Gauss map, topology, and convexity of hypersurfaces with nonvanishing curvature (Q5952746)

The author proves several theorems on immersed hypersurfaces in Euclidean space with non-vanishing Gauß-Kronecker curvature \(K\), i.e., with nondegenerate second fundamental form. If \(M\subset\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\) is an immersed compact connected orientable minimal hypersurface with \(K\neq 0\), such that each boundary component lies in a hypersurface and is convex, then it is shown that \(M\) is diffeomorphic to its spherical image by the Gauß map. This is related to Meeks's conjecture [\textit{W. H. Meeks III} and \textit{B. White}, Bull. Am. Math. Soc., New Ser. 24, No. 1, 179-184 (1991; Zbl 0752.53007)]. In fact, a counterexample to Meeks's conjecture must have points with \(K=0\). Let \(M\subset\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\) be an immersed compact connected hypersurface with \(K\neq 0\) such that \(\partial M\) lies in a hyperplane and either \(n>2\) or each component of \(\partial M\) in embedded. Then the author proves that \(M\) is convex. In particular, \(M\) is embedded and homeomorphic to a disk. The central step in the proof of these results is the following lemma, which is interesting in its own right. If a compact \(n\)-dimensional topological manifold is immersed into \(S^n\) by a continuous map \(f\) that is injective on each boundary component, then \(f\) is a topological embedding. In the cases above, the map \(f\) is the Gauß map of the immersed hypersurface.