A very interesting problem in the classical theory of minimal surfaces consists of the classification of such surfaces under some geometrical and topological constraints. In this short paper, we give a brief summary of the known classification results for properly embedded minimal surfaces with genus zero in $\mathbb{R}^3$ or quotients of $\mathbb{R}^3$ by one or two independent translations. This does not intend to be an exhaustive review of the tools or proofs in the field, but a simple explanation of the currently known results.
In this paper, we build up a min-max theory for minimal surfaces using sweepouts of surfaces of genus $g\geq 1$ and $m\geq 1$ ideal boundary components. We show that the width for the area functional can be achieved by a bubble tree limit consisting of branched genus $g$ free boundary minimal surfaces with nodes, and possibly finitely many branched minimal spheres and free boundary minimal disks.
We prove that for each positive integer g, there exists a complete minimal surface of genus g that is properly embedded in three-dimensional euclidean space and that is asymptotic to the helicoid.
We employ min-max techniques to show that the unit ball in $\mathbb{R}^3$ contains embedded free boundary minimal surfaces with connected boundary and arbitrary genus.
We construct higher genus Riemann's minimal surfaces properly embedded in the Euclidean space. To do that we glue end by end a Costa-Hoffman-Meeks examples to two halves genus zero Riemann's minimal surfaces. In first we need to perform a deformation of a Costa-Hoffman-Meeks example to prescribe the flux vector along the catenoidal ends. Then we study the mapping property of the Jacobi operator on the half Riemann example as a perturbation analysis of a CMC-Delaunay half cylinder.
We construct Weierstrass data for higher genus embedded doubly periodic minimal surfaces and present numerical evidence that the associated period problem can be solved. In the orthogonal ends case, there previously was only one known surface for each genus. We illustrate multiple new examples for each genus g>2. In the parallel ends case, the known examples limit as a foliation of parallel planes with nodes. We construct a new example for each genus g>2 that limit as g-1 singly periodic Scherk surfaces glued between two doubly periodic Scherk surfaces and also as a singly periodic surface wit…
Let M be a 3-manifold (possibly with boundary). We show that, for any positive integer g, there exists an open nonempty set of metrics on M for each of which there are stable compact embedded minimal surfaces of genus g with arbitrarily large area. This extends the result of Colding and Minicozzi for g=1.
In this paper we construct an example of a complete immersed minimal surface in $\mathbb{R}^3$ of genus one with two embedded catenoid-type ends, one Enneper-type end and total Gauss curvature $-16π.$ The proof of the existence of this example, was obtained using the Weierstrass representation, the theory of elliptic functions and explicitly solving the period problem.
The Weierstrass representation for minimal surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$ provides a flexible method for constructing minimal surfaces of arbitrary genus. The topological limitations of minimal surfaces interfere with this providing a more general geometric modeling tool. Minimal surfaces lie in the larger class of harmonic surfaces, which in general don't have the same topological limitations of minimal surfaces and can have complicated embedded ends. In this paper we demonstrate the flexibility of using the Weierstrass representation for harmonic surfaces to combine embedded harmonic ends togeth…
For every genus $g$, we prove that $S^2 \times R$ contains complete, properly embedded, genus-$g$ minimal surfaces whose two ends are asymptotic to helicoids of any prescribed pitch. We also show that as the radius of the $S^2$ tends to infinity, these examples converge smoothly to complete, properly embedded minimal surfaces in $R^3$ that are helicoidal at infinity. We prove that helicoidal surfaces in $R^3$ of every prescribed genus occur as such limits of examples in $S^2\times R$.
In this paper, we build up a min-max theory for minimal surfaces using sweepouts of surfaces of genus $g\geq 2$. We develop a direct variational methods similar to the proof of the famous Plateau problem by J. Douglas and T. Rado. As a result, we show that the min-max value for the area functional can be achieved by a bubble tree limit consisting of branched genus-$g$ minimal surfaces with nodes, and possibly finitely many branched minimal spheres. We also prove a Colding-Minicozzi type strong convergence theorem similar to the classical mountain pass lemma. Our results extend the min-max theo…
We prove that the area of each nonflat genus zero free boundary minimal surface embedded in the unit $3$-ball is less than the area of its radial projection to $\mathbb{S}^2$. The inequality is asymptotically sharp, and we prove any sequence of surfaces saturating it converges weakly to $\mathbb{S}^2$, as currents and as varifolds.
A correspondence is established between a class of minimal immersed surfaces of $\mathbb{S}^3(2)$ and area-minimizing unit vector fields defined on the antipodally punctured unit sphere $\mathbb{S}^2\backslash\{N,S\}$. As a consequence, we establish a stability relation for Lawson cylinders in $\mathbb{S}^3(2)$.
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.
For each $k\geq 3$, we construct a 1-parameter family of complete properly Alexandrov-embedded minimal surfaces in the Riemannian product space $\mathbb{H}^2\times\mathbb{R}$ with genus $1$ and $k$ embedded ends asymptotic to vertical planes. We also obtain complete minimal surfaces with genus $1$ and $2k$ ends in the quotient of $\mathbb{H}^2\times\mathbb{R}$ by an arbitrary vertical translation. They all have dihedral symmetry with respect to $k$ vertical planes, as well as finite total curvature $-4kπ$. Finally, we also provide examples of complete properly Alexandrov-embedded minimal surfa…
We add two new 1-parameter families to the short list of known embedded triply periodic minimal surfaces of genus 4 in $\mathbb{R}^3$. Both surfaces can be tiled by minimal pentagons with two straight segments and three planar symmetry curves as boundary. In one case (which has the appearance of the CLP surface of Schwarz with an added handle) the two straight segments are parallel, while they are orthogonal in the second case. The second family has as one limit the Costa surface, showing that this limit can occur for triply periodic minimal surfaces. For the existence proof we solve the 1-dim…
We investigate the Lawson genus $2$ surface by methods from integrable system theory. We prove that the associated family of flat connections comes from a family of flat connections on a $4-$punctured sphere. We describe the symmetries of the holonomy and show that it is already determined by the holonomy around one of the punctures. We show the existence of a meromorphic DPW potential for the Lawson surface which is globally defined on the surface. We determine this potential explicitly up to two unknown functions depending only on the spectral parameter.
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.
We prove optimal genus bounds for minimal surfaces arising from the min-max construction of Simon-Smith. This confirms a conjecture made by Pitts-Rubinstein in 1986.
We use Colding--Minicozzi lamination theory to study the systole of large genus minimal surfaces in an ambient three-manifold of positive Ricci curvature.
Minimal tori that are linearly full in the 3-sphere possess a natural invariant g called their spectral genus, which was introduced by Hitchin. We show that for each g>0, there are countably many real g-dimensional families of minimally immersed tori with spectral genus g (two of these dimensions are just reparametrisations of the torus). Each family maps from a fixed torus of rectangular conformal type.
For fixed large genus, we construct families of complete immersed minimal surfaces in R3 with four ends and dihedral symmetries. The families exist for all large genus and at an appropriate scale degenerate to the plane.
In this paper, we discuss complete minimal immersions in $\mathbb{R}^N$($N\geq4$) with finite total curvature and embedded planar ends. First, we prove nonexistence for the following cases: (1) genus 1 with 2 embedded planar ends, (2) genus $\neq4$, hyperelliptic with 2 embedded planar ends like the Lagrangian catenoid. Then we show the existence of embedded minimal spheres in $\mathbb{R}^4$ with 3 embedded planar ends. Moreover, we construct genus $g$ examples in $\mathbb{R}^4$ with $d$ embedded planar ends such that $g\geq 1$ and $g+2\leq d\leq 2g+1$. These examples include a family of embed…
We construct new examples of immersed minimal surfaces with catenoid ends and finite total curvature, of both genus zero and higher genus. In the genus zero case, we classify all such surfaces with at most $2n+1$ ends, and with symmetry group the natural $\bfZ_2$ extension of the dihedral group $D_n$. The surfaces are constructed by proving existence of the conjugate surfaces. We extend this method to cases where the conjugate surface of the fundamental piece is noncompact and is not a graph over a convex plane domain.
In 1841, Delaunay constructed the embedded surfaces of revolution with constant mean curvature (CMC); these unduloids have genus zero and are now known to be the only embedded CMC surfaces with two ends and finite genus. Here, we construct the complete family of embedded CMC surfaces with three ends and genus zero; they are classified using their asymptotic necksizes. We work in a class slightly more general than embedded surfaces, namely immersed surfaces which bound an immersed three-manifold, as introduced by Alexandrov.
For Finsler metrics (no reversibility assumed) on closed orientable surfaces of genus greater than one, we study the dynamics of minimal rays and minimal geodesics in the universal cover. We prove in particular, that for almost all asymptotic directions the minimal rays with these directions laminate the universal cover and that the Busemann functions with these directions are unique up to adding constants. Moreover, using a kind of weak KAM theory, we show that for almost all types of minimal geodesics in the sense of Morse, there is precisely one minimal geodesic of this type.
In this paper, we study Alexandrov-embedded r-noids with genus 1 and horizontal ends. Such minimal surfaces are of two types and we build several examples of the first one. We prove that if a polygon bounds an immersed polygonal disk, it is the flux polygon of an r-noid with genus 1 of the first type. We also study the case of polygons which are invariant under a rotation. The construction of these surfaces is based on the resolution of the Dirichlet problem for the minimal surface equation on an unbounded domain.
In this paper, we use the conjugate surface construction to prove the existence of certain non-periodic symmetric immersed minimal surfaces. These surfaces have finite total curvature and embedded catenoid ends, and they have positive genus yet maintain the symmetry of their genus-zero counterparts constructed by Jorge-Meeks and Xu.
In 1988, Karcher generalized the family of singly periodic Scherk minimal surfaces by constructing, for each natural $n\geq 2$, a $(2n-3)$-parameter family of singly periodic minimal surfaces with genus zero and $2n$ Scherk-type ends in the quotient, called {\it saddle towers}. They have been recently classified by Pérez and Traizet \cite{PeTra1} as the only properly embedded singly periodic minimal surfaces in $\R^3$ with genus zero and finitely many Scherk-type ends in the quotient. In this paper we obtain as a limit of saddle towers: the catenoid; the doubly periodic Scherk minimal surface …
This paper is the first in a series where we attempt to give a complete description of the space of all embedded minimal surfaces of fixed genus in a fixed (but arbitrary) closed Riemannian 3-manifold. The key for understanding such surfaces is to understand the local structure in a ball and in particular the structure of an embedded minimal disk in a ball in $\RR^3$ (with the flat metric).
This paper is the fourth in a series where we describe the space of all embedded minimal surfaces of fixed genus in a fixed (but arbitrary) closed 3-manifold. The key is to understand the structure of an embedded minimal disk in a ball in $\RR^3$. This was undertaken in [CM3], [CM4] and the global version of it will be completed here; see [CM15] for discussion of the local case and [CM13], [CM14] where we have surveyed our results about embedded minimal disks.
Minimal and CMC surfaces in $S^3$ can be treated via their associated family of flat $\SL(2,\C)$-connections. In this the paper we parametrize the moduli space of flat $\SL(2,\C)$-connections on the Lawson minimal surface of genus 2 which are equivariant with respect to certain symmetries of Lawson's geometric construction. The parametrization uses Hitchin's abelianization procedure to write such connections explicitly in terms of flat line bundles on a complex 1-dimensional torus. This description is used to develop a spectral curve theory for the Lawson surface. This theory applies as well t…
For each integer $g\geq 1$ we use variational methods to construct in the unit $3$-ball $B$ a free boundary minimal surface $Σ_g$ of symmetry group $\mathbb{D}_{g+1}$. For $g$ large, $Σ_g$ has three boundary components and genus $g$. As $g\rightarrow\infty$ the surfaces $Σ_g$ converge as varifolds to the union of the disk and critical catenoid. These examples are the first with genus greater than $1$ and were conjectured to exist by Fraser-Schoen. We also construct several new free boundary minimal surfaces in $B$ with the symmetry groups of the cube, tetrahedron and dodecahedron. Finally, we …
We consider any Finsler metric on a closed, orientable surface of genus greater than one. H. M. Morse proved that we can associate an asymptotic direction to minimal rays in the universal cover (in the Poincaré disc: a point on the unit circle). We prove here that, if two minimal rays have a common asymptotic direction, which is not a fixed point of the group of deck transformations, then the two rays can intersect at most in a common initial point. This has strong consequences for the structure of the set of minimal geodesics, as well as for the set of Busemann functions associated to the Fin…
In this article, we prove that if $(M,g)$ is a genus $G$ orientable surface with a single boundary component $S^1$, and if $(D,g_0)$ is a disc such that interior points are connected by unique geodesics and $$d_{(D,g_0)}(x,y) \geq d_{(M,g)}(x,y)$$ for all $x,y \in \partial M = \partial D$, then $$(1 + \frac{2 G}π) \textrm{Area}(M,g) \geq \textrm{Area}(D,g_0).$$
This paper is the fifth and final in a series on embedded minimal surfaces. Following our earlier papers on disks, we prove here two main structure theorems for non-simply connected embedded minimal surfaces of any given fixed genus. The first of these asserts that any such surface without small necks can be obtained by gluing together two oppositely--oriented double spiral staircases. The second gives a pair of pants decomposition of any such surface when there are small necks, cutting the surface along a collection of short curves. After the cutting, we are left with graphical pieces that ar…
This paper is the second in a series where we attempt to give a complete description of the space of all embedded minimal surfaces of fixed genus in a fixed (but arbitrary) closed 3-manifold. The key for understanding such surfaces is to understand the local structure in a ball and in particular the structure of an embedded minimal disk in a ball in $\RR^3$. We show here that if the curvature of such a disk becomes large at some point, then it contains an almost flat multi-valued graph nearby that continues almost all the way to the boundary.
We consider compact minimal surfaces $f\colon M\to S^3$ of genus 2 which are homotopic to an embedding. We assume that the associated holomorphic bundle is stable. We prove that these surfaces can be constructed from a globally defined family of meromorphic connections by the DPW method. The poles of the meromorphic connections are at the Weierstrass points of the Riemann surface of order at most 2. For the existence proof of the DPW potential we give a characterization of stable extensions $0\to S^{-1}\to V\to S\to 0$ of spin bundles $S$ by its dual $S^{-1}$ in terms of an associated element …
This paper is the third in a series where we describe the space of all embedded minimal surfaces of fixed genus in a fixed (but arbitrary) closed 3-manifold. In [CM3]-[CM5] we describe the case where the surfaces are topologically disks on any fixed small scale. To describe general planar domains (in [CM6]) we need in addition to the results of [CM3]-[CM5] a key estimate for embedded stable annuli which is the main result of this paper. This estimate asserts that such an annulus is a graph away from its boundary if it has only one interior boundary component and if this component lies in a sma…
In this paper we prove genus bounds for closed embedded minimal surfaces in a closed 3-dimensional manifold constructed via min-max arguments. A stronger estimate was announced by Pitts and Rubistein but to our knowledge its proof has never been published. Our proof follows ideas of Simon and uses an extension of a famous result of Meeks, Simon and Yau on the convergence of minimizing sequences of isotopic surfaces. This result is proved in the second part of the paper.
For each end of complete minimal surface in the Euclidean 3-space, the flux vector is defined. It is well-known that the sum of the flux vector over all ends are zero. Consider the following inverse problem: For each balanced n-vectors, find an n-end catenoid which realizes these vectors as flux. Here, an n-end catenoid is a complete minimal surface of genus zero with ends asymptotic to the catenoids. In this paper, we show that the inverse problem can be solved for almost all balanced n vectors for arbitrary n, which is grater than 4. The assumption "almost all" is needed because nonexistence…
