Mathematics – Analysis of PDEs
Scientific paper
2002-08-23
Mathematics
Analysis of PDEs
Notices of the AMS, March 2003, to appear. (More than five pages added to the original manuscript.)
Scientific paper
What are the possible shapes of various things and why? For instance, when a closed wire or a frame is dipped into a soap solution and is raised up from the solution, the surface spanning the wire is a soap film. What are the possible shapes of soap films and why? Or, for instance, why is DNA like a double spiral staircase? ``What..?'' and ``why..?'' are fundamental questions, and when answered, help us understand the world we live in. Soap films, soap bubles, and surface tension were extensively studied by the Belgian physicist and inventor (the inventor of the stroboscope) Joseph Plateau in the first half of the nineteenth century. At least since his studies, it has been known that the right mathematical model for soap films are minimal surfaces -- the soap film is in a state of minimum energy when it is covering the least possible amount of area. We will discuss here the answer to the question: ``What are the possible shapes of embedded minimal disks in $\RR^3$ and why?''.
Colding Tobias H.
II
Minicozzi W. P.
No associations
LandOfFree
Disks that are double spiral staircases does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Disks that are double spiral staircases, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Disks that are double spiral staircases will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-95023