Finite time singularities for the locally constrained Willmore flow of surfaces

Abstract

In this paper we study the steepest descent $L^2$-gradient flow of the functional $\SW_{\lambda_1,\lambda_2}$, which is the the sum of the Willmore energy, $\lambda_1$-weighted surface area, and $\lambda_2$-weighted enclosed volume, for surfaces immersed in $\R^3$. This coincides with the Helfrich functional with zero `spontaneous curvature'. Our first results are a concentration-compactness alternative and interior estimates for the flow. For initial data with small energy, we prove preservation of embeddedness, and by directly estimating the Euler-Lagrange operator from below in $L^2$ we obtain that the maximal time of existence is finite. Combining this result with the analysis of a suitable blowup allows us to show that for such initial data the flow contracts to a round point in finite time.