A variational characterization of the catenoid (Q2636864)

The authors give a new variational characterization of the catenoid in terms of a class of minimal surfaces in the slab \(\Omega\) bounded by two parallel planes in \(\mathbb R^3\). Specifically, let \(A(\Omega)\) consist of the smooth minimal surfaces that can be injectively parameterized by an annulus and that span the two planes defining \(\Omega\). The authors prove that, among surfaces in \(A(\Omega)\), the least area is a attained by that piece of a catenoid obtained by rigid motions and homotheties of the maximally symmetric stable piece of the standard catenoid \(\{x_1^2 + x_2^2 = \cosh x_3 \}\). The authors' methods rely on earlier work of \textit{R. Osserman} and \textit{M. Schiffer} [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 58, 285--307 (1975; Zbl 0352.53005)]. Additionally, the authors use their techniques to give a sharp condition on the lengths of a pair of simple closed curves lying in parallel planes that must hold if there exists a connected minimal surface spanning the curves.