Variational Problems in Geometry by Seiki Nishikawa
This book, published originally in Japanese, is an outgrowth of lectures given at Tohoku University and at the 1995 Summer Graduate Program of the Institute for Mathematics and Its Applications, University of Minnesota. In these lectures, through a discussion on variational problems of the length and energy of curves and the energy of maps, I intended to guide the audience to the threshold of the field of geometric variational problems, that is, the study of nonlinear problems arising in geometry and topology from the point of view of global analysis. It is my pleasure and privilege to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Kinetsu Abe who generously devoted considerable time and effort to the translation. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to Professor Phillipe Tondeur who invited me to join the 1995 Summer Graduate Program, and to my friend Andrej Treibergs for making his notes [261 available to the organization of the last chapter.
Seiki Nishikawa
April 2001