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Geometry-Topology Seminar

Thursday, April 27, 2023 - 5:15pm

Jingwen Chen

University of Chicago

Location

University of Pennsylvania

DRL 4C8

     In this talk, we will discuss some solutions of the mean curvature flow (MCF) of surfaces in the 3-sphere. We will recall a generalized notion of MCF introduced by Brakke in the 70s, as well as its regularization by a parabolic partial differential equation arising in the theory of phase transitions. We will talk about some existence problems for this parabolic equation, and use them to construct MCFs that join minimal surfaces of low area in the 3-sphere, and some recent progress on the spaces of MCFs using Morse-Bott theory. 
    This is joint work with Pedro Gaspar (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile).