English

The Enclosed Volume for Periodic Constant Mean Curvature Surfaces

Differential Geometry 2026-01-22 v1

Abstract

We establish a general formula for the enclosed volume of constant mean curvature (CMC) surfaces in Euclidean three space with translational periods forming a lattice. The formula relates the volume to the surface area, a Wess-Zumino-Witten-type term, and a newly defined curvature term of the associated family of flat connections, thereby extending the classical Minkowski formula for closed CMC surfaces. Interpreting the volume as a gauge-invariant quantity, we apply the result to a variety of examples and provide explicit computations. As an application, we construct a counterexample to the isoperimetric problem in T2×R\mathbb{T}^2 \times \mathbb{R}, disproving the conjecture that minimizers are restricted to spheres, cylinders, or pairs of planes.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.14935,
  title  = {The Enclosed Volume for Periodic Constant Mean Curvature Surfaces},
  author = {Lynn Heller and Sebastian Heller and Martin Traizet},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.14935},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

34 pages, 5 figures