Hamiltonian minimality and Hamiltonian stability of Gauss maps (Q1360119)

A Lagrangian submanifold in \({\mathbb{C}}^n\) (or more generally on Einstein-Kähler manifolds) is called Hamiltonian-minimal if it is a critical point of the volume functional restricted to the set of Hamiltonian variations [\textit{Y.-G. Oh}, Invent. Math. 101, 501-519 (1990; Zbl 0721.53060)]. The standard tori \(S^1(r_1) \times S^2(r_2) \times \cdots \times S^n(r_n)\) in \({\mathbb{C}}^n\) are examples of Hamiltonian-minimal (embedded) Lagrangian submanifolds, which are Hamiltonian stable [\textit{Y.-G. Oh}, Math. Z. 212, 175-192 (1993; Zbl 0791.53050)]. The author shows that these concepts are ideally suited for studying the Gauss map of an oriented hypersurface \(M^n\) of \(S^{n+1} \subset E^{n+2}\). The Gauss map, taking values in the Grassmannian \(G_{2, n+2}\), is always Lagrangian and its Hamiltonian deformations are exactly those through Gauss maps. Some topological restrictions on surfaces in \(S^3\) with Hamiltonian-minimal Gauss map are derived from a homotopy invariant of the Gauss map, which the author calls the Maslov class. This class can be defined for any Lagrangian immersion in an Einstein-Kähler manifold (\(G_{2,n+2}\) is well-known to be Einstein-Kähler and biholomorphic to the complex quadratic in \({\mathbb{C}}P^{n+1}\)). The author also shows that the Gauss map of any isoparametric hypersurface is minimal and that this map is Hamiltonian-stable if and only if the hypersurface is a hypersphere.