We give a new proof of Brakke's partial regularity theorem up to C^{1,ς} for weak varifold solutions of mean curvature flow by utilizing parabolic monotonicity formula, parabolic Lipschitz approximation and blow-up technique. The new proof extends to a general flow whose velocity is the sum of the mean curvature and any given background flow field in a dimensionally sharp integrability class. It is a natural parabolic generalization of Allard's regularity theorem in the sense that the special time-independent case reduces to Allard's theorem.
In this article we use the mean curvature flow with surgery to derive regularity estimates for the level set flow going past Brakke regularity in certain special conditions allowing for 2-convex regions of high density. We also show a stability result for the plane under the level set flow.
In this paper we prove a convergence result for sequences of Willmore immersions with simple minimal bubbles. To this end we replace the total curvature control in T. Rivière's proof of the $\varepsilon$-regularity for Willmore immersions by a control of the local Willmore energy.
We establish interior $C^2$ estimates for convex solutions of scalar curvature equation and $σ_2$-Hessian equation. We also prove interior curvature estimate for isometrically immersed hypersurfaces $(M^n,g)\subset \mathbb R^{n+1}$ with positive scalar curvature. These estimates are consequences of an interior estimate for these equations obtained under a weakened condition.
We show short time existence and uniqueness of $\C^{1,1}$ solutions to the mean curvature flow with obstacles, when the obstacles are of class $\C^{1,1}$. If the initial interface is a periodic graph we show long time existence of the evolution and convergence to a minimal constrained hypersurface.
Given an initial $C^1$ hypersurface and a time-dependent vector field in a Sobolev space, we prove a time-global existence of a family of hypersurfaces which start from the given hypersurface and which move by the velocity equal to the mean curvature plus the given vector field. We show that the hypersurfaces are $C^1$ for a short time and, even after some singularities occur, almost everywhere $C^1$ away from higher multiplicity region.
We review recent work on the local geometry and optimal regularity of Lorentzian manifolds with bounded curvature. Our main results provide an estimate of the injectivity radius of an observer, and a local canonical foliations by CMC (Constant Mean Curvature) hypersurfaces, together with spatially harmonic coordinates. In contrast with earlier results based on a global bound for derivatives of the curvature, our method requires only a sup-norm bound on the curvature near the given observer.
Mean curvature flow of clusters of n-dimensional surfaces in R^{n+k} that meet in triples at equal angles along smooth edges and higher order junctions on lower dimensional faces is a natural extension of classical mean curvature flow. We call such a flow a mean curvature flow with triple edges. We show that if a smooth mean curvature flow with triple edges is weakly close to a static union of three n-dimensional unit density half-planes, then it is smoothly close. Extending the regularity result to a class of integral Brakke flows, we show that this implies smooth short-time existence of the …
We consider a $C^{1}$ smooth surface with prescribed $p$(or $H$)-mean curvature in the 3-dimensional Heisenberg group. Assuming only the prescribed $p$-mean curvature $H\in C^{0},$ we show that any characteristic curve is $C^{2}$ smooth and its (line) curvature equals $-H$ in the nonsingular domain$.$ By introducing characteristic coordinates and invoking the jump formulas along characteristic curves, we can prove that the Legendrian (or horizontal) normal gains one more derivative. Therefore the seed curves are $C^{2}$ smooth. We also obtain the uniqueness of characteristic and seed curves pa…
In this paper we study constant scalar curvature equation (CSCK), a nonlinear fourth order elliptic equation, and its weak solutions on Kähler manifolds. We first define a notion of weak solution of CSCK for an $L^\infty$ Kähler metric. The main result is to show that such a weak solution (with uniform $L^\infty$ bound) is smooth. As an application, this answers in part a conjecture of Chen regarding the regularity of $K$-energy minimizers. The new technical ingredient is a $W^{2, 2}$ regularity result for the Laplacian equation $Δ_g u=f$ on Kähler manifolds, where the metric has only $L^\inft…
We consider (smooth) solutions of the mean curvature flow of graphs over bounded domains in a Lie group free up to step two (and not necessarily nilpotent), endowed with a one parameter family of Riemannian metrics $σ_\e$ collapsing to a subRiemannian metric $σ_0$ as $\e\to 0$. We establish $C^{k,α}$ estimates for this flow, that are uniform as $\e\to 0$ and as a consequence prove long time existence for the subRiemannian mean curvature flow of the graph. Our proof extend to the setting of every step two Carnot group (not necessarily free) and can be adapted following our previous work in \cit…
The skew mean curvature flow is an evolution equation for a $d$ dimensional manifold immersed into $\mathbb{R}^{d+2}$, and which moves along the binormal direction with a speed proportional to its mean curvature. In this article, we prove small data global regularity in low-regularity Sobolev spaces for the skew mean curvature flow in dimensions $d\geq 4$. This extends the local well-posedness result in \cite{HT}.
By making use of the approximation method, we obtain the existence and regularity of the viscosity solutions for the generalized mean curvature flow. The asymptotic behavior of the flow is also considered. In particular, the Dirichlet problem of the degenerate elliptic equation $$ -|\nabla v|(\mathrm{div}(\frac{\nabla v}{|\nabla v|})+ν)=0 $$ is solvable in viscosity sense.
We consider Type I Ricci flows and obtain integral estimates for the curvature tensor valid up to, and including, the singular time. Our estimates partially extend to higher dimensions a curvature estimate recently shown to hold in dimension three by Kleiner and Lott. To do this we adapt the technique of quantitative stratification, introduced by Cheeger and Naber, to this setting.
We show uniqueness of cylindrical blowups for mean curvature flow in all dimension and all codimension. Cylindrical singularities are known to be the most important; they are the most prevalent in any codimension. Mean curvature flow in higher codimension is a nonlinear parabolic system where many of the methods used for hypersurfaces do not apply and uniqueness of cylindrical blowups remained a major open problem. Our results imply regularity of the singular set for the system.
In this paper, we study some intrinsic characterization of conformally compact manifolds. We show that, if a complete Riemannian manifold admits an essential set and its curvature tends to -1 at infinity in certain rate, then it is conformally compactifiable and the compactified metrics can enjoy some regularity at infinity. As consequences we prove some rigidity theorems for complete manifolds whose curvature tends to the hyperbolic one in a rate greater than 2.
Let $N$ be a smooth $(n+l)$-dimensional Riemannian manifold. We show that if $V$ is an area-stationary union of three or more $C^{1,μ}$ $n$-dimensional submanifolds-with-boundary $M_k \subset N$ with a common boundary $Γ$, then $Γ$ is smooth and each $M_k$ is smooth up to $Γ$ (real-analytic in the case $N$ is real-analytic). This extends a previous result of the author for codimension $l = 1$. We additionally show that if $\{V_t\}_{t \in (-1,1)}$ is a Brakke flow such that each time-slice $V_t$ is a union of three or more $n$-dimensional submanifolds-with-boundary $M_{k,t} \subset N$ with a co…
We propose a model for finding one-dimensional structure in a given measure. Our approach is based on minimizing an objective functional which combines the average-distance functional to measure the quality of the approximation and penalizes the curvature, similarly to the elastica functional. Introducing the curvature penalization overcomes some of the shortcomings of the average-distance functional, in particular the lack of regularity of minimizers. We establish existence, uniqueness and regularity of minimizers of the proposed functional. In particular we establish $C^{1,1}$ estimates on t…
In this paper, we are concerned with the regularity of noncollapsed Riemannian manifolds $(M^n,g)$ with bounded Ricci curvature, as well as their Gromov-Hausdorff limit spaces $(M^n_j,d_j)\stackrel{d_{GH}}{\longrightarrow} (X,d)$, where $d_j$ denotes the Riemannian distance. Our main result is a solution to the codimension $4$ conjecture, namely that $X$ is smooth away from a closed subset of codimension $4$. We combine this result with the ideas of quantitative stratification to prove a priori $L^q$ estimates on the full curvature $|Rm|$ for all $q<2$. In the case of Einstein manifolds, we im…
The key condition A3w of Ma, Trudinger and Wang for regularity of optimal transportation maps is implied by the nonnegativity of a pseudo-Riemannian curvature -- which we call cross-curvature -- induced by the transportation cost. For the Riemannian distance squared cost, it is shown that (1) cross-curvature nonnegativity is preserved for products of two manifolds; (2) both A3w and cross-curvature nonnegativity are inherited by Riemannian submersions; and (3) the $n$-dimensional round sphere satisfies cross-curvature nonnegativity. From these results, a large new class of Riemannian manifolds …
We prove an $ε$-regularity result for the tracefree curvature of a Willmore surface with bounded second fundamental form. For such a surface, we obtain a pointwise control of the tracefree second fundamental form from a small control of its $L^2$-norm.Several applications are investigated. Notably, we derive a gap statement for surfaces of the aforementioned type. We further apply our results to deduce regularity results for conformal minimal spacelike immersions into the de Sitter space $S^{4,1}$.
Let $M$ be an $n$-dimensional complete simply connected Riemannian manifold with sectional curvature bounded above by a nonpositive constant $-κ^2$. Using the cone total curvature $TC(Γ)$ of a graph $Γ$ which was introduced by Gulliver and Yamada Math. Z. 2006, we prove that the density at any point of a soap film-like surface $Σ$ spanning a graph $Γ\subset M$ is less than or equal to $\frac{1}{2π}\{TC(Γ) - κ^{2}\area(p\mbox{$\times\hspace*{-0.178cm}\times$}Γ)\}$. From this density estimate we obtain the regularity theorems for soap film-like surfaces spanning graphs with small total curvature…
We consider the problem of when a smooth Ricci flow, for positive time, that attains smooth initial data in a weak sense must be smooth down to the initial time. We obtain curvature estimates for an example where this fails. We prove a positive result in the case that the flow satisfies a lower IC1 curvature bound, equivalent to a lower Ricci bound in three dimensions. As an application, we prove that Gromov-Hausdorff limits of WPIC1 manifolds are WPIC1.
The Sobolev regularity of invariant measures for diffusion processes is proved on non-smooth metric measure spaces with synthetic lower Ricci curvature bounds. As an application, the symmetrizability of semigroups is characterized, and the stability of invariant measures is proved under perturbations of drifts and the underlying spaces in the sense of the measured Gromov convergence.
We consider the geometric evolution problem of entire graphs moving by fractional mean curvature. For this, we study the associated nonlocal quasilinear evolution equation satisfied by the family of graph functions. We establish, using an analytic semigroup approach, short time existence, uniqueness and optimal Hölder regularity in time and space of classical solutions of the nonlocal equation, depending on the regularity of the initial graph. The method also yields $C^\infty-$smoothness estimates of the evolving graphs for positive times.
We consider the rigorously derived thin shell membrane $Γ$-limit of a three-dimensional isotropic geometrically nonlinear Cosserat micropolar model and deduce full interior regularity of both the midsurface deformation $m:ω\subset{\mathbb R}^2\to{\mathbb R}^3$ and the orthogonal microrotation tensor field $R:ω\subset{\mathbb R}^2\to SO(3)$. The only further structural assumption is that the curvature energy depends solely on the uni-constant isotropic Dirichlet type energy term $|DR|^2$. We use Rivière's regularity techniques of harmonic map type systems for our system which couples harmonic m…
Existence and regularity of minimizers for a geometric variational problem is shown. The variational integral models an energy contribution of the interface between two immiscible fluids in the presence of surfactants and includes a Helfrich type contribution, a Frank type contribution and a coupling term between the orientation of the surfactants and the curvature of the interface. Analytical results are proven in a one--dimensional situation for curves.
In a previous paper we developed a regularity and compactness theory in Euclidean ambient spaces for codimension 1 weakly stable CMC integral varifolds satisfying two (necessary) structural conditions. Here we generalize this theory to the setting where the mean curvature (of the regular part of the varifold) is prescribed by a given $C^{1, α}$ ambient function $g$ and the ambient space is a general $(n+1)$-dimensional Riemannian manifold; we give general conditions that imply that the support of the varifold, away from a possible singular set of dimension $\leq n-7,$ is the image of a $C^{2}$…
The mean curvature flow is the gradient flow of volume functionals on the space of submanifolds. We prove a fundamental regularity result of the mean curvature flow in this paper: a Lipschitz submanifold with small local Lipschitz norm becomes smooth instantly along the mean curvature flow. This generalizes the regularity theorem of Ecker and Huisken for Lipschitz hypersurfaces. In particular, any submanifold of the Euclidean space with a continuous induced metric can be smoothed out by the mean curvature flow. The smallness assumption is necessary in the higher codimension case in view of an …
We study a class of mean curvature equations $-\mathcal Mu=H+λu^p$ where $\mathcal M$ denotes the mean curvature operator and for $p\geq 1$. We show that there exists an extremal parameter $λ^*$ such that this equation admits a minimal weak solutions for all $λ\in [0,λ^*]$, while no weak solutions exists for $λ>λ^*$ (weak solutions will be defined as critical points of a suitable functional). In the radially symmetric case, we then show that minimal weak solutions are classical solutions for all $λ\in [0,λ^*]$ and that another branch of classical solutions exists in a neighborhood $(λ_*-η,λ^*)…
A refined version of the strong maximum principle is proven for a class of second order ordinary differential equations with possibly discontinuous non-monotone nonlinearities. Then, exploiting this tool, some optimal regularity results recently established by Lopez-Gomez and Omari, for the bounded variation solutions of non-autonomous quasilinear equations driven by the one-dimensional curvature operator, are substantially improved by admitting general prescribed curvatures and by incorporating general boundary conditions. The new approach developed here yields a new, deeper, interpretation o…
In this paper, we consider smooth, properly immersed hypersurfaces evolving by mean curvature in some open subset of $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ on a time interval $(0, t_0)$. We prove that $p$ - integrability with $p\ge 2$ for the second fundamental form of these hypersurfaces in some space-time region $B_R(y)\times (0, t_0)$ implies that the $\mathcal{H}^{n+2-p}$ - measure of the first singular set vanishes inside $B_R(y)$. For $p=2$, this was established independently by Han and Sun. Our result furthermore generalizes previous work of Xu, Ye and Zhao and of Le and Sesum for $p\ge n+2$, in which case…
We prove the smoothness of weak solutions to an elliptic complex Monge-Ampere equation, using the smoothing property of the corresponding parabolic flow.
We study expansions near the boundary of solutions to the Dirichlet problem for the constant mean curvature equation in the hyperbolic space. With a characterization of remainders of the expansion by multiple integrals, we establish optimal asymptotic expansions of solutions with boundary values of finite regularity and demonstrate a slight loss of regularity for coefficients.
We show that for a generic $8$-dimensional Riemannian manifold with positive Ricci curvature, there exists a smooth minimal hypersurface. Without the curvature condition, we show that for a dense set of 8-dimensional Riemannian metrics there exists a minimal hypersurface with at most one singular point. This extends previous work on generic regularity that only dealt with area-minimizing hypersurfaces. These results are a consequence of a more general estimate for a one-parameter min-max minimal hypersurface $Σ\subset (M,g)$ (valid in any dimension): $$\mathcal H^{0} (\mathcal{S}_{nm}(Σ)) +{\r…
We discuss the global regularity of solutions $f$ to the Dirichlet problem for minimal graphs in the hyperbolic space when the boundary of the domain $Ω\subset\mathbb R^n$ has a nonnegative mean curvature and prove an optimal regularity $f\in C^{\frac{1}{n+1}}(\barΩ)$. We can improve the Hölder exponent for $f$ if certain combinations of principal curvatures of the boundary do not vanish, a phenomenon observed by F.-H. Lin.
We study the evolution of a weakly convex surface $Σ_0$ in $\R^3$ with flat sides by the Harmonic Mean Curvature flow. We establish the short time existence as well as the optimal regularity of the surface and we show that the boundaries of the flat sides evolve by the curve shortening flow. It follows from our results that a weakly convex surface with flat sides of class $C^{k,γ}$, for some $k\in \mathbb{N}$ and $0 < γ\leq 1$, remains in the same class under the flow. This distinguishes this flow from other, previously studied, degenerate parabolic equations, including the porous medium equat…
We generalize the notion of integral Menger curvature introduced by Gonzalez and Maddocks by decoupling the powers in the integrand. This leads to a new two-parameter family of knot energies $intM^{p,q}$. We classify finite-energy curves in terms of Sobolev-Slobodeckij spaces. Moreover, restricting to the range of parameters leading to a sub-critical Euler-Lagrange equation, we prove existence of minimizers within any knot class via a uniform bi-Lipschitz bound. Consequently, $intM^{p,q}$ is a knot energy in the sense of O'Hara. Restricting to the non-degenerate sub-critical case, a suitable d…
We prove that $m$-dimensional Lipschitz graphs with anisotropic mean curvature bounded in $L^p$, $p>m$, are regular almost everywhere in every dimension and codimension. This provides partial or full answers to multiple open questions arising in the literature. The anisotropic energy is required to satisfy a novel ellipticity condition, which holds for instance in a $C^2$ neighborhood of the area functional. This condition is proved to imply the atomic condition. In particular we provide the first non-trivial class of examples of anisotropic energies in high codimension satisfying the atomic c…
We review recent work on the Einstein equations of general relativity when the curvature is defined in a weak sense. Weakly regular spacetimes are constructed, in which impulsive gravitational waves, as well as shock waves, propagate.
We give a necessary and sufficient condition on the cost function so that the map solution of Monge's optimal transportation problem is continuous for arbitrary smooth positive data. This condition was first introduced by Ma, Trudinger and Wang \cite{MTW, TW} for a priori estimates of the corresponding Monge-Ampère equation. It is expressed by a so-called {\em cost-sectional curvature} being non-negative. We show that when the cost function is the squared distance of a Riemannian manifold, the cost-sectional curvature yields the sectional curvature. As a consequence, if the manifold does not h…
