Mean curvature flow of monotone Lagrangian submanifolds

We use holomorphic disks to describe the formation of singularities in the mean curvature flow of monotone Lagrangian submanifolds in . Supported by DFG, priority program SPP 1154, SM 78/1-1, SCHW 892/1-1.     

Longtime existence of the Lagrangian mean curvature flow

Given a compact Lagrangian submanifold in flat space evolving by its mean curvature, we prove uniform -bounds in space and C²-estimates in time for the underlying Monge-Ampére equation under weak and natural assumptions on the initial Lagrangian submanifold. This implies longtime existence and convergence of the Lagrangian mean curvature flow. In the 2-dimensional case we can relax our assumptions and obtain two independent proofs for the same result.Received: 3 September 2002, Accepted: 12 June 2003, Published online: 4 September 2003Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 53C44     

Lagrangian mean curvature flow for entire Lipschitz graphs

We consider the mean curvature flow of entire Lagrangian graphs with Lipschitz continuous initial data. Assuming only a certain bound on the Lipschitz norm of an initial entire Lagrangian graph in ${{\mathbb R}^{2n}}$ , we show that the parabolic Eq. 1.1 has a longtime solution which is smooth for all positive time and satisfies uniform estimates away from time t?=?0. In particular, under the mean curvature flow (1.2) the graph immediately becomes smooth and the solution exists for all time such that the second fundamental form decays uniformly to 0 on the graph as t → ∞. Our assumption on the Lipschitz norm is equivalent to the underlying Lagrangian potential u being uniformly convex with its Hessian bounded in L ^∞. As an application of this result we provide conditions under which an entire Lipschitz Lagrangian graph converges after rescaling to a self-expanding solution to the mean curvature flow.     

Harnack inequality for the Lagrangian mean curvature flow

If is a Lagrangian manifold immersed into a K?hler-Einstein manifold, nothing is known about its behavior under the mean curvature flow. As a first result we derive a Harnack inequality for the mean curvature potential of compact Lagrangian immersions immersed into . Received March 16, 1997 / Accepted April 24, 1998     

Angle theorems for the Lagrangian mean curvature flow

We prove that symplectic maps between Riemann surfaces L, M of constant, nonpositive and equal curvature converge to minimal symplectic maps, if the Lagrangian angle for the corresponding Lagrangian submanifold in the cross product space satisfies . If one considers a 4-dimensional K?hler-Einstein manifold of nonpositive scalar curvature that admits two complex structures J, K which commute and assumes that is a compact oriented Lagrangian submanifold w.r.t. J such that the K?hler form w.r.t.K restricted to L is positive and , then L converges under the mean curvature flow to a minimal Lagrangian submanifold which is calibrated w.r.t. . Received: 11 April 2001 / Published online: 29 April 2002     

Lagrangian mean curvature flow for entire Lipschitz graphs II

We prove longtime existence and estimates for smooth solutions to a fully nonlinear Lagrangian parabolic equation with locally $C^{1,1}$ initial data $u_0$ satisfying either (1) $-(1+\eta ) I_n\le D^2u_0 \le (1+\eta )I_n$ for some positive dimensional constant $\eta $ , (2) $u_0$ is weakly convex everywhere, or (3) $u_0$ verifies a large supercritical Lagrangian phase condition.     

Singularities of Lagrangian mean curvature flow: zero-Maslov class case

We study singularities of Lagrangian mean curvature flow in ℂ ⁿ when the initial condition is a zero-Maslov class Lagrangian. We start by showing that, in this setting, singularities are unavoidable. More precisely, we construct Lagrangians with arbitrarily small Lagrangian angle and Lagrangians which are Hamiltonian isotopic to a plane that, nevertheless, develop finite time singularities under mean curvature flow. We then prove two theorems regarding the tangent flow at a singularity when the initial condition is a zero-Maslov class Lagrangian. The first one (Theorem A) states that that the rescaled flow at a singularity converges weakly to a finite union of area-minimizing Lagrangian cones. The second theorem (Theorem B) states that, under the additional assumptions that the initial condition is an almost-calibrated and rational Lagrangian, connected components of the rescaled flow converges to a single area-minimizing Lagrangian cone, as opposed to a possible non-area-minimizing union of area-minimizing Lagrangian cones. The latter condition is dense for Lagrangians with finitely generated H ₁(L,ℤ).     

On the entire self-shrinking solutions to Lagrangian mean curvature flow

The authors prove that the logarithmic Monge?CAmpère flow with uniformly bound and convex initial data satisfies uniform decay estimates away from time t?=?0. Then applying the decay estimates, we conclude that every entire classical strictly convex solution of the equation $$ \det D^{2}u=\exp\left\{n\left(-u+\frac{1}{2} \sum_{i=1}^{n}x_{i} \frac{\partial u}{\partial x_{i}} \right)\right\}, $$ should be a quadratic polynomial if the inferior limit of the smallest eigenvalue of the function |x|² D ² u at infinity has an uniform positive lower bound larger than 2(1 ? 1/n). Using a similar method, we can prove that every classical convex or concave solution of the equation $$ \sum_{i=1}^{n} \arctan\lambda_{i}=-u+\frac{1}{2} \sum_{i=1}^{n}x_{i} \frac{\partial u}{\partial x_{i}} $$ must be a quadratic polynomial, where ?? _i are the eigenvalues of the Hessian D ² u.     

The mean curvature of cylindrically bounded submanifolds

We give an estimate of the mean curvature of a complete submanifold lying inside a closed cylinder in a product Riemannian manifold . It follows that a complete hypersurface of given constant mean curvature lying inside a closed circular cylinder in Euclidean space cannot be proper if the circular base is of sufficiently small radius. In particular, any possible counterexample to a conjecture of Calabi on complete minimal hypersurfaces cannot be proper. As another application of our method, we derive a result about the stochastic incompleteness of submanifolds with sufficiently small mean curvature. Dedicated to Professor Manfredo P. do Carmo on the occasion of his 80th birthday.     

Euclidean submanifolds with Jacobi mean curvature vector field

We study submanifolds in the Euclidean space whose mean curvature vector field is a Jacobi field. First, we characterize them and produce non-trivial (non-minimal) examples and then, we look for additional conditions which imply minimality.Research partially supported by a DGICYT grant No PB94-0705-C02-01 and by a grant of Gobierno Vasco PI95/95     

Isoperimetric inequalities for submanifolds with bounded mean curvature

In this paper, we provide various Sobolev-type inequalities for smooth nonnegative functions with compact support on a submanifold with variable mean curvature in a Riemannian manifold whose sectional curvature is bounded above by a constant. We further obtain the corresponding linear isoperimetric inequalities involving mean curvature. We also provide various first Dirichlet eigenvalue estimates for submanifolds with bounded mean curvature.     

Isoperimetric inequalities for submanifolds with bounded mean curvature

In this paper, we provide various Sobolev-type inequalities for smooth nonnegative functions with compact support on a submanifold with variable mean curvature in a Riemannian manifold whose sectional curvature is bounded above by a constant. We further obtain the corresponding linear isoperimetric inequalities involving mean curvature. We also provide various first Dirichlet eigenvalue estimates for submanifolds with bounded mean curvature.     

Uniqueness of unbounded solutions of the Lagrangian mean curvature flow equation for graphs

We observe that the comparison result of Barles–Biton–Ley for viscosity solutions of a class of nonlinear parabolic equations can be applied to a geometric fully nonlinear parabolic equation which arises from the graphic solutions for the Lagrangian mean curvature flow. To cite this article: J. Chen, C. Pang, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 347 (2009).     

Singularities of symplectic and Lagrangian mean curvature flows

In this paper, we study the singularities of the mean curvature ?ow from a symplectic surface or from a Lagrangian surface in a K?hler-Einstein surface. We prove that the blow-up ?ow ∑s∞ at a singular point(X₀, T₀) of a symplectic mean curvature ?ow Σ_t or of a Lagrangian mean curvature ?ow Σ_t is a nontrivial minimal surface in ?4, if ∑-∞∞ is connected.     

Hyperbolic mean curvature flow

In this paper we introduce the hyperbolic mean curvature flow and prove that the corresponding system of partial differential equations is strictly hyperbolic, and based on this, we show that this flow admits a unique short-time smooth solution and possesses the nonlinear stability defined on the Euclidean space with dimension larger than 4. We derive nonlinear wave equations satisfied by some geometric quantities related to the hyperbolic mean curvature flow. Moreover, we also discuss the relation between the equations for hyperbolic mean curvature flow and the equations for extremal surfaces in the Minkowski space-time.     

Gaussian mean curvature flow

In the Euclidean Space \mathbb Rⁿ⁺¹{\mathbb {R}^{n+1}} with a density e^{e\frac12 n m2 |x|2}, (e = ±1){e^{\varepsilon \frac12 n \mu^2 |x|^2},} {(\varepsilon =\pm1}), we consider the flow of a hypersurface driven by its mean curvature associated to this density. We give a detailed account of the evolution of a convex hypersurface under this flow. In particular, when e = -1{ \varepsilon=-1} (Gaussian density), the hypersurface can expand to infinity or contract to a convex hypersurface (not necessarily a sphere) depending on the relation between the bound of its principal curvatures and μ.     

Stability of submanifolds with parallel mean curvature in calibrated manifolds

On a Riemannian manifold $ \bar M^{m + n} $ \bar M^{m + n} with an (m + 1)-calibration Ω, we prove that an m-submanifold M with constant mean curvature H and calibrated extended tangent space ℝH ⋇ TM is a critical point of the area functional for variations that preserve the enclosed Ω-volume. This recovers the case described by Barbosa, do Carmo and Eschenburg, when n = 1 and Ω is the volume element of $ \bar M $ \bar M . To the second variation we associate an Ω-Jacobi operator and define Ω-stability. Under natural conditions, we show that the Euclidean m-spheres are the unique Ω-stable submanifolds of ℝ ^m+n . We study the Ω-stability of geodesic m-spheres of a fibred space form M ^m+n with totally geodesic (m + 1)-dimensional fibres.     

Singularities of mean curvature flow

Mean curvature flow and its singularities have been paid attention extensively in recent years. The present article reviews briefly their certain aspects in the author's interests.