Global injectivity and topological constraints for spatial nonlinearly elastic rods (Q1871605)

This article deals with global injectivity of looped thin elastic rods in a closure of an open set in \(\mathbb R^3\), under topological constraints of a knot type. As the shape of elastic rod is determined by a minimal state of energy, the author shows the existence of an energy-minimizing equilibrium state without self-penetration, which may also be restricted by a rigid obstacle.