The space of embedded minimal surfaces of fixed genus in a 3-manifold. II: Multi-valued graphs in disks (Q1769553)

This important paper is the second in a series where authors give a description of the space of all embedded minimal surfaces of fixed genus in a closed Riemannian 3-manifold. The key for understanding such surfaces is to understand the local structure in a ball and in particular the structure of an embedded minimal disk in a ball in \(\mathbb{R}^3\). The authors prove here that if the curvature of such a disk becomes large at some point, then it contains an almost flat multi-valued graph nearby that continues almost all the way to the boundary. This is proven by showing the existence of small multi-valued graphs near points of large curvature and then using the extension result for multi-valued graphs, proven in the first paper in this series (see [Ann. Math. (2) 160, No.1, 27--68 (2004; Zbl 1070.53031)]).