A Closed Curve with Finite Critical Menger Curvature and No Tangent at One Point
Manuscript 25 October 2026 · Online 25 October 2026
Abstract
We give an explicit embedded planar loop of length one with finite integral Menger curvature M_3 whose arclength parametrization is not differentiable at one point. The curve is smooth everywhere else. Its local graph has slope a sin(log log(1/|x|)) plus a smooth term. A direct three-point estimate bounds the critical Menger energy of a Lipschitz graph by the W^(1/3,3) seminorm of its slope. The oscillating slope has finite seminorm, while its secants have two distinct limiting directions. A smooth circle-arc replacement closes the example. This gives a complete negative answer to the everywhere-differentiability subquestion in OWR 22/2013, p. 1353, and Problem 5.3 of Strzelecki and von der Mosel. It does not close the bundled circle-minimization or stationary-regularity questions. Earlier Mobius-energy counterexamples and fractional-Sobolev methods are credited. This is an unrefereed, AI-assisted preprint; priority is not certified.
Record
- Affiliation
- Mercury Software GmbH
- Contact
- [email protected] · GitHub
- Result
- Complete counterexample to a subquestion
- Categories
- math.CA · math.DG · math.GT
- Manuscript
- 25 October 2026
- Online release
- 25 October 2026
- Version
- 1.0
- License
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Files and verification
The PDF is the canonical reading copy. The source archive contains the LaTeX manuscript, bibliography, reproducibility material, and audit documents without build artefacts.
Citation
Alper Ferudun, “A Closed Curve with Finite Critical Menger Curvature and No Tangent at One Point,” EulerSolve Research Papers, OWR-12485-006, 2026. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23633041.
BibTeX
@misc{ferudun2026criticalmenger,
author = {Ferudun, Alper},
title = {A Closed Curve with Finite Critical Menger Curvature and No Tangent at One Point},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {EulerSolve Research Papers},
url = {https://eulersolve.org/papers/owr-12485-006/},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23633041},
note = {OWR-12485-006; unrefereed preprint}
}