In this paper, we show that every $8$-dimensional closed Riemmanian manifold with $C^\infty$-generic metrics admits a smooth minimal hypersurface. This generalized previous results by N. Smale and Chodosh-Liokumovich-Spolaor. Different from their local perturbation techniques, our construction is based on a global perturbation argument in and a novel geometric invariant which counts singular points with suitable weights.
In this article we prove that all boundary points of a minimal oriented hypersurface in a Riemannian manifold are regular, that is, in a neighborhood of any boundary point, the minimal surface is a $\mathcal{C}^{1, \frac14}$ submanifold with boundary.
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…
A four dimensional conformally invariant energy is studied. This energy generalises the well known two-dimensional Willmore energy. Although not positive definite, it includes minimal hypersurfaces as critical points. We compute its first variation and by applying the Noether theorem to the invariances, we derive some conservation laws which are satisfied by its critical points and with good analytical dispositions. In particular, we show that its critical points are smooth. We also investigate other possible four dimensional generalisations of the Willmore energy, and give strong evidence tha…
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 show the regularity of, and derive a-priori estimates for (weakly) harmonic maps from a Riemannian manifold into a Euclidean sphere under the assumption that the image avoids some neighborhood of a half-equator. The proofs combine constructions of strictly convex functions and the regularity theory of quasi-linear elliptic systems. We apply these results to the spherical and Euclidean Bernstein problems for minimal hypersurfaces, obtaining new conditions under which compact minimal hypersurfaces in spheres or complete minimal hypersurfaces in Euclidean spaces are trivial.
Let $N$ be a Riemannian manifold and consider a stationary union of three or more $C^{1,μ}$ hypersurfaces-with-boundary $M_k$ in $N$ with a common boundary $Γ$. We show that if $N$ is smooth, then $Γ$ is smooth and each $M_k$ is smooth up to $Γ$ (real analytic in the case $N$ is real analytic). Consequently we strengthen a result of Wickramasekera to conclude that under the stronger hypothesis that $V$ is a stationary, stable, integral $n$-varifold in an $(n+1)$-dimensional, smooth (real analytic) Riemannian manifold such that the support of $\|V\|$ is nowhere locally the union of three or mor…
We prove that a stable minimal hypersurface of an open ball having a singular set of locally finite codimension 2 Hausdorff measure which is weakly close to a multiplicity 2 hyperplane is a 2-valued C^{1, alpha} graph in the interior. Applications including a compactness theorem for a class of immersed stable minimal hypersurfaces and a pointwise curvature estimate for the hypersurfaces in this class in low dimensions are also discussed.
We show that in an $8$-dimensional closed Riemmanian manifold with $C^\infty$-generic metrics, every minimal hypersurface is smooth and nondegenerate. This confirms a full generic regularity conjecture of minimal hypersurfaces in dimension eight. This also enables us to generalize many generic geometric properties of (Almgren-Pitts) min-max minimal hypersurfaces, previously only known in low dimensions, to dimension eight.
Locally stable minimal hypersurface could have singularities in dimension $\geq 7$ in general, locally modeled on stable and area-minimizing cones in the Euclidean spaces. In this paper, we present different aspects of how these singularities may affect the local behavior of minimal hypersurfaces. First, given a non-degenerate minimal hypersurface with strictly stable and strictly minimizing tangent cone at each singular point, under any small perturbation of the metric, we show the existence of a nearby minimal hypersurface under new metric. For a generic choice of perturbation direction, we …
Let $M^{n+1}$ be a closed manifold of dimension $3\leq n+1\leq 7$. We show that for a $C^\infty$-generic metric $g$ on $M$, to any connected, closed, embedded, $2$-sided, stable, minimal hypersurface $S\subset (M,g)$ corresponds a sequence of closed, embedded, minimal hypersurfaces $\{Σ_k\}$ scarring along $S$, in the sense that the area and Morse index of $Σ_k$ both diverge to infinity and, when properly renormalized, $Σ_k$ converges to $S$ as varifolds. We also show that scarring of immersed minimal surfaces along stable surfaces occurs in most closed Riemannian $3$-manifods.
We prove a compactness result for minimal hypersurfaces with bounded index and volume, which can be thought of as an extension of the compactness theorem of Choi-Schoen (Invent. Math. 1985) to higher dimensions.
We introduce canonical principal parameters on any strongly regular minimal surface in the three dimensional sphere and prove that any such a surface is determined up to a motion by its normal curvature function satisfying the Sinh-Poisson equation. We obtain a classification theorem for bi-umbilical hypersurfaces of type number two. We prove that any minimal hypersurface of type number two with involutive distribution is generated by a minimal surface in the three-dimensional Euclidean space, or in the three dimensional sphere. Thus we prove that the theory of minimal hypersurfaces of type nu…
In this paper we study the spacelike-characteristic Cauchy problem for the Einstein vacuum equations. We prove that given initial data on a maximal compact spacelike hypersurface $Σ\simeq \overline{B(0,1)} \subset \mathbb{R}^3$ and the outgoing null hypersurface $\mathcal{H}$ emanating from $\partial Σ$, the time of existence of a solution to the Einstein vacuum equations is controlled by low regularity bounds on the initial data at the level of curvature in $L^2$. The proof uses the bounded $L^2$ curvature theorem by Klainerman, Szeftel and Rodnianski, the extension procedure for the constrai…
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…
In contrast with the 3-dimensional case (cf. \cite{RaMo}), where rotationally symmetric totally geodesic free boundary minimal surfaces have Morse index one; we prove in this work that the Morse index of a free boundary rotationally symmetric totally geodesic hypersurface of the $n$-dimensional Riemannnian Schwarzschild space with respect to variations that are tangential along the horizon is zero, for $n\geq4$. Moreover, we show that there exist non-compact free boundary minimal hypersurfaces which are not totally geodesic, $n\geq 8$, with Morse index equal to $0$. Also, it is shown that, for…
We give a shorter proof of the existence of nontrivial closed minimal hypersurfaces in closed smooth $(n+1)$--dimensional Riemannian manifolds, a theorem proved first by Pitts for $2\leq n\leq 5$ and extended later by Schoen and Simon to any $n$.
We consider a solution f of a certain Dirichlet Problem on a domain in $S^{(n+1)}$ whose boundary is a minimal hypersurface and we prove a Poincare type inequality for f. One have equality iff Yau's conjecture about the first non-zero eigenvalue of closed minimal hypersurfaces of $S^{(n+1)}$ is true.
We prove the two theorems of the title, settling two long standing questions in the local theory of singular minimal hypersurfaces. The sharpness of either result is with respect to its hypothesis on the size of the allowable singular sets. The proofs of both theorems rely heavily on the author's recent regularity and compactness theory for stable minimal hypersurfaces, and on earlier work of Ilmanen, Simon and Solomon--White.
We show that strictly stable components of Allen-Cahn minimal hypersurfaces always occur with multiplicity one. We also establish the uniqueness of solutions converging to nondegenerate hypersurfaces with multiplicity one. Our results work in all dimensions and without variational assumptions on the Allen-Cahn solutions.
In this work, we prove the existence of a third embedded minimal hypersurface spanning a closed submanifold $γ$ contained in the boundary of a compact Riemannian manifold with convex boundary, when it is known a priori the existence of two strictly stable minimal hypersurfaces that bound $γ$. In order to do so, we develop min-max methods similar to those of De Lellis and Ramic, references in the paper, adapted to the discrete setting of Almgren and Pitts.
In this paper we construct smooth Riemannian metrics on the sphere which admit smooth Zoll families of minimal hypersurfaces. This generalizes a theorem of Guillemin for the case of geodesics. The proof uses the Nash-Moser Inverse Function Theorem in the tame maps setting of Hamilton. This answers a question of Yau on perturbations of minimal hypersurfaces in positive Ricci curvature. We also consider the case of the projective space and characterize those metrics on the sphere with minimal equators.
In 1960s, Almgren initiated a program to find minimal hypersurfaces in compact manifolds using min-max method. This program was largely advanced by Pitts and Schoen-Simon in 1980s when the manifold has no boundary. In this paper, we finish this program for general compact manifold with nonempty boundary. As a result, we prove the existence of a smooth embedded minimal hypersurface with free boundary in any compact smooth Euclidean domain. An application of our general existence result combined with the work of Marques and Neves shows that for any compact Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative R…
The present paper describes a way to relate Martin boundaries on spaces of varying topology. This enables us to approach some detailed inductive analysis of the eigenfunctions of conformal Laplacians on minimal hypersurfaces near their singularities. This can directly be used resp. translated to understand the way how such minimal hypersurfaces inherit positive scalar curvature from their ambience resp. how to smooth singular minimal hypersurfaces to regular hypersurfaces with positive mean curvature.
The Min-max Theory for the area functional, started by Almgren in the early 1960s and greatly improved by Pitts in 1981, was left incomplete because it gave no Morse index estimate for the min-max minimal hypersurface. We advance the theory further and prove the first general Morse index bounds for minimal hypersurfaces produced by it. We also settle the multiplicity problem for the classical case of one-parameter sweepouts.
Strong parallels can be drawn between the theory of minimal hypersurfaces and the theory of phase transitions. Borrowing ideas from the former we extend recent results on the regularity of stable phase transition interfaces to the finite Morse index case. As an application we present a PDE-based proof of the celebrated theorem of Almgren-Pitts, on the existence of embedded minimal hypersurfaces in compact manifolds. We compare our results with other min-max theories.
We exhibit the first set of examples of non-bumpy metrics on the $(n+1)$-sphere ($2\leq n\leq 6$) in which the varifold associated with the two-parameter min-max construction must be a multiplicity-two minimal $n$-sphere. This is proved by a new area-and-separation estimate for certain minimal hypersurfaces with Morse index two inspired by an early work of Colding-Minicozzi. We also construct non-bumpy projective spaces in which the first min-max hypersurfaces are one-sided, and non-bumpy balls in which the free boundary min-max hypersurfaces are improper.
In this work we present a new family of properly embedded free boundary minimal hypersurfaces of revolution with circular boundaries in the horizon of the $n$-dimensional Schwarzschild space, $n\geq3$. In particular, we answer a question proposed by O. Chodosh and D. Ketover \cite{CK} on the existence of non-totally geodesic minimal surfaces in the 3-dimensional Schwarzschild space.
We study min-max theory for area functional among hypersurfaces constrained in a smooth manifold with boundary. A Schoen-Simon-type regularity result is proved for integral varifolds which satisfy a variational inequality and restrict to a stable minimal hypersurface in the interior. Based on this, we show that for any admissible family of sweepouts $Π$ in a compact manifold with boundary, there always exists a closed $C^{1,1}$ hypersurface with codimension$\geq 7$ singular set in the interior and having mean curvature pointing outward along boundary realizing the width $\textbf{L}(Π)$.
Let $\mathcal{H}$ denote the future outgoing null hypersurface emanating from a spacelike 2-sphere $S$ in a vacuum spacetime $(\mathcal{M},\mathbf{g})$. In this paper we study the so-called canonical foliation on $\mathcal{H}$ introduced by Klainerman and Nicolò and show that the corresponding geometry is controlled locally only in terms of the initial geometry on $S$ and the $L^2$ curvature flux through $\mathcal{H}$. In particular, we show that the ingoing and outgoing null expansions $\mathrm{tr} χ$ and $\mathrm{tr} \underlineχ$ are both locally uniformly bounded. The proof of our estimates…
The paper introduces a number of new techniques to handle minimal hyersurface singularities. In particular, they allow to extend the obstruction theory for postive scalr curvature to any dimension.
Let (M,g) be an oriented Riemannian manifold of dimension at least 3 and X a vector field on M. We show that the Monge-Ampère differential system (M.A.S.) for X-pseudosoliton hypersurfaces on (M,g) is equivalent to the minimal hypersurface M.A.S. on (M,g') for some Riemannian metric g', if and only if X is the gradient of a function u, in which case g'=exp(-2u)g. Counterexamples to this equivalence for surfaces are also given.
Let $(M^{n+1},g,e^{-f}dμ)$ be a complete smooth metric measure space with $2\leq n\leq 6$ and Bakry-Émery Ricci curvature bounded below by a positive constant. We prove a smooth compactness theorem for the space of complete embedded $f$-minimal hypersurfaces in $M$ with uniform upper bounds on $f$-index and weighted volume. As a corollary, we obtain a smooth compactness theorem for the space of embedded self-shrinkers in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ with $2\leq n\leq 6$. We also prove some estimates on the $f$-index of $f$-minimal hypersurfaces, and give a conformal structure of $f$-minimal surface with…
We prove that there are no minimal hypersurfaces properly immersed in any region of the Euclidean space bounded by unstable minimal cones. We also prove the analogous result for $r$-minimal hypersurfaces.
We characterize embedded $\C^1$ hypersurfaces of $\R^n$ as the only locally closed sets with continuously varying flat tangent cones whose measure-theoretic-multiplicity is at most $m<3/2$. It follows then that any (topological) hypersurface which has flat tangent cones and is supported everywhere by balls of uniform radius is $\C^1$. In the real analytic case the same conclusion holds under the weakened hypothesis that each tangent cone be a hypersurface. In particular, any convex real analytic hypersurface $X\subset\R^n$ is $\C^1$. Furthermore, if $X$ is real algebraic, strictly convex, and …
For almost all Riemannian metrics (in the $C^\infty$ Baire sense) on a closed manifold $M^{n+1}$, $3\leq (n+1)\leq 7$, we prove that the union of all closed, smooth, embedded minimal hypersurfaces is dense. This implies there are infinitely many minimal hypersurfaces thus proving a conjecture of Yau (1982) for generic metrics.
In this paper, we show that the catenoids and the Clifford minimal hypersurfaces are the only complete minimal hypersurfaces satisfying the Simons' equation (3.9) in the space forms.
We prove qualitative estimates on the total curvature of closed minimal hypersurfaces in closed Riemannian manifolds in terms of their index and area, restricting to the case where the hypersurface has dimension less than seven. In particular, we prove that if we are given a sequence of closed minimal hypersurfaces of bounded area and index, the total curvature along the sequence is quantised in terms of the total curvature of some limit surface, plus a sum of total curvatures of complete properly embedded minimal hypersurfaces in Euclidean space - all of which are finite. Thus, we obtain qual…
We classify minimal hypersurfaces in $R^n \times S^m$, $n,m \geq 2$, which are invariant by the canonical action of $O(n) \times O(m)$. We also construct compact and noncompact examples of invariant hypersurfaces of constant mean curvature. We show that the minimal hypersurfaces and the noncompact constant mean curvature hypersurfaces are all unstable.
Given a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary, we prove that the limit of a sequence of embedded, almost properly embedded free boundary minimal hypersurfaces, with uniform area and Morse index upper bound, always inherits a non-trivial Jacobi field. To approach this, we prove a one-sided Harnack inequality for minimal graphs on balls with many holes.
The aim of this paper is to complete the local classification of minimal hypersurfaces with vanishing Gauss-Kronecker curvature in a 4-dimensional space form. Moreover, we give a classification of complete minimal hypersurfaces with vanishing Gauss-Kronecker curvature and scalar curvature bounded from below.
For almost all Riemannian metrics (in the $C^\infty$ Baire sense) on a compact manifold with boundary $(M^{n+1},\partial M)$, $3\leq (n + 1)\leq 7$, we prove that, for any open subset $V$ of $\partial M$, there exists a compact, properly embedded free boundary minimal hypersurface intersecting $V$.
In this paper, we prove that, up to similarity, there are only two minimal hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{R}^{n+2}$ that are asymptotic to a Simons cone, i.e. the minimal cone over the minimal hypersurface $\sqrt{\frac pn}\mathbb{S}^p\times \sqrt{\frac{n-p}n} \mathbb{S}^{n-p}$ of $\mathbb{S}^{n+1}$
In the early 1980s, S. T. Yau conjectured that any compact Riemannian three-manifold admits an infinite number of closed immersed minimal surfaces. We use min-max theory for the area functional to prove this conjecture in the positive Ricci curvature setting. More precisely, we show that every compact Riemannian manifold with positive Ricci curvature and dimension at most seven contains infinitely many smooth, closed, embedded minimal hypersurfaces. In the last section we mention some open problems related with the geometry of these minimal hypersurfaces.
The aim of this work is to study how the asymptotic boundary of a minimal hypersurface in H^nxR determines the behavior of the hypersurface at finite points, in several geometric situations.
