Self-shrinkers of the mean curvature flow in arbitrary codimension

For hypersurfaces of dimension greater than one, Huisken showed that compact self-shrinkers of the mean curvature flow with positive scalar mean curvature are spheres. We will prove the following extension: A compact self-similar solution in arbitrary codimension and of dimension greater than one is spherical, i.e. contained in a sphere, if and only if the mean curvature vector \be H\ee is non-vanishing and the principal normal \be\nu\ee is parallel in the normal bundle. We also give a classification of complete noncompact self-shrinkers of that type.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

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 $\mathbb C^{n}$.Comment: 37 pages, 3 figure

The hyperbolic mean curvature flow

We introduce a geometric evolution equation of hyperbolic type, which governs the evolution of a hypersurface moving in the direction of its mean curvature vector. The flow stems from a geometrically natural action containing kinetic and internal energy terms. As the mean curvature of the hypersurface is the main driving factor, we refer to this model as the hyperbolic mean curvature flow (HMCF). The case that the initial velocity field is normal to the hypersurface is of particular interest: this property is preserved during the evolution and gives rise to a comparatively simpler evolution equation. We also consider the case where the manifold can be viewed as a graph over a fixed manifold. Our main results are as follows. First, we derive several balance laws satisfied by the hypersurface during the evolution. Second, we establish that the initial-value problem is locally well-posed in Sobolev spaces; this is achieved by exhibiting a convexity property satisfied by the energy density which is naturally associated with the flow. Third, we provide some criteria ensuring that the flow will blow-up in finite time. Fourth, in the case of graphs, we introduce a concept of weak solutions suitably restricted by an entropy inequality, and we prove that a classical solution is unique in the larger class of entropy solutions. In the special case of one-dimensional graphs, a global-in-time existence result is established.Comment: 26 page