Maximum principles for energy stationary hypersurfaces
Summary We consider critical immersions of singular variational integrals of the type Eα(X) = ∫MXαn + 1dA, α > 0. We construct quadratic forms which are subharmonic on any stationary hypersurface using methods of Dierkes [4] and Hildebrandt [9]. This leads to enclosure theorems which generalize well-known results of Böhme, Hildebrandt, and Tausch [2] for minimal surfaces under gravitational forces. Finally, we discuss the application of these estimates to the corresponding curvature flow problem.