This paper develops new tools for understanding surfaces with more than one end (and usually, of infinite topology) which properly minimally embed into Euclidean three-space. On such a surface, the set of ends forms a compact Hausdorff space, naturally ordered by the relative heights of the ends in space. One of our main results is that the middle ends of the surface have quadratic area growth, and are thus not limit ends. This implies, for instance, that the surface can have at most two limit ends (at the top and bottom of the ordering), which is a strong topological restriction. There are also restrictions on the asymptotic geometry and conformal structure of such a surface: for example, we prove that if the surface has exactly two limit ends (as do the classical Riemann Staircase examples), then it is recurrent (that is, almost all Brownian paths are dense in the surface, and in particular any positive harmonic function on the surface is constant). These results have played an important role in the proof of several recent advances in the theory, including the uniqueness of the helicoid, the invariance of flux for a coordinate function on a properly immersed minimal surface, and the topological classification of properly embedded minimal surfaces.
In this paper, we show that there are non-properly embedded minimal surfaces with finite topology in a simply connected Riemannian 3-manifold with nonpositive curvature. We show this result by constructing a non-properly embedded minimal plane in hyperbolic 3-space. Hence, this gives a counterexample to Calabi-Yau conjecture for embedded minimal surfaces in the negative curvature case.
We show that if P is an embedded least area (area minimizing) plane in hyperbolic 3-space whose asymptotic boundary is a simple closed curve with at least one smooth point, then P is properly embedded.
We show that for any simple closed curve in the sphere at infinity of a Gromov hyperbolic 3-space with cocompact metric, there exist a properly embedded least area plane in the space spanning the given curve. This gives a positive answer to a conjecture of Gabai. Soma has already proven this conjecture earlier. Our technique here is simpler and more general, and it can be applied to many similar settings.
For any H in [0,1), we construct complete, non-proper, stable, simply-connected surfaces with constant mean curvature H embedded in hyperbolic 3-space.
We show that the image of a nonconstant conformal harmonic map $\mathbb C\to \mathbb R^3$, not necessarily proper and possibly with branch points, intersects every properly embedded nonflat minimal surface of bounded curvature in $\mathbb R^3$. The same holds if $\mathbb C$ is replaced by any open conformal surface without nonconstant bounded subharmonic functions.
We prove prove a bridge principle at infinity for area-minimizing surfaces in the hyperbolic space $\mathbb{H}^3$, and we use it to prove that any open, connected, orientable surface can be properly embedded in $\mathbb{H}^3$ as an area-minimizing surface. Moreover, the embedding can be constructed in such a way that the limit sets of different ends are disjoint.
In 1997, Collin proved that any properly embedded minimal surface in $\mathbb{R}^3$ with finite topology and more than one end has finite total Gaussian curvature. Hence, by an earlier result of Lopez and Ros, catenoids are the only non-planar, non-simply connected, properly embedded, minimal planar domains in $\mathbb{R}^3$ of finite topology. In 2005, Meeks and Rosenberg proved that the only simply connected, properly embedded minimal surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$ are planes and helicoids. Around 1860, Riemann defined a one-parameter family of periodic, infinite topology, properly embedded, min…
In this paper we prove two theorems. The first one is a structure result that describes the extrinsic geometry of an embedded surface with constant mean curvature (possibly zero) in a homogeneously regular Riemannian three-manifold, in any small neighborhood of a point of large almost-maximal curvature. We next apply this theorem and the Quadratic Curvature Decay Theorem (previously proven by the same authors in [14]) to deduce compactness, descriptive and dynamics-type results concerning the space $D(M)$ of non-flat limits under dilations of any given properly embedded minimal surface $M$ in …
The aim of this paper is to extend classic results of the theory of CMC surfaces in the product spaces to the class of immersed surfaces in $\mathbb{M}^2(κ)\times\mathbb{R}$ whose mean curvature is given as a $C^1$ function depending on their angle function. We cover topics such as the existence of a priori curvature estimates for graphs, height estimates for horizontal and vertical compact graphs and a structure-type result, which classifies all the simply connected, properly embedded surfaces with finite topology.
In $\mathbb{S}^2 \times \mathbb{R}$ there is a two-parameter family of properly embedded minimal annuli foliated by circles. In this paper we show that this family contains all properly embedded minimal annuli. We use the description of minimal annuli in $\mathbb{S}^2 \times \mathbb{R}$ by periodic harmonic maps $G : \mathbb{C} \to \mathbb{S}^2$ of finite type. Due to the algebraic geometric correspondence of Hitchin [14], these harmonic maps are parametrized by hyperelliptic algebraic curves together with Abelian differentials with prescribed poles. We deform annuli by deforming spectral data…
In this paper we construct a properly embedded holomorphic disc in the unit ball $\mathbb{B}^2$ of $\mathbb{C}^2$ having a surprising combination of properties: on the one hand, it has finite area and hence is the zero set of a bounded holomorphic function on $\mathbb{B}^2$; on the other hand, its boundary curve is everywhere dense in the sphere $b\mathbb{B}^2$.
We study properly embedded and immersed p(pseudohermitian)-minimal surfaces in the 3-dimensional Heisenberg group. From the recent work of Cheng, Hwang, Malchiodi, and Yang, we learn that such surfaces must be ruled surfaces. There are two types of such surfaces: band type and annulus type according to their topology. We give an explicit expression for these surfaces. Among band types there is a class of properly embedded p-minimal surfaces of so called helicoid type. We classify all the helicoid type p-minimal surfaces. This class of p-minimal surfaces includes all the entire p-minimal graphs…
We establish curvature estimates and a convexity result for mean convex properly embedded $[φ,\vec{e}_{3}]$-minimal surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$, i.e., $φ$-minimal surfaces when $φ$ depends only on the third coordinate of $\mathbb{R}^3$. Led by the works on curvature estimates for surfaces in 3-manifolds, due to White for minimal surfaces, to Rosenberg, Souam and Toubiana, for stable CMC surfaces, and to Spruck and Xiao for stable translating solitons in $\mathbb{R}^3$, we use a compactness argument to provide curvature estimates for a family of mean convex $[φ,\vec{e}_{3}]$-minimal surfaces in …
In this paper we study the moduli space of properly Alexandrov-embedded, minimal annuli in $\mathbb{H}^2 \times \mathbb{R}$ with horizontal ends. We say that the ends are horizontal when they are graphs of $\mathcal{C}^{2, α}$ functions over $\partial_\infty \mathbb{H}^2$. Contrary to expectation, we show that one can not fully prescribe the two boundary curves at infinity, but rather, one can prescribe the bottom curve, but the top curve only up to a translation and a tilt, along with the position of the neck and the vertical flux of the annulus. We also prove general existence theorems for m…
These notes outline recent developments in classical minimal surface theory that are essential in classifying the properly embedded minimal planar domains M in R^3 with infinite topology (equivalently, with an infinite number of ends). This final classification result by Meeks, Perez, and Ros states that such an M must be congruent to a homothetic scaling of one of the classical examples found by Riemann in 1860. These examples {\cal R}_s, 0<s<\infty, are defined in terms of the Weierstrass {\cal P}-functions {\cal P}_t on the rectangular elliptic curve {\C} / {< 1, t\sqrt{-1}>}, are singly-pe…
We prove that the ends of a properly immersed simply or one connected minimal surface in H(2)xR contained in a slab of height less than πof H(2)xR, are multi-graphs. When such a surface is embedded then the ends are graphs. When embedded and simply connected, it is an entire graph.
If $Y$ is a properly embedded minimal surface in a convex cocompact hyperbolic 3-manifold $M$ with boundary at infinity an embedded curve $γ$, then Graham and Witten showed how to define a renormalized area $\calA$ of $Y$ via Hadamard regularization. We study renormalized area as a functional on the space of all such minimal surfaces. This requires a closer examination of these moduli spaces; following White and Coskunuzer, we prove these are Banach manifolds and that the natural map taking $Y$ to $γ$ is Fredholm of index zero and proper, which leads to the existence of a $\ZZ$-valued degree t…
We prove there exists a compact embedded minimal surface in a complete finite volume hyperbolic $3$-manifold $\mathcal{N}$. We also obtain a least area, incompressible, properly embedded, finite topology, $2$-sided surface. We prove a properly embedded minimal surface of bounded curvature has finite topology. This determines its asymptotic behavior. Some rigidity theorems are obtained.
Suppose $M$ is a complete, embedded minimal surface in $\mathbb{R}^3$ with an infinite number of ends, finite genus and compact boundary. We prove that the simple limit ends of $M$ have properly embedded representatives with compact boundary, genus zero and with constrained geometry. We use this result to show that if $M$ has at least two simple limit ends, then $M$ has exactly two simple limit ends. Furthermore, we demonstrate that $M$ is properly embedded in $\mathbb{R}^3$ if and only if $M$ has at most two limit ends if and only if $M$ has a countable number of limit ends.
It is shown that the space of null geodesics of a causally simple Lorentzian manifold is Hausdorff if it admits an open conformal embedding into a globally hyperbolic spacetime. This provides an obstruction to conformal embeddings of causally simple spacetimes into globally hyperbolic ones irrespective of curvature conditions. Examples of causally simple spacetimes are given not conformally embeddable into globally hyperbolic ones.
In this paper, we present a sufficient condition for finite Morse index of complete properly self-shrinkers. We prove that a complete properly embedded self-shrinker in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ with finite asymptotically conical ends or asymptotically cylindrical ends must have finite Morse index. Moreover, as an application of this result, we show that a complete properly embedded self-shrinker in $\mathbb{R}^3$ with finite genus has finite Morse index.
For an embedded conformal hypersurface with boundary, we construct critical order local invariants and their canonically associated differential operators. These are obtained holographically in a construction that uses a singular Yamabe problem and a corresponding minimal hypersurface with boundary. They include an extrinsic Q-curvature for the boundary of the embedded conformal manifold and, for its interior, the Q-curvature and accompanying boundary transgression curvatures. This gives universal formulae for extrinsic analogs of Branson Q-curvatures that simultaneously generalize the Willmor…
In this paper we use min-max theory to study the existence free boundary minimal hypersurfaces (FBMHs) in compact manifolds with boundary $(M^{n+1}, \partial M, g)$, where $2\leq n\leq 6$. Under the assumption that $g$ is a local maximizer of the width of $M$ in its comformal class, and all embedded FBMHs in $M$ are properly embedded, we show the existence of a sequence of properly embedded equidistributed FBMHs. This work extends the result of Ambrozio-Montezuma [2].
We first prove a general gluing theorem which creates new nondegenerate constant mean curvature surfaces by attaching half Delaunay surfaces with small necksize to arbitrary points of any nondegenerate CMC surface. The proof uses the method of Cauchy data matching from \cite{MP}, cf. also \cite{MPP}. In the second part of this paper, we develop the consequences of this result and (at least partially) characterize the image of the map which associates to each complete, Alexandrov-embedded CMC surface with finite topology its associated conformal structure, which is a compact Riemann surface wit…
Let M = M_{g,k} denote the space of properly (Alexandrov) embedded constant mean curvature (CMC) surfaces of genus g with k (labeled) ends, modulo rigid motions, endowed with the real analytic structure described in [kmp]. Let $P = P_{g,k} = r_{g,k} \times R_+^k$ be the space of parabolic structures over Riemann surfaces of genus g with k (marked) punctures, the real analytic structure coming from the 3g-3+k local complex analytic coordinates on the Riemann moduli space r_{g,k}. Then the parabolic classifying map, Phi: M --> P, which assigns to a CMC surface its induced conformal structure and…
We construct a one-parameter family of properly embedded minimal annuli in the Heisenberg group Nil_3 endowed with a left-invariant Riemannian metric. These annuli are not rotationally invariant. This family gives a vertical half-space theorem and proves that each complete minimal graph in Nil_3 is entire. Also, the sister surface of an entire minimal graph in Nil_3 is an entire constant mean curvature 1/2 graph in H^2 x R, and conversely. This gives a classification of all entire constant mean curvature 1/2 graphs in H^2 x R. Finally we construct properly embedded constant mean curvature 1/2 …
We study the embedded Calabi-Yau problem for complete embedded constant mean curvature surfaces of finite topology or of positive injectivity radius in a simply-connected three-dimensional Lie group X endowed with a left-invariant Riemannian metric. We first prove a half-space theorem for constant mean curvature surfaces. This half-space theorem applies to certain properly immersed constant mean curvature surfaces of X contained in the complements of normal R^2 subgroups F of X. In the case X is a unimodular Lie group, our results imply that every minimal surface in X-F that is properly immers…
Hypersurfaces embedded in conformal manifolds appear frequently as boundary data in boundary-value problems in cosmology and string theory. Viewed as the non-null conformal infinity of a spacetime, we consider hypersurfaces embedded in a Riemannian (or Lorentzian) conformal manifold. We construct a finite and minimal family of hypersurface tensors -- the curvatures intrinsic to the hypersurface and the so-called ``conformal fundamental forms'' -- that can be used to construct natural conformal invariants of the hypersurface embedding up to a fixed order in hypersurface-orthogonal derivatives o…
Motivated by the large ammount of results obtained for minimal and positive constant mean curvature surfaces in several ambient spaces, the aim of this paper is to obtain half-space theorems for properly immersed surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$ whose mean curvature is given as a prescribed function of its Gauss map. In order to achieve this purpose, we will study the behavior at infinity of a 1-parameter family of properly embedded annuli that are analogous to the usual minimal catenoids.
We show that any minimizing hypercone can be perturbed into one side to a properly embedded smooth minimizing hypersurface in the Euclidean space, and every viscosity mean convex cone admits a properly embedded smooth mean convex self-expander asymptotic to it near infinity. These two together confirm a conjecture of Lawson \cite[Problem 5.7]{Brothers86_OpenProblems}.
For all open Riemann surface M and real number $θ\in (0,π/4),$ we construct a conformal minimal immersion $X=(X_1,X_2,X_3):M \to \mathbb{R}^3$ such that $X_3+\tan(θ) |X_1|:M \to \mathbb{R}$ is positive and proper. Furthermore, $X$ can be chosen with arbitrarily prescribed flux map. Moreover, we produce properly immersed hyperbolic minimal surfaces with non empty boundary in $\mathbb{R}^3$ lying above a negative sublinear graph.
Extending an example by Colding and Minicozzi, we construct a sequence of properly embedded minimal disks $Σ_i$ in an infinite Euclidean cylinder around the $x_3$-axis with curvature blow-up at a single point. The sequence converges to a non smooth and non proper minimal lamination in the cylinder. Moreover, we show that the disks $Σ_i$ are not properly embedded in a sequence of open subsets of $\mathbb{ R}^3$ that exhausts $\mathbb{ R}^3$.
In this paper, we improve a result by Chodosh and Ketover. We prove that, in an asymptotically flat $3$-manifold $M$ that contains no closed minimal surfaces, fixing $q\in M$ and a $2$-plane $V$ in $T_qM$ there is a properly embedded minimal plane $Σ$ in $M$ such that $q\inΣ$ and $T_qΣ=V$. We also prove that fixing three points in $M$ there is a properly embedded minimal plane passing through these three points.
In this work, we study various properties of embedded hypersurfaces in $1+1+2$ decomposed spacetimes with a preferred spatial direction, denoted $e^μ$, which are orthogonal to the fluid flow velocity of the spacetime and admit a proper conformal transformation. To ensure a non-vanishing positivity scalar curvature of the induced metric, we impose that the scalar curvature of the conformal metric is non-negative and that the associated conformal factor satisfies $\hatφ^2+2\hat{\hatφ}>0$, where $\hat{\ast}$ denotes derivative along $e^μ$. Firstly, it is demonstrated that such hypersurface is eit…
In this paper we prove that a complete, embedded minimal surface $M$ in $\mathbb{R}^3$ with finite topology and compact boundary (possibly empty) is conformally a compact Riemann surface $\overline{M}$ with boundary punctured in a finite number of interior points and that $M$ can be represented in terms of meromorphic data on its conformal completion $\overline{M}$. In particular, we demonstrate that $M$ is a minimal surface of finite type and describe how this property permits a classification of the asymptotic behavior of $M$.
There exists a properly embedded minimal surface of genus one with one end. The end is asymptotic to the end of the helicoid. This genus one helicoid is constructed as the limit of a continuous one-parameter family of screw-motion invariant minimal surfaces--also asymptotic to the helicoid--that have genus equal to one in the quotient.
Let $C\subset\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ be a regular cone with vertex at the origin. In this paper, we show the uniqueness for smooth properly embedded self-shrinking ends in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ that are asymptotic to $C$. As an application, we prove that not every regular cone with vertex at the origin has a smooth complete properly embedded self-shrinker asymptotic to it.
We propose a novel meshless method to compute harmonic maps and conformal maps for surfaces embedded in the Euclidean 3-space, using point cloud data only. Given a surface, or a point cloud approximation, we simply use the standard cubic lattice to approximate its $ε$-neighborhood. Then the harmonic map of the surface can be approximated by discrete harmonic maps on lattices. The conformal map, or the surface uniformization, is achieved by minimizing the Dirichlet energy of the harmonic map while deforming the target surface of constant curvature. We propose algorithms and numerical examples f…
In this paper we prove that the unit ball $\mathbb{B}$ of $\mathbb{C}^2$ admits complete properly embedded complex curves of any given topological type. Moreover, we provide examples containing any given closed discrete subset of $\mathbb{B}$.
In this paper, we show that any open orientable surface S can be properly embedded in H^3 as a minimizing H-surface for any 0<=H<1. We obtained this result by proving a version of the bridge principle at infinity for H-surfaces. We also show that any open orientable surface S can be nonproperly embedded in H^3 as a minimal surface, too.
For any prescribed closed subset of a line segment in Euclidean 3-space, we construct a sequence of minimal disks that are properly embedded in an open solid cylinder around the segment and that have curvatures blowing up precisely at the points of the closed set.
In this paper, we prove that every confomal minimal immersion of an open Riemann surface into $\mathbb{R}^n$ for $n\ge 5$ can be approximated uniformly on compacts by conformal minimal embeddings. Furthermore, we show that every open Riemann surface carries a proper conformal minimal embedding into $\mathbb{R}^5$. One of our main tools is a Mergelyan approximation theorem for conformal minimal immersions to $\mathbb{R}^n$ for any $n\ge 3$ which is also proved in the paper.
Let $(M,g)$ be an asymptotically flat $3$-manifold containing no closed embedded minimal surfaces. We prove that for every point $p\in M$ there exists a complete properly embedded minimal plane in $M$ containing $p$.
Given k>=2, we construct a (2k-2)-parameter family of properly embedded minimal surfaces in H^2 x R invariant by a vertical translation T, called Saddle Towers, which have total intrinsic curvature 4 pi(1-k), genus zero and 2k vertical Scherk-type ends in the quotient by T. As limits of those Saddle Towers, we obtain Jenkins-Serrin graphs over ideal polygonal domains (with total intrinsic curvature 2 pi(1-k)); we also get properly embedded minimal surfaces which are symmetric with respect to a horizontal slice and have total intrinsic curvature 4 pi(1-k), genus zero and k vertical planar ends.
We study complete finite topology immersed surfaces $Σ$ in complete Riemannian $3$-manifolds $N$ with sectional curvature $K_N\leq -a^2\leq 0$, such that the absolute mean curvature function of $Σ$ is bounded from above by $a$ and its injectivity radius function is not bounded away from zero on each of its annular end representatives. We prove that such a surface $Σ$ must be proper in $N$ and its total curvature must be equal to $2πχ(Σ)$. If $N$ is a hyperbolic $3$-manifold of finite volume and $Σ$ is a properly immersed surface of finite topology with nonnegative constant mean curvature less …
Any sequence of properly embedded minimal disks in an open subset U of Euclidean 3-space has a subsequence such that the curvatures blow up on a relatively closed subset K of U and such that the disks converge in the complement of K to a minimal lamination of U\K. Assuming results of Colding-Minicozzi and an extension due to Meeks, we prove that such a blow-up set K must be contained in a C^1 embedded curve.
We prove that a properly embedded annular end of a surface in $\mathbb H^2\times\mathbb R$ with constant mean curvature $0<H\leq \frac{1}{2}$ can not be contained in any horizontal slab. Moreover, we show that a properly embedded surface with constant mean curvature $0<H\leq \frac{1}{2}$ contained in $\mathbb H^2\times[0,+\infty)$ and with finite topology is necessarily a graph over a simply connected domain of $\mathbb H^2$. For the case $H=\frac{1}{2}$, the graph is entire.
We construct the first examples of complete, properly embedded minimal surfaces in $\mathbb{H}^2 \times \mathbb{R}$ with finite total curvature and positive genus. These are constructed by gluing copies of horizontal catenoids or other nondegenerate summands. We also establish that every horizontal catenoid is nondegenerate. Finally, using the same techniques, we are able to produce properly embedded minimal surfaces with infinitely many ends. Each annular end has finite total curvature and is asymptotic to a vertical totally geodesic plane.
Given a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary, we prove that the limit of a sequence of embedded, almost properly embedded free boundary minimal hypersurfaces, with uniform area and Morse index upper bound, always inherits a non-trivial Jacobi field. To approach this, we prove a one-sided Harnack inequality for minimal graphs on balls with many holes.
In this paper, we show that a complete embedded minimal surface in $\Real^3$ with finite topology and one end is conformal to a once-punctured compact Riemann surface. Moreover, using the conformality and embeddedness, we examine the Weierstrass data and conclude that every such surface has Weierstrass data asymptotic to that of the helicoid. More precisely, if $g$ is the stereographic projection of the Gauss map, then in a neighborhood of the puncture, $g(p) = \exp(iαz(p) + F(p))$, where $α\in \Real$, $z=x_3+ix_3^*$ is a holomorphic coordinate defined in this neighborhood and $F(p)$ is holomo…
We prove that given an open Riemann surface $N,$ there exists an open domain $M\subset N$ homeomorphic to $N$ which properly holomorphically embeds in $\mathbb{C}^2.$ Furthermore, $M$ can be chosen with hyperbolic conformal type. In particular, any open orientable surface admits a complex structure properly holomorphically embedding into $\mathbb{C}^2.$
