Uniqueness of the catenoid and the Delaunay surface via a one-parameter family of touching spheres (Q2691550)

The catenoid is the simplest minimal surface in \(R^3\) besides the plane which was discovered by Euler who proved that rotating the catenary about an axix produces a surface of smallest area. Delaunay discovered the classical examples of constant mean curvature surfaces of revolution whose generating curves are the traces of the focus of a conic that rolls on a given axis. In this paper, a new characterization of the catenoid and the Delaunay surface among constant mean curvatur surfaces touching a one-parameter family of spheres along arcs is given. In particular the following question is stated: Suppose \(S\) is a minimal surface in \(R^3\) and there is a one-parameter family of spheres such that the surface meets each sphere tangentially along an arc. Is the surface part of a catanoid or more generally if it is a constant mean curvature surface in \(R^3\), is it part of a Delaunay surface? The paper answers this in the affirmative for constant mean curvature surfaces touching a one-parameter family of moving spheres along arcs. The paper also proves a higher-dimensional analogue for constant mean curvature hypersurfaces touching a one-parameter family of hyperspheres in a Euclidean space, which can be regarded as a generalization of this. It is written well and ends with a comprehensive list of 44 references.