Finite topology self-translating surfaces for the mean curvature flow in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) (Q2411341)

The mean curvature flow (MCF) is one of the most important examples of parabolic geometric evolution of manifolds. It is given by the equation \[ \frac{\partial Y}{\partial t}=H_{S(t)}(Y)\nu(Y), \] where \(Y(\cdot,t):S(0)\to S(t)\subset\mathbb R^{n+1}\), \(t>0\), is a smooth family of diffeomorphisms for a family of orientable, embedded hypersurfaces \(S(t)\) in the Euclidean \((n+1)\)-space, \(H_{S(t)}\) denotes the mean curvature of the hypersurface \(S(t)\) at the point \(Y(y,t)\), \(y\in S(0)\), and \(\nu\) is a choice of unit normal vector. The singularity of a solution to the MCF is called ``type I'', if the curvatures grow not faster than \((T-t)^{-\frac{1}{2}}\), where \(T\) is a time when a singularity appears. On the other hand, the singularity of a solution to the MCF is called ``type II'', if it is not type I. In that case, a suitable normalization can lead in the limit to an eternal solution to the MCF, which is defined for all time \(t\in(-\infty,\infty)\). The simplest examples of eternal solutions are the self-translating solitons, which do not change shape and travel at constant speed in some specific direction. In spite of their importance in the MFC theory, relatively few examples of self-translating solitons are known, and a theory for their understanding, even in special classes is still far from achieved. In this paper, the authors construct new examples of self-translating surfaces for the MCF with finite topology in \(\mathbb R^3\), which are orientable, embedded, complete, and with three ends asymptotically paraboloidal. Their examples are homeomorphic to a Costa-Hoffman-Meeks minimal surface with large genus, whose ends behave like those of a traveling catenoid and a traveling paraboloid.