Conjecture on dynamically stable solutions for curve diffusion, elastic, and ideal flows

A planar curve γ\gamma is dynamically stable if there exists an ϵ>0\epsilon>0 such that every curve η\eta with γηC<ϵ||\gamma-\eta||_{C^\infty}<\epsilon generates a solution trajectory converging, modulo similarity transformation, to γ\gamma. The curve diffusion flow, elastic flow, and ideal flow are geometric flows for planar curves.

Stability classification conjecture. The only dynamically stable solutions are circles for the curve diffusion flow; multiply-covered lemniscates of Bernoulli and multiply-covered circles for the elastic flow; and multiply-covered ideal lemniscates and multiply-covered circles for the ideal flow.

The conjecture concerns the dynamical stability of homothetic solutions. Its ideal-flow assertion presupposes the rigorous discovery of an ideal lemniscate, a self-similarly expanding figure-eight-type solution, which the source states has not yet been established.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Ben Andrews and Glen Wheeler, “Jellyfish exist”, arXiv:2601.21227 (2026).

Progress summary

Never refreshed

Nothing recorded yet. Refresh searches the literature and the public web for attempts on this problem, and writes the first summary here.

Solutions 0

No solutions have been posted yet.