Lorentz hypersurfaces in pseudo-Euclidean space \(E_1^5\) (Q2212686)

The authors prove that, given a Lorentz hypersurface \(M_1^4\) in \(E_1^5\) with non-diagonal shape operator, satisfying \(\Delta\vec{H}=\alpha\vec{H}\) (\(\alpha\) a constant), then \(M_1^4\) has constant mean curvature. The problem is a kind of generalization of the well-known Chen conjecture, stating that the only biharmonic submanifolds of Euclidean spaces are the minimal ones. The result generalizes various similar results of other authors as described in the introduction. The shape operator of \(M_1^4\) is not always diagonalizable, so one needs to investigate all possible canonical forms. Then the task is to simplify the connection forms via a sequence of succesive differentiations, which in some cases turns out to be quite complicated.