Semiumbilic points for minimal surfaces in Euclidean \(4\)-space

Abstract

For a minimal surface in the Euclidean 4-space, a semiumbilic point is at which its normal curvature vanishes. We prove that the semiumbilic points are isolated, if the normal curvature neither changes its sign nor vanishes identically. We also show that any entire minimal surface with flat normal bundle is an affine plane.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

References

  1. 1.

    Aiyama, R., Akutagawa, K.: Surfaces with inflection points in Euclidean 4-space, submitted (2013)

  2. 2.

    Almgren Jr., F.J.: Some interior regularity theorems for minimal surfaces and an extension of Bernstein’s theorem. Ann. Math. 84, 277–292 (1966)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. 3.

    Bombieri, E., de Giorgi, E., Giusti, E.: Minimal cones and the Bernstein problem. Invent. Math. 7, 243–268 (1969)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. 4.

    de Giorgi, E.: Una extensione del teorema di Bernstein. Ann. Scuola Norm. Sup. Pisa 19, 79–85 (1965)

    MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. 5.

    Fleming, W.H.: On the oriented Plateau problem. Rend. Circ. Mat. Palermo 11, 69–90 (1962)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  6. 6.

    Gilbarg, D., Trudinger, N.S.: Elliptic Partial Differential Equations of Second Order. 2nd edn, Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, vol. 224. Springer, Berlin (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  7. 7.

    Hildebrandt, S., Jost, J., Widman, K.-O.: Harmonic mappings and minimal submanifolds. Invent. Math. 62, 269–298 (1980)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. 8.

    Hoffman, D.A., Osserman, R.: The Gauss map of surfaces in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) and \(\mathbb{R}^4\). Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. 50, 27–56 (1985)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. 9.

    Jost, J., Xin, Y.L.: Bernstein type theorems for higher codimension. Calc. Var. Partial Differ. Equ. 9, 277–296 (1999)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. 10.

    Jost, J., Xin, Y.L.: A Bernstein type theorem for special Lagrangian graph. Calc. Var. Partial Differ. Equ. 15, 299–312 (2002)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  11. 11.

    Little, J.A.: On singularities of submanifolds of higher dimensional Euclidean spaces. Ann. Math. Pura Appl. (Ser. 4A) 83, 261–335 (1969)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  12. 12.

    Mochida, D.K.H., Romero-Fuster, M.C., Ruas, M.A.S.: The geometry of surfaces in \(4\)-space from a contact viewpoint. Geometriae Dedicata 54, 323–332 (1995)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  13. 13.

    Mochida, D.K.H., Romero-Fuster, M.C., Ruas, M.A.S.: Some global properties of surfaces in \(4\)-space, In: Proceedings of 1st International Meeting on Geometry and Topology, Braga (Portugal), Public. Centro de Mathemática de Universidade do Minho, pp. 175–183 (1998)

  14. 14.

    Moser, J.: On Harnack’s theorem for elliptic differential equations. Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 14, 577–591 (1961)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  15. 15.

    Simons, J.: Minimal varieties in Riemannian manifolds. Ann. Math. 88, 62–105 (1968)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  16. 16.

    Smoczyk, K., Wang, G., Xin, Y.L.: Bernstein type theorems with flat normal bundle. Calc. Var. Partial Differ. Equ. 26, 57–67 (2006)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  17. 17.

    Wang, M.-T.: On graphic Bernstein type results in higher codimension. Trans. Am. Math. 355, 265–271 (2003)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Reiko Aiyama.

Additional information

Kazuo Akutagawa is supported in part by the Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, No. 24654009.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aiyama, R., Akutagawa, K. Semiumbilic points for minimal surfaces in Euclidean \(4\)-space. Geom Dedicata 170, 1–7 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10711-013-9865-y

Download citation

Keywords

  • Semiumbilic points
  • Minimal surfaces in Euclidean 4-space
  • Normal curvature
  • Bernstein type theorem

Mathematics Subject Classification

  • 53A05
  • 53A10