An index characterization of the catenoid and index bounds for minimal surfaces in \(R^ 4\) (Q1819443)

The index of a minimal surface is defined to be the number of negative eigenvalues of the operator corresponding to the second variation of area. For noncompact surfaces \(M\), the index is defined as the limit of the indices of an exhausting sequence of compact domains in \(M\). The authors characterize the catenoid as the only complete oriented minimal surface in \(R^3\) of index one with embedded ends. Moreover, in terms of the total curvature of the surface, they also obtain upper bounds for the index of minimal surfaces in \(R^4\).