A variational characterization of \(J\)-holomorphic curves (Q895885)

Complex submanifolds of Kähler manifolds are known to minimize the volume in their homology classes. Conversely, in some situations, for instance in \(\mathbb{CP}^n\) (a result of Lawson-Simons) a stable minimal surface is holomorphic. Akin to this, it is natural to ask what can be said about \(J\)-holomorphicity of ``minimal'' surfaces (appropriately defined) of symplectic manifolds. This paper answers this question. Firstly, it is not even clear that an \textit{arbitrary} deformation of the ambient metric gives rise to a ``good'' notion of a minimal surface. Hence, in Definition 1.1 only variations of the metric induced by special variations of the symplectic form are considered. In Definition 1.4, stable and compatible stable points of the area functional are defined. Several theorems are proven. In particular, Theorems 3.2 and 3.3, dealing with compact and non-compact symplectic manifolds respectively, prove that compatible stable points are J-holomorphic curves. The other theorems (4.2, 5.2, and 6.2) deal with refined results of Lawson-Simons type for algebraic manifolds.