Abstract
The classical problem of Plateau, although by far not the oldest problem in the Calculus of Variations, is certainly one of the best known. The mathematical formulation of the problem of finding a least area surface of the topological type of the disk spanning a closed contour goes back to Weierstrass. In particular, Weierstrass formulated the existence of the solution of the least area problem as a solution to a system of non-linear partial differential equations.
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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Tromba, A. (2012). Introduction. In: A Theory of Branched Minimal Surfaces. Springer Monographs in Mathematics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25620-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25620-2_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-25619-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-25620-2
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