A Course in Minimal Surfaces

A Course in Minimal Surfaces
Author: Tobias H. Colding
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2011
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0821853236

"Minimal surfaces date back to Euler and Lagrange and the beginning of the calculus of variations. Many of the techniques developed have played key roles in geometry and partial differential equations. Examples include monotonicity and tangent cone analysis originating in the regularity theory for minimal surfaces, estimates for nonlinear equations based on the maximum principle arising in Bernstein's classical work, and even Lebesgue's definition of the integral that he developed in his thesis on the Plateau problem for minimal surfaces. This book starts with the classical theory of minimal surfaces and ends up with current research topics. Of the various ways of approaching minimal surfaces (from complex analysis, PDE, or geometric measure theory), the authors have chosen to focus on the PDE aspects of the theory. The book also contains some of the applications of minimal surfaces to other fields including low dimensional topology, general relativity, and materials science."--Publisher's description.

A Course in Minimal Surfaces

A Course in Minimal Surfaces
Author: Tobias Holck Colding
Publisher: American Mathematical Society
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2024-01-18
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1470476401

Minimal surfaces date back to Euler and Lagrange and the beginning of the calculus of variations. Many of the techniques developed have played key roles in geometry and partial differential equations. Examples include monotonicity and tangent cone analysis originating in the regularity theory for minimal surfaces, estimates for nonlinear equations based on the maximum principle arising in Bernstein's classical work, and even Lebesgue's definition of the integral that he developed in his thesis on the Plateau problem for minimal surfaces. This book starts with the classical theory of minimal surfaces and ends up with current research topics. Of the various ways of approaching minimal surfaces (from complex analysis, PDE, or geometric measure theory), the authors have chosen to focus on the PDE aspects of the theory. The book also contains some of the applications of minimal surfaces to other fields including low dimensional topology, general relativity, and materials science. The only prerequisites needed for this book are a basic knowledge of Riemannian geometry and some familiarity with the maximum principle.

The Global Theory of Minimal Surfaces in Flat Spaces

The Global Theory of Minimal Surfaces in Flat Spaces
Author: William Meeks
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2002-03-25
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9783540431206

In the second half of the twentieth century the global theory of minimal surface in flat space had an unexpected and rapid blossoming. Some of the classical problems were solved and new classes of minimal surfaces found. Minimal surfaces are now studied from several different viewpoints using methods and techniques from analysis (real and complex), topology and geometry. In this lecture course, Meeks, Ros and Rosenberg, three of the main architects of the modern edifice, present some of the more recent methods and developments of the theory. The topics include moduli, asymptotic geometry and surfaces of constant mean curvature in the hyperbolic space.

Geometry V

Geometry V
Author: Robert Osserman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 300
Release: 1997-10-09
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9783540605232

Few people outside of mathematics are aware of the varieties of mathemat ical experience - the degree to which different mathematical subjects have different and distinctive flavors, often attractive to some mathematicians and repellant to others. The particular flavor of the subject of minimal surfaces seems to lie in a combination of the concreteness of the objects being studied, their origin and relation to the physical world, and the way they lie at the intersection of so many different parts of mathematics. In the past fifteen years a new component has been added: the availability of computer graphics to provide illustrations that are both mathematically instructive and esthetically pleas ing. During the course of the twentieth century, two major thrusts have played a seminal role in the evolution of minimal surface theory. The first is the work on the Plateau Problem, whose initial phase culminated in the solution for which Jesse Douglas was awarded one of the first two Fields Medals in 1936. (The other Fields Medal that year went to Lars V. Ahlfors for his contributions to complex analysis, including his important new insights in Nevanlinna Theory.) The second was the innovative approach to partial differential equations by Serge Bernstein, which led to the celebrated Bernstein's Theorem, stating that the only solution to the minimal surface equation over the whole plane is the trivial solution: a linear function.

A Survey on Classical Minimal Surface Theory

A Survey on Classical Minimal Surface Theory
Author: William Meeks
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2012
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0821869124

Meeks and Pérez extend their 2011 survey article "The classical theory of Minimal surfaces" in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society to include other recent research results. Their topics include minimal surfaces with finite topology and more than one end, limits of embedded minimal surfaces without local area or curvature bounds, conformal structure of minimal surfaces, embedded minimal surfaces of finite genus, topological aspects of minimal surfaces, and Calabi-Yau problems. There is no index. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Existence and Regularity of Minimal Surfaces on Riemannian Manifolds. (MN-27)

Existence and Regularity of Minimal Surfaces on Riemannian Manifolds. (MN-27)
Author: Jon T. Pitts
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2014-07-14
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1400856450

Mathematical No/ex, 27 Originally published in 1981. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A First Course in Differential Geometry

A First Course in Differential Geometry
Author: Lyndon Woodward
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2019
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1108424937

With detailed explanations and numerous examples, this textbook covers the differential geometry of surfaces in Euclidean space.

Differential Geometry

Differential Geometry
Author: Wolfgang Kühnel
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2006
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0821839888

Our first knowledge of differential geometry usually comes from the study of the curves and surfaces in I\!\!R^3 that arise in calculus. Here we learn about line and surface integrals, divergence and curl, and the various forms of Stokes' Theorem. If we are fortunate, we may encounter curvature and such things as the Serret-Frenet formulas. With just the basic tools from multivariable calculus, plus a little knowledge of linear algebra, it is possible to begin a much richer and rewarding study of differential geometry, which is what is presented in this book. It starts with an introduction to the classical differential geometry of curves and surfaces in Euclidean space, then leads to an introduction to the Riemannian geometry of more general manifolds, including a look at Einstein spaces. An important bridge from the low-dimensional theory to the general case is provided by a chapter on the intrinsic geometry of surfaces. The first half of the book, covering the geometry of curves and surfaces, would be suitable for a one-semester undergraduate course. The local and global theories of curves and surfaces are presented, including detailed discussions of surfaces of rotation, ruled surfaces, and minimal surfaces. The second half of the book, which could be used for a more advanced course, begins with an introduction to differentiable manifolds, Riemannian structures, and the curvature tensor. Two special topics are treated in detail: spaces of constant curvature and Einstein spaces. The main goal of the book is to get started in a fairly elementary way, then to guide the reader toward more sophisticated concepts and more advanced topics. There are many examples and exercises to help along the way. Numerous figures help the reader visualize key concepts and examples, especially in lower dimensions. For the second edition, a number of errors were corrected and some text and a number of figures have been added.

Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces

Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces
Author: Shoshichi Kobayashi
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2019-11-13
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9811517398

This book is a posthumous publication of a classic by Prof. Shoshichi Kobayashi, who taught at U.C. Berkeley for 50 years, recently translated by Eriko Shinozaki Nagumo and Makiko Sumi Tanaka. There are five chapters: 1. Plane Curves and Space Curves; 2. Local Theory of Surfaces in Space; 3. Geometry of Surfaces; 4. Gauss–Bonnet Theorem; and 5. Minimal Surfaces. Chapter 1 discusses local and global properties of planar curves and curves in space. Chapter 2 deals with local properties of surfaces in 3-dimensional Euclidean space. Two types of curvatures — the Gaussian curvature K and the mean curvature H —are introduced. The method of the moving frames, a standard technique in differential geometry, is introduced in the context of a surface in 3-dimensional Euclidean space. In Chapter 3, the Riemannian metric on a surface is introduced and properties determined only by the first fundamental form are discussed. The concept of a geodesic introduced in Chapter 2 is extensively discussed, and several examples of geodesics are presented with illustrations. Chapter 4 starts with a simple and elegant proof of Stokes’ theorem for a domain. Then the Gauss–Bonnet theorem, the major topic of this book, is discussed at great length. The theorem is a most beautiful and deep result in differential geometry. It yields a relation between the integral of the Gaussian curvature over a given oriented closed surface S and the topology of S in terms of its Euler number χ(S). Here again, many illustrations are provided to facilitate the reader’s understanding. Chapter 5, Minimal Surfaces, requires some elementary knowledge of complex analysis. However, the author retained the introductory nature of this book and focused on detailed explanations of the examples of minimal surfaces given in Chapter 2.

Differential Geometry and Its Applications

Differential Geometry and Its Applications
Author: John Oprea
Publisher: MAA
Total Pages: 508
Release: 2007-09-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780883857489

This book studies the differential geometry of surfaces and its relevance to engineering and the sciences.