This book collects invited contributions by specialists in the domain of elliptic partial differential equations and geometric flows. The articles provide a balance between introductory surveys and the most recent research, with a unique perspective on singular phenomena. Notions such as scans and the study of the evolution by curvature of networks of curves are completely new and lead the reader to the frontiers of the domain. The intended readership are postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of elliptic and parabolic partial differential equations that arise from variational...

This volume has grown from a conference entitled Harmonic Maps, Minimal Sur- faces and Geometric Flows which was held at the Universite de Bretagne Occi- dentale from July 7th-12th, 2002, in the town of Brest in Brittany, France. We welcomed many distinguished mathematicians from around the world and a dy- namic meeting took place, with many fruitful exchanges of ideas. In order to produce a work that would have lasting value to the mathematical community, the organisers decided to invite a small number of participants to write in-depth articles around a common theme. These articles provide a...