Symmetric minimal surfaces in \(\mathbb{R}^ 3\) (Q1918398)

By a result of Choi, Meeks, and White, any intrinsic isometry of a complement minimal surface in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) which has a catenoid type end extends as a rigid motion of \(\mathbb{R}^3\), i.e., the symmetry group of such a surface is a subgroup of the isometry group of the ambient space. In the present paper, the author investigates which subgroups can be realized this way. Restricting himself to orientation preserving symmetries, he proves the remarkable result that any closed subgroup of SO(3) not equal to SO(2) or SO(3) occurs as the symmetry group of a complete genus zero finite total curvature minimal surface with embedded ends. (It is known that SO(2) and SO(3) are not possible.) The proof is by explicit construction, i.e., for all groups in question (the cyclic, dihedral, tetrahedral, octahedral and icosahedral groups) a corresponding minimal surface having this group as symmetry group is exhibited. The construction is based on a ``spinor-like'' reformulation of the classical Weierstrass representation formulas. The cases of the dihedral, the cyclic group of order 2 and the trivial group have been solved previously.