Complete minimal surfaces in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) (Q1970324)

The authors review some topics on the theory of complete minimal surfaces in \(\mathbb{R}^3\). These topics include the construction of minimal surfaces with polygonal boundary, solutions of the problem how many exceptional points the Gauss map of a complete minimal surface in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) may possess, an existence theorem for complete minimal surfaces with bounded coordinate functions, uniqueness results for complete minimal surfaces with restricted finite total curvature, and a lot of examples of minimal surfaces with their images. The last section of the paper is devoted to investigations of the problem which properly embedded surfaces are unique under certain conditions involving the number of ends, the genus and the symmetries of the surface. In many cases, the proofs of the results are included. For these reasons, the paper is very useful for studying the modern theory of minimal surfaces.