Editing Plateau's problem (section)

{{Short description|To find the minimal surface with a given boundary}}
[[File:Bulle caténoïde.png|thumb|A soap bubble in the shape of a [[catenoid]]]]
{{calculus|expanded=specialized}}
In [[mathematics]], '''Plateau's problem''' is to show the existence of a [[minimal surface]] with a given boundary, a problem raised by [[Joseph-Louis Lagrange]] in 1760.  However, it is named after [[Joseph Plateau]] who experimented with [[soap film]]s.  The problem is considered part of the [[calculus of variations]]. The existence and regularity problems are part of [[geometric measure theory]].