We prove a lower bound for the first Steklov eigenvalue of embedded minimal hypersurfaces with free boundary in a compact n-dimensional Riemannian manifold which has nonnegative Ricci curvature and strictly convex boundary. When n=3, this implies an apriori curvature estimate for these minimal surfaces in terms of the geometry of the ambient manifold and the topology of the minimal surface. An important consequence of the estimate is a smooth compactness theorem for embedded minimal surfaces with free boundary when the topological type of these minimal surfaces is fixed.

In this paper, we classify n-dimensional (n ≥ 3) complete non-compact locally conformally flat gradient steady solitons. In particular, we prove that a complete noncompact nonflat locally conformally flat gradient steady Ricci soliton is, up to scaling, the Bryant soliton.

The geometric Cauchy problem for a class of surfaces in a pseudo-Riemannian manifold of dimension 3 is to nd the surface which contains a given curve with a prescribed tangent bundle along the curve. We consider this problem for constant negative Gauss curvature surfaces (pseudospherical surfaces) in Euclidean 3-space, and for timelike constant non-zero mean curvature (CMC) surfaces in the Lorentz-Minkowski 3-space. We prove that there is a unique solution if the prescribed curve is noncharacteristic, and for characteristic initial curves (asymptotic curves for pseudospherical surfaces and null curves for timelike CMC) it is necessary and sucient for similar data to be prescribed along an additional characteristic curve that intersects the rst. The proofs also give a means of constructing all solutions using loop group techniques. The method used is the innite dimensional d'Alembert type representation for surfaces associated with Lorentzian harmonic maps (1-1 wave maps) into symmetric spaces, developed since the 1990's. Explicit formulae for the potentials in terms of the prescribed data are given, and some applications are considered.

In the first paper of this series, “Electrodynamics and the Gauss Linking Integral on the 3-sphere and in Hyperbolic 3-space,” we developed a steady-state version of classical electrodynamics in these two spaces, including explicit formulas for the vector-valued Green’s operator, explicit formulas of Biot-Savart type for the magnetic field, and a corresponding Amp`ere’s Law contained in Maxwell’s equations, and then used these to obtain explicit inte- gral formulas for the linking number of two disjoint closed curves. In this second paper, we obtain integral formulas for twisting, writhing, and helicity, and prove that link = twist + writhe on the 3-sphere and in hyperbolic 3-space. We then use these results to derive upper bounds for the helicity of vector fields and lower bounds for the first eigenvalue of the curl operator on subdomains of these two spaces. An announcement of these results, and a hint of their proofs, can be found in the Math ArXiv, math.GT/0406276, while an expanded version of the first paper, with full proofs, can be found at math.GT/0510388.

Let$M$be a smooth hypersurface of constant signature in$CP$^{$n$},$n$≥3. We prove the regularity foron$M$in bidegree (0,1). As a consequence, we show that there exists no smooth hypersurface in$CP$^{$n$},$n$≥3, whose Levi form has at least two zero-eigenvalues.