Venue
Sala Seminari (Dip. Matematica).
Abstract
In this talk we will consider planar networks of three curves minimizing a combination of the elastic energy and the length functional. We will prove existence and regularity of minimizers and we will show some properties of the minimal configurations. In addition to the presentation of the results that are obtained in collaboration with Anna Dall’Acqua and Matteo Novaga, we will give a partial review of the theory of elasticae and discuss about the onset of new phenomena passing from the problem for curves to the one for networks.