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Curvature-dependent energies: a geometric and analytical approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

Emilio Acerbi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Università di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 53/A, 43124 Parma, Italy ([email protected]; [email protected])
Domenico Mucci
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Università di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 53/A, 43124 Parma, Italy ([email protected]; [email protected])

Extract

We consider the total curvature of graphs of curves in high-codimension Euclidean space. We introduce the corresponding relaxed energy functional and prove an explicit representation formula. In the case of continuous Cartesian curves, i.e. of graphs cu of continuous functions u on an interval, we show that the relaxed energy is finite if and only if the curve cu has bounded variation and finite total curvature. In this case, moreover, the total curvature does not depend on the Cantor part of the derivative of u. We treat the wider class of graphs of one-dimensional functions of bounded variation, and we prove that the relaxed energy is given by the sum of the length and total curvature of the new curve obtained by closing the holes in cu generated by jumps of u with vertical segments.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 2017 

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