On the classification of constant mean curvature tori (Q1824878)

The study of constant mean curvature (cmc) surfaces without umbilic points in 3-space is reduced to solving the Gauss equation, which after suitable normalizations becomes the elliptic sinh-Gordon equation. Using infinitesimal deformations (``Jacobi fields'') the authors construct an infinite series of solutions to the linearized sinh-Gordon equation which in the torus case become linearly dependent, and therefore reduce the problem to an ODE system on a jet space. Consideration of the associated family of cmc surfaces produces an embedding of the ODE system into the Jacobian of a certain hyperelliptic Riemann surface. Here the flow becomes linear, and the question of closedness (periodicity) can be effectively solved. The dimension 6n-1 of the ODE characterizes ``type n'' solutions, and the lowest values correspond to the famous Wente and Abresch cmc tori. The paper contains comments on a computer program for the search of closed examples using Newton's method. Several pictures of new cmc tori are given.