The conformal Gauss map and the stability of Willmore surfaces (Q1179982)

Using pentaspherical coordinates the author examines the second variation of the Willmore-functional of an immersed surface in \(S^ 3\), to that the Willmore-functional arises as an area-integral of the conformal Gauß map: at the level of the Euler-Lagrange equations ``this process is a type of reduction of order at the expense of increased codimension''. But for studying the stability of Willmore-surfaces it is not sufficient to study the variation of this area-integral, as the example of the Clifford-torus shows. In the case of an umbilic-free Willmore-surface \(x(M)\subset S^ 3\), that is in the case, that the conformal Gauß map \(Y: M\to S^ 4_ 1\) is an immersion, the author gives a necessary and sufficient condition, that to a given normal vectorfield of the minimal surface \(Y(M)\subset S^ 4_ 1\) there exists a variation \(Y_ \varepsilon\) of Y through conformal Gauß maps (Prop. 3.3). With this the author is able to give a necessary condition for an umbilic free Willmore-surface to be stable (Th. 3.4) and a sufficient condition for an umbilic free, not isothermic Willmore-surface to be unstable (Th. 3.5). An example is given.