Comparison of the Perspectives of Mathematician & Physicist on Minimal Surfaces

Abstract

This article was inspired by a popular article telling about the work of mathematicians Fernando Coda Marques and Andre Neves based on the thesis of John Pitts about minimal surfaces but forgotten by mathematics community. Minimal surfaces are also central in TGD, and this motivated the following considerations representing minimal surfaces from the point of view of mathematician and physicist. I will discuss the basic ideas about minimal surfaces, summarize the basic mathematical results of Marques and Neves, and discuss minimal surfaces from TGD point of view.