Criticality For The Gehring Link Problem

In 1974, Gehring posed the problem of minimizing the length of two linked curves separated by unit distance. This constraint can be viewed as a measure of thickness for links, and the ratio of length over thickness as the ropelength. In this paper we refine Gehring's problem to deal with links in a fixed link-homotopy class: we prove ropelength minimizers exist and introduce a theory of ropelength criticality.Our balance criterion is a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for criticality, based on a strengthened, infinite-dimensional version (Theorem 5.4) of the Kuhn Tucker theorem. We use this to prove that every critical link is C-1 with finite total curvature. The balance criterion also allows us to explicitly describe critical configurations (and presumed minimizers) for many links including the Borromean rings. We also exhibit a surprising critical configuration for two clasped ropes: near their tips the curvature is unbounded and a small gap appears between the two components. These examples reveal the depth and richness hidden in Gehring's problem and our natural extension.