplicity result for critical points of the fractional analogue of the Allen-Cahn equation in bounded domains. We bound the functional using a standard nonlocal tool: we split the domain in two regions and we analyze the three significative interactions. Then, the proof becomes an application of a classical Krasnoselskii’s genus result. Then, we consider a fractional mesoscopic model of phase transition i.e. the fractional Allen-Cahn equation with the addition of a mesoscopic term changing the ‘pure phases’ ±1 in periodic functions. We investigate geometric properties of the interface of the associated minimal solutions. Then we construct minimal interfaces lying to a strip of prescribed direction and universal width. We provide a geometric and variational technique adapted to deal with nonlocal interactions. In the last part of the thesis, we study functionals involving the fractional perimeter. In particular, first we study the localization of sets with constant nonlocal mean curvature and small prescribed volume in an open bounded domain, proving that these sets are ‘sufficiently close’ to critical points of a suitable potential. The proof is an application of the Lyupanov-Schmidt reduction to the fractional perimeter. Finally, we consider the fractional perimeter in a half-space. We prove the existence of a minimal set with fixed volume and some of its properties as intersection with the hyperplane {xN = 0}, symmetry, to be a graph in the xN-direction and smoothness.

In this thesis, we study a Bäcklund transformation for minimal surfaces - surfaces with vanishing mean curvature - transforming a given minimal surface into a possible infinity of new ones. The transformation, also carrying with it mappings between solutions to the elliptic Liouville equation, is first derived by using geometrical concepts, and then by using algebraic methods alone - the latter we have not been able to find elsewhere. We end by exploiting the transformation in an example, transforming the catenoid into a family of new minimal surfaces.

Le cadre de cette thèse est la théorie des surfaces minimales. En 2001, C. Cosin et A. Ros démontrent que, si un polygone borde un disque immergé, ce polygone est le polygone de flux d'un r-noide Alexandrov-plongé symétrique de genre 0. Leur démonstration se fonde sur l'étude de l'espace de ces surfaces minimales. Notre travail présente une démonstration plus constructive de leur résultat. Notre méthode repose sur la résolution du problème de Dirichlet pour l'équation des surfaces minimales. A cette fin, nous étudions la convergence de suites de solutions de cette équation. Nous définissons la notion de lignes de divergence de la suite qui sont les points ou la suite des gradients est non-bornées. L'étude de ces lignes permet de conclure sur la convergence d'une suite. Les r-noides sont alors construits comme les surfaces conjuguées aux graphes de solutions du problème de Dirichlet sur des domaines fixés par les polygones. Dans une seconde partie, nous montrons que, sous l'hypothèse de border un disque immergé, un polygone est aussi le polygone de flux d'un r-noide Alexandrov-plongé symétrique de genre $1$. La démonstration repose sur une amélioration des idées de celle du premier résultat, elle nécessite entre autre la résolution d'un problème de période. Cette résolution passe par l'étude du comportement limite de certaines suites de surfaces minimales.

Cette thèse est dédiée à l'analyse mathématique de quelques problèmes variationnels motivés par le modèle de Ginzburg-Landau en théorie de la supraconductivité. Dans la première partie on étudie l'existence de solutions pour les équations de Ginzburg-Landau sans champ magnétique et avec données au bord de type semi-rigides. Ces données consistent à prescrire le module de la fonction sur le bord du domaine ainsi que son degré topologique. C'est un cas particulier de problèmes à bord libre, ou la donnée complète de la fonction sur le bord est une inconnue du problème. L'existence de solutions à ce problème n'est pas assurée. En effet la méthode directe du calcul des variations ne peut pas s'appliquer car le degré sur le bord n'est pas continu pour la convergence faible dans l'espace de Sobolev adapté. On dit que c'est un problème sans compacité. En étudiant le phénomène de "bubbling" qui apparaît dans l'étude de tels problèmes on donne des résultats d'existence et de non existence de solutions. Dans le Chapitre 1 on étudie des conditions qui permettent d'affirmer que la différence entre deux niveaux d'énergie est strictement optimale. Pour cela on adapte une technique due à Brezis-Coron. Ceci nous permet de redémontrer un résultat (précédemment obtenu par Berlaynd Rybalko et Dos Santos) d'existence de solutions stables pour les équations de Ginzburg-Landau dans des domaines multiplement connexes. Dans le Chapitre 2 on considère les applications harmoniques a valeurs dans $R^2$ avec des conditions au bord de type degrés prescrits sur un anneau. On fait un lien entre ce problème et la théorie des surfaces minimales dans $R^3$ grâce à la différentielle quadratique de Hopf. Ceci nous conduit à l'étude des surfaces minimales bordées par deux cercles dans des plans parallèles. On prouve l'existence de telles surfaces qui ne sont pas des catenoides grâce a un résultat de bifurcation. On utilise alors les résultats obtenus pour déduire des théorèmes d'existence et de non existence de minimiseurs de l'énergie de Ginzburg-Landau à degrés prescrits dans un anneau. Dans ce troisième Chapitre on obtient des résultats pour une valeur du paramètre " grand. Le Chapitre 4 a pour objet l'étude des problèmes a degrés prescrits en dimension n3. On y montre la non existence des minimiseurs de la n-énergie de Ginzburg-Landau a degrés prescrits dans un domaine simplement connexe. On étudie ensuite des points critiques de type min-max pour une énergie perturbée. La deuxième partie est consacrée a l'analyse asymptotique des solutions des équations deGinzburg-Landau lorsque " tend vers zero. Sandier et Serfaty ont étudié le comportement asymptotique des mesures de vorticité associées aux équations. Ils ont notamment trouvé des conditions critiques sur les mesures limites dans le cas des équations avec et sans champ magnétique. Nous nous intéressons alors à ces conditions critiques dans le cas sans champ magnétique. Le problème de la régularité locale des mesures limites se ramène ainsi a l'étude de la régularité des fonctions stationnaires harmoniques dont le Laplacien est une mesure. Nous montrons que localement de telles mesures sont supportées par une union de lignes appartenant à l'ensemble des zéros d'une fonction harmonique
This thesis is devoted to the mathematical analysis of some variational problems. These problem sare motivated by the Ginzburg-Landau model related to the super conductivity. In the first part we study existence of solutions of the Ginzburg-Landau equations without magnetic eld but with semi-sti boundary conditions. These conditions are obtained by prescribing the modulus of the function on the boundary of the domain along with its topological degree. This is a particular case of free boundary problems, where the function on the boundary is an unknown of the problem. Existence of solutions of that problem does not necessary hold. Indeed we can not apply the direct method of the calculus of variations since the degree on the boundaryis not continuous with respect to the weak convergence in an appropriated Sobolev space. This is problem with loss of compactness. By studying the bublling" phenomenon which come upin such problems we obtain some existence and non existence results .In Chapter 1 we study conditions under which the dierence between two energy levels is strictly optimal. In order to do that we adapt a technique due to Brezis-Coron. This allow us to recover known existence results (previously obtained by Berlyand and Rybalko and DosSantos) for stable solutions of the Ginzburg-Landau equations in multiply connected domains. In Chapter 2 we are interested in harmonic maps with values in $R^2$ with prescribed degree boundary condition in an annulus. We make a link between this problem and the minimal surface theory in $R^3$ thanks to the so-called Hopf quadratic differential. This leads us to study immersed minimal surfaces bounded by two circles in parallel planes. We prove the existence of such surfaces die rent from catenoids by using a bifurcation argument. We then apply the results obtained to deduce existence and non existence results for minimizers of the Ginzburg-Landau energy with prescribed degrees. This is done in Chapter 3 where the results are obtained for large ".Chapter 4 is devoted to prescribed degree problems in dimension n3 . We prove the non existence of minimizers of the Ginzburg-Landau energy in simply connected domains. We then study min-max critical points of a perturbed energy. The second part is devoted to the asymptotic analysis of solutions of the Ginzburg-Landau equations when "goes to zero. Sandier and Serfaty studied the asymptotic behavior of the vorticity measures associated to these equations. They derived critical conditions on the limiting measures both with and without magnetic Field. We are interested by these conditions when there is no magnetic Field. The problem of the local regularity of the limiting measures is then equivalent to the study of regularity of stationary harmonic functions whose Laplacianis a measure. We show that locally such measures are concentrated on a union of lines which belong to the zero set of an harmonic function

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico
Neste trabalho, demonstramos teoremas estabelecendo condiÃÃes suficientes para a existÃncia de imersÃes isomÃtricas com curvatura extrÃnseca prescrita em grupos de Lie nilpotentes e solÃveis. Obtemos assim uma generalizaÃÃo do Teorema Fundamental da Teoria de Subvariedades em Rn e, em particular, obtemos resultados de imersÃo em todos os grupos tipo-Heisenberg e em todos os espaÃos de Damek-Ricci.
In this paper, we prove theorems establishing sufficient conditions to existence for isometric immersions with prescribed extrinsic curvature in two-step nilpotent Lie groups and solvmanifolds. We obtain a generalization of the Fundamental Theorem of Submanifold Theory in Rn and, in particular, we one has immersion results in the generally Heisenberg type groups and Damek-Ricci spaces.

Diese Arbeit wird durch die AdS/CFT Korrespondenz, sowie durch die Dualität zwischen lichtartigen, polygonalen Wilsonschleifen und Gluonenstreuamplituden in N=4 Super-Yang-Mills-Theorie motiviert. Bei starker Kopplung haben lichtartige, polygonale Wilsonschleifen und Gluonenstreuamplituden eine Beschreibung über raumartige Minimalflächen in AdS5. Wir benutzen eine Pohlmeyerreduktion, um eine Klassifikation aller raumartigen Minimalflächen in AdS3xS3 mit flachen Projektionen herzuleiten. Diese Klassifikation enthält neun verschiedene Klassen von Flächen. Dabei treten raumartige, zeitartige und degenerierte AdS3-Projektionen auf. Bei denjenigen Lösungen, die einen geschlossenen, polygonalen und lichtartigen Rand besitzen, berechnen wir den regularisierten Flächeninhalt. Bei schwacher Kopplung erfüllen lichtartige, polygonale Wilsonschleifen und Gluonenstreuamplituden den um eine Remainderfunktion korrigierten BDS-Ansatz. Wir präsentieren eine Technik, die auf einer Renormierungsgruppengleichung für selbstschneidende Wilsonschleifen beruht, mit der wir die Divergenzen der Remainderfunktion in diesem Limes berechnen können. Mittels dieser Technik analysieren wir zwei Arten des Selbstschnittes. Im Falle des Selbstschnittes zwischen zwei Ecken berechnen wir die führenden Divergenzen bis zur vierten Schleifenordnung. Beim Selbstschnitt zwischen zwei Kanten berechnen wir die führenden und nächstfolgenden Divergenzen bis zur vierten Schleifenordnung und präsentieren eine analytische Fortsetzung in die Region der Euklidischen Wilsonschleifen und sagen bestimmte Terme vorher, die in dem unbekannten analytischen Ausdruck für die Remainderfunktion enthalten sein müssen.
This thesis is motivated by the AdS/CFT correspondence and the duality between gluon scattering amplitudes and light-like polygonal Wilson loops in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. At strong coupling light-like polygonal Wilson loops and gluon scattering amplitudes have a description in terms of space-like minimal surfaces in AdS5. We use a Pohlmeyer reduction to derive a classification of all space-like minimal surfaces in AdS3xS3 that have flat projections. The classification consists of nine different classes and contains space-like, time-like and degenerated AdS3 projections. For solutions that admit a closed light-like polygonal boundary we calculate the regularized area. At weak coupling light-like polygonal Wilson loops and gluon scattering amplitudes obey the BDS Ansatz corrected by a remainder function. We present a renormalisation group equation technique using self-crossing Wilson loops to extract the divergences of the remainder function in this limit. Using this technique we analyse two different types of self-crossing. We present the leading and sub-leading divergences up to four loops for a crossing between two edges and the leading divergences for a crossing between two vertices. For a crossing between two edges we present an analytic continuation to the euclidean regime to predict certain terms that have to occur in the unknown analytic expression of the remainder function.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
數學研究所
96
We consider the minimal surface equation in an infinite sector domain with given capillary boundary conditions.First, we give a necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the linear solution. Second, we study the behavior of the solutions of the minimal surface equation at the origin and at the infinite by using the blow up and the sip in process. Finally, we claim that the solution is linear on the boundary and conclude that it is a plane.

We study the regularity of weak solutions for the Stefan and Hele- Shaw problems with Gibbs-Thomson law under special conditions. The main result says that whenever the free boundary is Lipschitz in space and time it becomes (instantaneously) C[superscript 2,alpha] in space and its mean curvature is Hölder continuous. Additionally, a similar model related to the Signorini problem is introduced, in this case it is shown that for large times weak solutions converge to a stationary configuration.
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In the work we modify the well-known minimal surface problem to a very special form, where the exponent two is replaced by a general positive parameter. To the modified problem we define four notions of solution in nonreflexive Sobolev space and in the space of functions of bounded variation. We examine the relationships between these notions to show that some of them are equivalent and some are weaker. After that we look for assumptions needed to prove the existence of solution to the problem in the sense of definitions provided. We outline that in the setting of spaces of functions of bounded variation the solution exists for any positive finite parameter and that if we accept some restrictions on the parameter then the solution exists in the Sobolev space, too. We also provide counterexample indicating that if the domain is non-convex, the solution in Sobolev space need not exist. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)