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Area-minimizing minimal graphs over nonconvex domains. (English) Zbl 1046.49030

Summary: Sufficient conditions for which a minimal graph over a nonconvex domain is area-minimizing are presented. The conditions are shown to hold for subsurfaces of Enneper’s surface, the singly periodic Scherk surface, and the associated surfaces of the doubly periodic Scherk surface which previously were unknown to be area-minimizing. In particular these surfaces are graphs over (angularly accessible) domains which have a nice complementary set of rays. A computer assisted method for proving polynomial inequalities with rational coefficients is also presented. This method is then applied to prove more general inequalities.

MSC:

49Q05 Minimal surfaces and optimization
49J10 Existence theories for free problems in two or more independent variables
53A10 Minimal surfaces in differential geometry, surfaces with prescribed mean curvature
58E12 Variational problems concerning minimal surfaces (problems in two independent variables)
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