Variational Problems in Differential Geometry

The state of the art from an internationally respected line up of authors working in geometric variational problems.

With a mix of expository and original papers this volume is an excellent reference for experienced researchers in geometric variational problems, as well as an ideal introduction for graduate students. It presents all the varied methods and techniques used in attacking geometric variational problems and includes many up-to-date results.The field of geometric variational problems is fast-moving and influential. These problems interact with many other areas of mathematics and have strong relevance to the study of integrable systems, mathematical physics and PDEs. The workshop 'Variational Problems in Differential Geometry' held in 2009 at the University of Leeds brought together internationally respected researchers from many different areas of the field. Topics discussed included recent developments in harmonic maps and morphisms, minimal and CMC surfaces, extremal Kähler metrics, the Yamabe functional, Hamiltonian variational problems and topics related to gauge theory and to the Ricci flow. These articles reflect the whole spectrum of the subject and cover not only current results, but also the varied methods and techniques used in attacking variational problems. With a mix of original and expository papers, this volume forms a valuable reference for more experienced researchers and an ideal introduction for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.