Related papers: Min-max for phase transitions and the existence of…

We show that min-max minimal hypersurfaces can be localized. As a consequence, we obtain the sharp generalization to complete manifolds of the famous Almgren-Pitts min-max theorem in closed manifolds. We use this result to prove the…

In this work we prove the existence of embedded closed minimal hypersurfaces in non-compact manifolds containing a bounded open subset with smooth and strictly mean-concave boundary and a natural behavior on the geometry at infinity. For…

In this note we propose a min-max theory for embedded hypersurfaces with a fixed boundary and apply it to prove several theorems about the existence of embedded minimal hypersurfaces with a given boundary. A simpler variant of these…

In this paper, we give an improved Morse index bound of minimal hypersurfaces from Almgren-Pitts min-max construction in any closed Riemannian manifold $M^{n+1}$ $(n+1 \geq 3$), which generalizes a result by X. Zhou…

In this paper, we consider a closed Riemannian manifold $M^{n+1}$ with dimension $3\leq n+1\leq 7$, and a compact Lie group $G$ acting as isometries on $M$ with cohomogeneity at least $3$. After adapting the Almgren-Pitts min-max theory to…

In 1960s, Almgren initiated a program to find minimal hypersurfaces in compact manifolds using min-max method. This program was largely advanced by Pitts and Schoen-Simon in 1980s when the manifold has no boundary. In this paper, we finish…

For any smooth Riemannian metric on an $(n+1)$-dimensional compact manifold with boundary $(M,\partial M)$ where $3\leq (n+1)\leq 7$, we establish general upper bounds for the Morse index of free boundary minimal hypersurfaces produced by…

In this paper, we study the shape of the min-max minimal hypersurface produced by Almgren-Pitts in \cite{A2}\cite{P} corresponding to the fundamental class of a Riemannian manifold $(M^{n+1}, g)$ of positive Ricci curvature with $2\leq…

The Min-max Theory for the area functional, started by Almgren in the early 1960s and greatly improved by Pitts in 1981, was left incomplete because it gave no Morse index estimate for the min-max minimal hypersurface. We advance the theory…

I will talk about my recent work with Fernando Marques where we used Almgren-Pitts Min-max Theory to settle some open questions in Geometry: The Willmore conjecture, the Freedman-He-Wang conjecture for links (jointly with Ian Agol), and the…

A well-known conjecture of De Giorgi -- motivated by analogy with the Bernstein problem for minimal surfaces -- asserts the rigidity of monotone solutions to the Allen--Cahn equation in $\mathbb{R}^{d+1}$, with $d\leq 7$. We establish close…

In this paper we survey with complete proofs some well--known, but hard to find, results about constructing closed embedded minimal surfaces in a closed 3-dimensional manifold via min--max arguments. This includes results of J. Pitts, F.…

In this work, we prove the existence of a third embedded minimal hypersurface spanning a closed submanifold $\gamma$ contained in the boundary of a compact Riemannian manifold with convex boundary, when it is known a priori the existence of…

In this paper, we study the shape of the min-max minimal hypersurface produced by Almgren-Pitts-Schoen-Simon \cite{AF62, AF65, P81, SS81} in a Riemannian manifold $(M^{n+1}, g)$ of positive Ricci curvature for all dimensions. The min-max…

We prove that in a closed Riemannian manifold with dimension between $3$ and $7$, either there are minimal hypersurfaces with arbitrarily large area, or there exist uncountably many stable minimal hypersurfaces. Moreover, the latter case…

In this paper, we develop a general existence theory for properly embedded minimal surfaces with free boundary in any compact Riemannian 3-manifold $M$ with boundary $\partial M$. The main feature of our result is that no convexity…

We extend an energy introduced by Mather to the setting of Almgren-Pitts min-max theory and obtain a parametric, higher-dimensional analogue of Mather's variational barrier theory for twist maps and geodesics on tori. We use this energy to…

We give a shorter proof of the existence of nontrivial closed minimal hypersurfaces in closed smooth $(n+1)$--dimensional Riemannian manifolds, a theorem proved first by Pitts for $2\leq n\leq 5$ and extended later by Schoen and Simon to…

Let $(M^{n+1},g)$ be a closed Riemannian manifold of dimension $3\le n+1\le 5$. We show that, if the metric $g$ is generic or if the metric $g$ has positive Ricci curvature, then $M$ contains infinitely many geometrically distinct constant…

For a closed Riemannian manifold $M^{n+1}$ with a compact Lie group $G$ acting as isometries, the equivariant min-max theory gives the existence and the potential abundance of minimal $G$-invariant hypersurfaces provided $3\leq {\rm…