In this work we present new fundamental tools for studying the variations of the Willmore functional of immersed surfaces into $R^m$. This approach gives for instance a new proof of the existence of a Willmore minimizing embedding of an arbitrary closed surface in arbitrary codimension. We explain how the same approach can solve constraint minimization problems for the Willmore functional. We show in particular that, for a given closed surface and a given conformal class for this surface, there is an immersion in $R^m$, away possibly from isolated branched points, which minimizes the Willmore energy among all possible Lipschitz immersions in $R^m$ having an $L^2-$bounded second fundamental form and realizing this conformal class. This branched immersion is either a smooth Conformal Willmore branched immersion or an isothermic branched immersion. We show that branched points do not exist whenever the minimal energy in the conformal class is less than $8π$ and that these immersions extend to smooth conformal Willmore embeddings or global isothermic embeddings of the surface in that case. Finally, as a by-product of our analysis, we establish that inside a compact subspace of the moduli space the following holds : weak limit of Palais Smale Willmore sequences are Conformal Willmore, that weak limits of Palais Smale sequences of Conformal Willmore are either Conformal Willmore or Global Isothermic and finally we observe also that weakly converging Palais Smale sequences of Global Isothermic Immersions are Global Isothermic. The analysis developped along the paper - in particular these last results - opens the door to the possibility of constructing new critical saddle points of the Willmore functional without or with constraints using min max methods
Let $M$ be a simply connected homogeneous three-manifold with isometry group of dimension $4$, and let $Σ$ be any compact surface of genus zero immersed in $M$ whose mean, extrinsic and Gauss curvatures satisfy a smooth elliptic relation $Φ(H,K_e,K)=0$. In this paper we prove that $Σ$ is a sphere of revolution, provided that the unique inextendible rotational surface $S$ in $M$ that satisfies this equation and touches its rotation axis orthogonally has bounded second fundamental form. In particular, we prove that: (i) any elliptic Weingarten sphere immersed in $\mathbb{H}^2\times \mathbb{R}$ i…
We prove that a sequence of possibly branched, weak immersions of the two-sphere $S^2$ into an arbitrary compact riemannian manifold $(M^m,h)$ with uniformly bounded area and uniformly bounded $L^2-$norm of the second fundamental form either collapse to a point or weakly converges as current, modulo extraction of a subsequence, to a Lipschitz mapping of $S^2$ and whose image is made of a connected union of finitely many, possibly branched, weak immersions of $S^2$ with finite total curvature. We prove moreover that if the sequence belongs to a class $γ$ of $π_2(M^m)$ the limiting lipschitz map…
We study curvature functionals for immersed 2-spheres in non-compact, three-dimensional Riemannian manifold $(M,h)$ without boundary. First, under the assumption that $(M,h)$ is the euclidean 3-space endowed with a semi-perturbed metric with perturbation small in $C^1$ norm and of compact support, we prove that if there is some point $\bar{x} \in M$ with scalar curvature $R^M(\bar{x})>0$ then there exists a smooth embedding $f:S^2 \hookrightarrow M$ minimizing the Willmore functional $1/4\int |H|^2$, where $H$ is the mean curvature. Second, assuming that $(M,h)$ is of bounded geometry (i.e. bo…
We show that for an immersed two-sided minimal surface in $R^3$, there is a lower bound on the index depending on the genus and number of ends. Using this, we show the nonexistence of an embedded minimal surface in $R^3$ of index $2$, as conjectured by Choe. Moreover, we show that the index of a immersed two-sided minimal surface with embedded ends is bounded from above and below by a linear function of the total curvature of the surface.
We study a variational functional of Trudinger-Moser type associated with one-sided Borel probability measure. Its boundedness at the extremal parameter holds when the residual vanishing occurs. In the proof we use a variant of the Y.Y. Li estimate.
We show that a properly immersed minimal hypersurface in M x R_+ equals some M x {c} when M is a complete, recurrent n-dimensional Riemannian manifold with bounded curvature. If on the other hand, M has nonnegative Ricci curvature with curvature bounded below, the same result holds for any positive entire minimal graph over M.
We prove a Liouville type result for bounded, entire solutions to a class of variational semilinear elliptic systems, based on the growth of their potential energy over balls with growing radius. Important special cases to which our result applies are the Ginzburg-Landau system and systems that arise in the study of multi-phase transitions.
We employ a variational approach to study the Neumann boundary value problem for the $p$-Laplacian on bounded smooth-enough domains in the metric setting, and show that solutions exist and are bounded. The boundary data considered are Borel measurable bounded functions. We also study boundary continuity properties of the solutions. One of the key tools utilized is the trace theorem for Newton-Sobolev functions, and another is an analog of the De Giorgi inequality adapted to the Neumann problem.
We develop arguments on the critical point theory for locally Lipschitz functionals on Orlicz-Sobolev spaces, along with convexity and compactness techniques to investigate existence of solution of the multivalued equation $\displaystyle - Δ_Φ u \in \partial j(.,u) + λh \mbox{in} Ω$, where $Ω\subset {\bf R}^{N}$ is a bounded smooth domain, $Φ: {\r} \longrightarrow [0,\infty)$ is a suitable N-function, $Δ_Φ$ is the corresponding $Φ$-Laplacian, $λ> 0$ is a parameter, $h:Ω\rightarrow{\r}$ is integrable and $\partial j(., u)$ is the subdifferential of a function $j$ associated with critical growth…
We consider the minimizers of $L^{2}$-critical inhomogeneous variational problems with a spatially decaying nonlinear term in an open bounded domain $Ω$ of $\mathbb{R}^{N}$ which contains $0$. We prove that there is a threshold $a^{*}>0$ such that minimizers exist for $0<a<a^{*}$ and the minimizer does not exist for any $a>a^{*}$. In contrast to the homogeneous case, we show that both the existence and nonexistence of minimizers may occur at the threshold $a^*$ depending on the value of $V(0)$, where $V(x)$ denotes the trapping potential. Moreover, under some suitable assumptions on $V(x)$, ba…
Let $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^{2}$ be a bounded, Lipschitz domain. We consider bounded, weak solutions ($u\in W^{1, 2}\cap L^{\infty}(Ω;\mathbb{R}^N)$) of the vector-valued, Euler-Lagrange system: \text{div } \big( A(x, u)Du\big)=g(x, u, Du)\quad\text{in }Ω. Under natural growth conditions on the principal part and the inhomogeneity, but without any further restriction on the growth of the inhomogeneity (for example, via a smallness condition), we use a blow-up argument to prove that every bounded, weak solution of the system is Hölder continuous. Since the dimension of $Ω$ is $2$ and $u\in W^{1, 2}…
Relaxation of variational problems in the space of functions with bounded $\mathcal{B}$-variation: interaction with measures and lack of concentration phenomena
In this paper we consider the evolution of regular closed elastic curves $γ$ immersed in $\R^n$. Equipping the ambient Euclidean space with a vector field $\ca:\R^n\rightarrow\R^n$ and a function $f:\R^n\rightarrow\R$, we assume the energy of $γ$ is smallest when the curvature $\k$ of $γ$ is parallel to $\c = (\ca \circ γ) + (f \circ γ) τ$, where $τ$ is the unit vector field spanning the tangent bundle of $γ$. This leads us to consider a generalisation of the Helfrich functional $\SH$, defined as the sum of the integral of $|\k-\c|^2$ and $λ$-weighted length. We primarily consider the case whe…
We investigate spectral features of the Dirac operator with infinite mass boundary conditions in a smooth bounded domain of $\mathbb{R}^2$. Motivated by spectral geometric inequalities, we prove a non-linear variational formulation to characterize its principal eigenvalue. This characterization turns out to be very robust and allows for a simple proof of a Szegö type inequality as well as a new reformulation of a Faber-Krahn type inequality for this operator. The paper is complemented with strong numerical evidences supporting the existence of a Faber-Krahn type inequality.
In this work, we study the global existence of strong solutions and large-time behavior of a two-phase fluid model in a bounded domain. The model consists of the isothermal Euler equations and the isentropic compressible Navier--Stokes equations, coupled via the drag force. It was derived in [13[ from a kinetic-fluid model describing the dynamics of particles subject to local alignment force and Brownian noises immersed in a compressible viscous fluid. For this system, we extend the local existence theory for strong solutions developed in [13] to obtain the global existence of strong solutions…
The main goal of this paper is the study of two kinds of nonlinear problems depending on parameters in unbounded domains. Using a nonstandard variational approach, we first prove the existence of bounded solutions for nonlinear eigenvalue problems involving the fractional Laplace operator and nonlinearities that have subcritical growth. In the second part, based on a variational principle of Ricceri [16], we study a fractional nonlinear problem with two parameters and prove the existence of multiple solutions.
We study two principle minimizing problems, subject of different constraints. Our open sets are assumed bounded, except mentioning otherwise;precisely $Ω=]0,1[^n \in {\mathbb{R}}^n , n=1 $ or $n=2$.
In this paper we study the obstacle problems for the fractional Lapalcian of order $s\in(0,1)$ in a bounded domain $Ω\subset\mathbb R^n$, under mild assumptions on the data.
We establish the existence of a conservative weak solution to the Cauchy problem for the nonlinear variational wave equation $u_{tt} - c(u)(c(u)u_x)_x=0$, for initial data of finite energy. Here $c(\cdot)$ is any smooth function with uniformly positive bounded values.
We present a formal derivation of the inviscid 3D quasi-geostrophic system (QG) from primitive equations on a bounded, cylindrical domain. A key point in the derivation is the treatment of the lateral boundary and the resulting boundary conditions it imposes on solutions. To our knowledge, these boundary conditions are new and differentiate our model from closely related models which have been the object of recent study. These boundary conditions are natural for a variational problem in a particular Hilbert space. We construct solutions and prove an elliptic regularity theorem corresponding to…
We couple the mixed variational problem for the generalized Hodge-Helmholtz or Hodge-Laplace equation posed on a bounded three-dimensional Lipschitz domain with the first-kind boundary integral equation arising from the latter when constant coefficients are assumed in the unbounded complement. Recently developed Calderon projectors for the relevant boundary integral operators are used to perform a symmetric coupling. We prove stability of the coupled problem away from resonant frequencies by establishing a generalized Garding inequality (T-coercivity). The resulting system of equations describ…
Following the global method for relaxation we prove an integral representation result for a large class of variational functionals naturally defined on the space of functions with Bounded Deformation. Mild additional continuity assumptions are required on the functionals.
We investigate the existence of a maximiser among open, bounded, convex sets in $\R^d,\,d\ge 3$ for the product of torsional rigidity and Newtonian capacity (or logarithmic capacity if $d=2$), with constraints involving Lebesgue measure or a combination of Lebesgue measure and perimeter.
