  We introduce a new equation describing epitaxial growth processes. This
equation is derived from a simple variational geometric principle and it has a
straightforward interpretation in terms of continuum and microscopic physics.
It is also able to reproduce the critical behavior already observed, mound
formation and mass conservation, but however does not fit a divergence form as
the most commonly spread models of conserved surface growth. This formulation
allows us to connect the results of the dynamic renormalization group analysis
with intuitive geometric principles, whose generic character may well allow
them to describe surface growth and other phenomena in different areas of
physics.

Statistical Mechanics;Materials Science;Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems