Yangyang Li, University of Chicago

Title: Minimal Surfaces and Related Geometric Variational Problems

Abstract: Minimal surfaces, which generalize geodesics to higher dimensions, naturally model various physical phenomena and are fundamental tools in geometric analysis. In this talk, I will survey recent advances on the existence, regularity, and Morse-theoretic study of minimal (hyper)surfaces. Highlights include our recent results on the enumeration of minimal surfaces, the generic regularity of minimal hypersurfaces, and their anisotropic counterparts. I will also discuss how these findings illuminate the interplay between the space of minimal hypersurfaces and the ambient Riemannian manifold.