One homework problem will be given out each Monday. This homework is due at the start of class the following Monday.
This course is an introduction to the theory of minimal surfaces. We will discuss classical examples of minimal surfaces in R3 and Rn via Weierstrass representation formula, existence and regularity properties in the Plateau problem, and then we will discuss minimal surfaces in general Riemannian manifolds, and their relations with geometry and topology. Students taking this class should have already taken 157a or the equivalent. Conversely, students who have already taken 157b in the past may take this class again.