2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/146426The problem of minimal distortion bending of smooth compact embedded connected Riemannian $n$-manifolds $M$ and $N$ without boundary is made precise by defining a deformation energy functional $Φ$ on the set of diffeomorphisms $\diff(M,N)$. We derive the Euler-Lagrange equation for $Φ$ and determine smooth minimizers of $Φ$ in case $M$ and $N$ are simple closed curves.Typos corrected to match the final version of the paper, which has appeared in Opuscula Mathematica in January, 2008Optimization and ControlDifferential Geometry58E99text