A strict inequality for the minimisation of the Willmore functional under isoperimetric constraint
Abstract
Inspired by previous work of Kusner and Bauer-Kuwert, we prove a strict inequality between the Willmore energies of two surfaces and their connected sum in the context of isoperimetric constraints. Building on previous work by Keller-Mondino-Rivi\`ere, our strict inequality leads to existence of minimisers for the isoperimetric constrained Willmore problem in every genus, provided the minimal energy lies strictly below 8π. Besides the geometric interest, such a minimisation problem has been studied in the literature as a simplified model in the theory of lipid bilayer cell membranes.
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