Mean curvature bounds for CMC foliations of manifolds with sectional curvature bounded below

Abstract

Let $M^{n+1}$ be a complete Riemannian manifold with ${\sec }_M\ge -K_0$, $K_0\ge 0$, and let $\mathfrak{F}$ be a codimension one foliation of $M$ by hypersurfaces of constant mean curvature, the constant depending on the leaf. We prove that the mean curvature of every leaf satisfies $|H|\le (n+1)\sqrt{K_0}$. In particular, the mean curvature of the leaves of a CMC foliation of a complete manifold with $|{\sec }_M|\le 1$ is bounded by $n+1$, which answers positively a conjecture of Meeks III, Pérez, and Ros.

arXiv comment36 pages