Deformations and moduli of superminimal surfaces in the four-sphere (Q1381943)

The author derives an expression for the second variation of area of a superminimal immersion \(f: \Sigma^2\to S^4\) and the corresponding Jacobi operator. Then the author shows that the only minimal deformations of the given immersion are superminimal deformations with the implication that the superminimal immersions form an open component of the moduli space of minimal immersions.