Topological change in mean convex mean curvature flow

Abstract

Consider the mean curvature flow of an (n+1)-dimensional compact, mean convex region in Euclidean space (or, if n<7, in a Riemannian manifold). We prove that elements of the mth homotopy group of the complementary region can die only if there is a shrinking S k×R n−k singularity for some k≤m. We also prove that for each m with 1≤m≤n, there is a nonempty open set of compact, mean convex regions K in R n+1 with smooth boundary ∂K for which the resulting mean curvature flow has a shrinking S m×R n−m singularity.