Numerically computing the index of mean curvature flow self-shrinkers (Q2072202)

Mean curvature flow is a geometric evolution equation for surfaces \(\Sigma \subset \mathbb{R}^3,\) under which each point \(x \in \Sigma\) moves in the inward normal direction proportionally to the mean curvature of \(\Sigma\) at \(x.\) Surfaces that evolve by mean curvature flow develop singularities. These singularities can be modeled by self-shrinkers, surfaces that shrink by dilations under the flow. In this paper, the author presents a numerical method for computing the index of rotationally symmetric self-shrinkers. He applies the method to the Angenent torus, the first known nontrivial example of a self-shrinker. He also obtains numerical evidence that, excluding dilations and translations, the index of the Angenent torus is 5, which is consistent with estimates obtained in previous works.