Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

Grain boundaries within polycrystalline materials are known to be governed by motion by mean curvature. However, when the polycrystalline specimen is thin, such as in thin films, then the effects of the exterior surfaces start to play an important role. We consider two particularly simple geometries, an axi-symmetric geometry, and a half loop geometry which is often employed in making measurements of the kinetic coefficient in the motion by mean curvature equation, obtaining corrective terms which arise due to the coupling of grain boundaries to the exterior surface.   Joint work with Anna Rotman, Arkady Vilenkin & Olga Zelekman-Smirin