Given a closed countably $1$-rectifiable set in $\mathbb R^2$ with locally finite $1$-dimensional Hausdorff measure, we prove that there exists a Brakke flow starting from the given set with the following regularity property. For almost all time, the flow locally consists of a finite number of embedded curves of class $W^{2,2}$ whose endpoints meet at junctions with angles of either 0, 60 or 120 degrees.
Consider an integral Brakke flow $(μ_t)$, $t\in [0,T]$, inside some ball in Euclidean space. If $μ_{0}$ has small height, its measure does not deviate too much from that of a plane and if $μ_{T}$ is non-empty, then Brakke's local regularity theorem yields that $(μ_t)$ is actually smooth and graphical inside a smaller ball for times $t\in (C,T-C)$ for some constant $C$. Here we extend this result to times $t\in (C,T)$. The main idea is to prove that a Brakke flow that is initially locally graphical with small gradient will remain graphical for some time. Moreover we use the new local regularity…
In this paper we prove an analogue of the Brakke's $\varepsilon$-regularity theorem for the parabolic Allen-Cahn equation. In particular, we show uniform $C^{2,α}$ regularity for the transition layers converging to smooth mean curvature flows as $\varepsilon\rightarrow0$. The proof utilises Allen-Cahn versions of the monotonicity formula, parabolic Lipschitz approximation and blowups. A corresponding gap theorem for entire eternal solutions of the parabolic Allen-Cahn is also obtained. As an application of the regularity theorem, we give an affirmative answer to a question of Ilmanen that ther…
We develop the notion of Brakke flow with free-boundary in a barrier surface. Unlike the classical free-boundary mean curvature flow, the free-boundary Brakke flow must "pop" upon tangential contact with the barrier. We prove a compactness theorem for free-boundary Brakke flows, define a Gaussian monotonicity formula valid at all points, and use this to adapt the local regularity theorem of White to the free-boundary setting. We use Ilmanen's elliptic regularization procedure to prove existence of free-boundary Brakke flows.
In this paper we consider the Allen-Cahn equation with constraint. In 1994, Chen and Elliott studied the asymptotic behavior of the solution of the Allen-Cahn equation with constraint. They proved that the zero level set of the solution converges to the classical solution of the mean curvature flow under the suitable conditions on initial data. In 1993, Ilmanen proved the existence of the mean curvature flow via the Allen-Cahn equation without constraint in the sense of Brakke. We proved the same conclusion for the Allen-Cahn equation with constraint.
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.
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.
We give a proof that Brakke's mean curvature flow under the unit density assumption is smooth almost everywhere in space-time. More generally, if the velocity is equal in a weak sense to its mean curvature plus some given α-Hölder continuous vector field, then we show C^{2,α} regularity almost everywhere.
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 …
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…
Let $\cM$ be a Brakke flow of $n$-dimensional surfaces in $R^N$. The singular set $\cS\subset\cM$ has a stratification $\cS^0\subset\cS^1\subset...\cS$, where $X\in \cS^j$ if no tangent flow at $X$ has more than $j$ symmetries. Here, we define quantitative singular strata $\cS^j_{η,r}$ satisfying $\cup_{η>0}\cap_{0<r} \cS^j_{η,r}=\cS^j$. Sharpening the known parabolic Hausdorff dimension bound $\dim \cS^j\leq j$, we prove the effective Minkowski estimates that the volume of $r$-tubular neighborhoods of $\cS^j_{η,r}$ satisfies $\Vol (T_r(\cS^j_{η,r})\cap B_1)\leq Cr^{N+2-j-\varepsilon}$. Our pr…
Institut für Mathematik & Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Wissenschaftliches Rechnen, Universität Heidelberg（海德堡大学数学系与跨学科科学计算中心）；Department of Mathematics Graduate School of Science Kyoto University（京都大学理学研究科数学系）
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 consider a regular embedded network composed by two curves, one of them closed, in a convex domain $Ω$. The two curves meet only in one point, forming angle of $120$ degrees. The non-closed curve has a fixed end point on $\partialΩ$. We study the evolution by curvature of this network. We show that the maximal existence time depends only on the area enclosed in the initial loop, if the length of the non-closed curve stays bounded from below during the evolution. Moreover, the closed curve shrinks to a point and the network is asymptotically approaching, after dilations and extraction of a s…
This paper contains a new proof of the short-time existence for the flow by curvature of a network of curves in the plane. Appearing initially in metallurgy and as a model for the evolution of grain boundaries, this flow was later treated by Brakke \cite{Br} using varifold methods. There is good reason to treat this problem by a direct PDE approach, but doing so requires one to deal with the singular nature of the PDE at the vertices of the network. This was handled in cases of increasing generality by Bronsard-Reitich \cite{BrRe}, Mantegazza-Novaga-Tortorelli \cite{MNT} and eventually, in the…
Suppose that $Γ_0\subset\mathbb R^{n+1}$ is a closed countably $n$-rectifiable set whose complement $\mathbb R^{n+1}\setminus Γ_0$ consists of more than one connected component. Assume that the $n$-dimensional Hausdorff measure of $Γ_0$ is finite or grows at most exponentially near infinity. Under these assumptions, we prove a global-in-time existence of mean curvature flow in the sense of Brakke starting from $Γ_0$. There exists a finite family of open sets which move continuously with respect to the Lebesgue measure, and whose boundaries coincide with the space-time support of the mean curva…
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.
This thesis is devoted to the study of well-posedness properties of some geometric variational problems: existence, regularity and uniqueness of solutions. We study two specific problems arising in the context of geometric calculus of variations and sharing strong analogies: the Plateau's problem and the optimal branched transport problem. The first part of the thesis discusses the existence theory. Both problems are formulated in the language of Federer and Fleming's theory of currents. After an exposition of the main results, we will present the core ideas of the (interior) regularity theory…
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 study Dirichlet problems for harmonic maps from a Riemannian $m$-manifold $(M,g)$ into a Finsler $n$-manifold $(N, F)$. We assume that the dimension of the source manifold $M$ is less than or equal to 4, and that the finsler structure $F(u,X)$ is given as F(u,X)= \sqrt{h_{ij}(u)X^i X^j + {\cal B}(u,X)}, (u\in N, X \in T_uN) where $(h_{ij})$ is a Riemannian metric and ${\cal B}(u,X)$ is a function on $TN$ with positive homogeneity of degree 2 with respect to $X$. Under these assumptions, an existence and interior regularity result will be given.
We prove existence and regularity of minimisers for the Canham-Helfrich energy in the class of weak (possibly branched and bubbled) immersions of the $2$-sphere. This solves (the spherical case) of the minimisation problem proposed by Helfrich in 1973, modelling lipid bilayer membranes. On the way to prove the main results we establish the lower semicontinuity of the Canham-Helfrich energy under weak convergence of (possibly branched and bubbled) weak immersions.
We prove a conjecture of Tom Ilmanen's and Hubert Bray's regarding the existence of the outermost generalized apparent horizon in an initial data set and that it is outer area minimizing.
We consider the problem of minimizing the bending or elastic energy among Jordan curves confined in a given open set $Ω$. We prove existence, regularity and some structural properties of minimizers. In particular, when $Ω$ is convex we show that a minimizer is necessarily a convex curve. We also provide an example of a minimizer with self-intersections.
