{"paper":{"title":"A Variational Characterization of the Catenoid","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":["math.AP"],"primary_cat":"math.DG","authors_text":"Christine Breiner, Jacob Bernstein","submitted_at":"2010-12-17T17:54:47Z","abstract_excerpt":"In this note, we use a result of Osserman and Schiffer \\cite{OS} to give a variational characterization of the catenoid. Namely, we show that subsets of the catenoid minimize area within a geometrically natural class of minimal annuli. To the best of our knowledge, this fact has gone unremarked upon in the literature. As an application of the techniques, we give a sharp condition on the lengths of a pair of connected, simple closed curves $\\sigma_1$ and $\\sigma_2$ lying in parallel planes that precludes the existence of a connected minimal surface $\\Sigma$ with $\\partial \\Sigma=\\sigma_1\\cup\\si"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"1012.3941","kind":"arxiv","version":2},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}