Abstract
We prove that, in a Euclidean domain bounded by hyperplanes having linearly independent normals, a connected oriented compact immersed stable capillary hypersurface \(M^n\) disjoint from the edges of the domain and with the contact angles belonging to \([\pi /2,\pi ]\) must be part of a sphere, if \(\partial M\) is embedded for \(n=2\), or \(\partial M\) is convex in the hyperplane for \(n\ge 3\). By applying a similar argument, we also discuss two other cases where a stable capillary hypersurface must be part of a sphere.
We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.
Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.
References
Alarcón, A., Souam, R.: Capillary surfaces inside polyhedral regions. Calc. Var. Partial Differ. Equ. 54(2), 2149–2166 (2015)
Aleksandrov, A.D.: Uniqueness theorems for surfaces in the large, I, II. Am. Math. Soc. Transl. 2(21), 341–388 (1962)
Athanassenas, M.: A variational problem for constant mean curvature surfaces with free boundary. J. Reine Angew. Math. 377, 97–107 (1987)
Barbosa, J.L., do Carmo, M.P.: Stability of hypersurfaces with constant mean curvature. Math. Z. 185(3), 339–353 (1984)
Barbosa, J.L., do Carmo, M.P., Eschenburg, J.: Stability of hypersurfaces of constant mean curvature in Riemannian manifolds. Math. Z. 197(1), 123–138 (1988)
Choe, J., Koiso, M.: Stable capillary hypersurfaces in a wedge (to appear in Pacific J. Math.) arXiv:1405.5407
Finn, R.: Equilibrium Capillary Surfaces, Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, vol. 284. Springer, New York (1986)
Finn, R.: Capillary surface interfaces. Not. Am. Math. Soc. 46(7), 770–781 (1999)
Fraser, A., Schoen, R.: The first Steklov eigenvalue, conformal geometry, and minimal surfaces. Adv. Math. 226, 4011–4030 (2011)
Fraser, A., Schoen, R.: Sharp eigenvalue bounds and minimal surfaces in the ball (to appear in Invent. Math.) arXiv:1209.3789
Fraser, A., Schoen, R.: Minimal surfaces and eigenvalue problems, Geometric analysis, mathematical relativity, and nonlinear partial differential equations. In: Contemporary Mathematics, vol. 599, pp. 105–121. American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI (2013)
Gardner, R.J.: The Brunn–Minkowski inequality. Bull. Am. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 39(3), 355–405 (2002)
Hopf, H.: Differential geometry in the large. In: Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 1000. Springer, Berlin (1989)
Hsiang, W.-Y.: Generalized rotational hypersurfaces of constant mean curvature in the Euclidean spaces, I. J. Differ. Geom. 17(2), 337–356 (1982)
Koiso, M., Palmer, B.: Anisotropic capillary surfaces with wetting energy. Calc. Var. Partial Differ. Equ. 29, 295–345 (2007)
Li, H., Xiong, C.: Stability of capillary hypersurfaces in a Euclidean ball. arXiv:1408.2086
López, R.: Capillary surfaces with free boundary in a wedge. Adv. Math. 262, 476–483 (2014)
Marinov, P.I.: Stability of capillary surfaces with planar boundary in the absence of gravity. Pacific J. Math. 255(1), 177–190 (2012)
McCuan, J.: Symmetry via spherical reflection and spanning drops in a wedge. Pacific J. Math. 180(2), 291–323 (1997)
Osserman, R.: The isoperimetric inequality. Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 84(6), 1182–1238 (1978)
Pedrosa, R., Ritoré, M.: Isoperimetric domains in the Riemannian product of a circle with a simply connected space form and applications to free boundary problems. Indiana Univ. Math. J. 48(4), 1357–1394 (1999)
Ros, A., Souam, R.: On stability of capillary surfaces in a ball. Pacific J. Math. 178(2), 345–361 (1997)
Ros, A., Vergasta, E.: Stability for hypersurfaces of constant mean curvature with free boundary. Geom. Dedic. 56(1), 19–33 (1995)
Souam, R.: On stability of stationary hypersurfaces for the partitioning problem for balls in space forms. Math. Z. 224(2), 195–208 (1997)
Spivak, M.: A comprehensive introduction to differential geometry. Publish or Perish, Inc., Houston, TX (1979)
Vogel, T.I.: Stability of a liquid drop trapped between two parallel planes. SIAM J. Appl. Math. 47(3), 516–525 (1987)
Vogel, T.I.: Stability of a liquid drop trapped between two parallel planes. II. General contact angles. SIAM J. Appl. Math. 49(4), 1009–1028 (1989)
Wente, H.C.: The symmetry of sessile and pendent drops. Pacific J. Math. 88(2), 387–397 (1980)
Wente, H.C.: Counterexample to a conjecture of H. Hopf. Pacific J. Math. 121(1), 193–243 (1986)
Wente, H.C.: A note on the stability theorem of J. L. Barbosa and M. do Carmo for closed surfaces of constant mean curvature. Pacific J. Math. 147(2), 375–379 (1991)
Winterbottom, W.L.: Equilibrium shape of a small particle in contact with a foreign substrate. Acta Metall. 15, 303–310 (1967)
Zhou, L.: On stability of a catenoidal liquid bridge. Pacific J. Math. 178(1), 185–198 (1997)
Zia, R.K.P., Avron, J.E., Taylor, J.E.: The summertop construction: crystals in a corner. J. Stat. Phys. 50, 727–736 (1988)
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the referee for his/her careful reading of the paper and many valuable suggestions and comments which made this paper better and more readable. The research of the authors was supported by NSFC No. 11271214
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, H., Xiong, C. Stability of Capillary Hypersurfaces with Planar Boundaries. J Geom Anal 27, 79–94 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12220-015-9674-7
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12220-015-9674-7