Morse-Conley theory for minimal surfaces of varying topological type (Q808051)

The authors develop a Morse theory for minimal surfaces with several boundary curves and distinguished points and of higher genus. To this aim the Riemann surface theory is reformulated in a variational manner. Then it is applied the Benci's version of Morse-Conley theory to a suitable functional derived from the Dirichlet integral in the \(H^{1,2}\)- topology. Appropriate versions of Palais-Smale condition, equivariant deformation theorem and minimax results are obtained. Finally, one deduces properties of the solution set of the generalized Plateau's problem. The basic hypothesis is here the non-degeneracy of minimal surfaces as critical points.