Minimal hypersurfaces with finite index (Q1599947)

The main result of this paper is the following: Let \(M=M^n\) be a complete immersed oriented minimal hypersurface in \({\mathbb R}^{n+1}\) with \(n \geq 3\). Suppose \(M\) has finite index. Then \(M\) must have finite first \(L^2\)-Betti number, i.e. \(\dim H^1(L^2(M)) < \infty\). In particular, \(M\) must have finitely many ends. As former works in this direction, one can refer to \textit{R. Gulliver} [Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 44, 207-211 (1986; Zbl 0592.53006)] and \textit{D. Fischer-Colbrie} [Invent. Math. 82, 121-132 (1985; Zbl 0573.53038)]. In fact, they obtained more stringent results for \(n=2\). Gulliver proved that if a complete immersed minimal surface in \({\mathbb R}^3\) has finite index, then it must be conformally equivalent to a compact Riemann surface with finitely many punctures. Fischer-Colbrie proved the same result for minimal surfaces in any complete three-dimensional manifold with non-negative scalar curvature. The essence of the proof of the main result is as follows: By assumption, there exists a compact subset \(\Omega \subset M\) such that \(M \setminus \Omega\) is stable. Now, by using a refinement of the argument of \textit{R. Schoen} and \textit{S.-T. Yau} [Comment. Math. Helv. 51, 333-341 (1976; Zbl 0361.53040)], the authors prove \(\dim H^1(L^2(M)) < \infty\), which implies that the dimension of the space \({\mathcal H}^o_D(M)\) of bounded h armonic functions with finite Dirichlet integral is finite. On the other hand, a modification of the method of \textit{H.-D. Cao}, \textit{Y. Shen} and \textit{S. Zhu} [Math. Res. Lett. 4, 637-644 (1997; Zbl 0906.53004)] shows that each end of \(M\) must be non-parabolic. Now, the fact that the number of non-parabolic ends of any complete Riemannian manifold is bound from above by the dimension of \({\mathcal H}^o_D(M)\) [\textit{P. Li} and \textit{L. F. Tam}, J. Differ. Geom. 35, 359-383 (1992; Zbl 0768.53018)] implies the main result. The authors pose a problem of estimating the number of ends by the index directly.