Hartman-Wintner's theorem and its applications (Q663339)

In the study of the local structure of a special Weingarten surface, a surface with constant anisotropic mean curvature and a Willmore surface, a theorem of Hartman-Wintner plays an important role. It enables us to find a nonzero homogeneous polynomial approximate to the difference of two solutions of an elliptic partial differential equation of second order. In this survey article, the author gives a well-organized explanation of the roles of Hartman-Wintner's theorem on these surfaces. First, he presents a simple proof for a result due to \textit{P. Hartman} and \textit{A. Wintner} [Am. J. Math. 76, 502--508 (1954; Zbl 0055.39601)]. Hartman-Wintner's theorem states that if \(S\) is a connected, special Weingarten surface in three-dimensional Euclidean space which is not totally umbilical, then any umbilical point of \(S\) is isolated and its index is negative. Secondly, the author explains the same property for a connected surface with constant anisotropic mean curvature which is due to \textit{M. Koiso} and \textit{B. Palmer} [Indiana Univ. Math. J. 59, No.~1, 79--90 (2010; Zbl 1209.53050)]. Finally, the author gives a proof for his result on a Willmore surface which states that if \(S\) is a Willmore surface in three-dimensional Euclidean space, the index of an isolated umbilical point does not exceed \(\frac{1}{2}\).