Almost complex surfaces in the nearly Kähler \(S^3\times S^3\) (Q2346197)

The authors study the homogeneous nearly Kähler structure on \[ S^3\times S^3= (\mathrm{SU}(2)\times \mathrm{SU}(2)\times \mathrm{SU}(2))/\mathrm{SU}(2) \] introduced by \textit{J.-B. Butruille} [in: Handbook of pseudo-Riemannian geometry and supersymmetry. Papers based on the 77th meeting ``Encounter between mathematicians and theoretical physicists'', Strasbourg, 2005. Zürich: European Mathematical Society. 399--423 (2010; Zbl 1201.53059)]. The same space occurs as the equilibrium set \(|q_1|=|q_2|=|q_3|\) of homogeneous coordinates in the quaternionic projective plane (like the hexagonal 2-torus in the complex projective plane). They classify the almost complex (real 2-dimensional) surfaces in this nearly Kähler \(S^3\times S^3\). It turns out that topological 2-spheres of this kind are totally geodesic. There are two key examples: a sphere and a torus, both with parallel second fundamental form. The equations have a relation with the equations for constant mean curvature surfaces.