Minimal surfaces, Hopf differentials and the Ricci condition (Q930584)

A minimal surface \(f: (M,ds^2)\to S^n\) and its \(r\)-th normal space \(N^r_p f\) are considered. The generic points, \(p\subset M\), \((\dim N^r_pf= 2)\) form an open and dense set in \(M\) and in these points one considers the \(r\)-th normal bundle \(N^rf\) with the fibre \(N^r_pf\). One denotes by \(B_r\) the \((r+1)\)-th fundamental form of \(f\); this is a symmetric \((r+ 1)\)-linear tensor from \(T_pM\) into \(N^r_pf\). The eigenspaces \(T'M\) and \(T''M\) of \(TM\otimes\mathbb{C}\) corresponding to the eigenvalues \(i\) and \(-i\) of the complex structure \(J\) are considered. The fundamental form \(B_r\) can be extended complex linearly to \(TM\otimes\mathbb{C}\) with values in \(N^rf\otimes\mathbb{C}\) and decomposed into its \((p, q)\) components, \((p+q= r+1)\), which are tensor products of \(p\) 1-forms vanishing on \(T''M\) and \(q\) 1-forms vanishing on \(T'M\). Since \(f\) is minimal surface it follows that the \((p, q)\) components of \(I_r\) vanish unless \(p= r+1\) or \(p= 0\). For a local conformal complex coordinate \(z\) on \(M\) this yields the decomposition \[ B_r= B^{(r|1,0)}_r dz^{r|1}+ B^{(0,r|1)}_r d\overline z^{r|1}= 2\text{\,Re}(B^{(r|1,0)}_r dz^{r|1}). \] The differential forms of type \((2r+ 2, 0)\), \(r= 1,2,\dots,[(n+ 1)/2]\), \[ \Phi_r= \langle B^{(r|1, 0)}_r, B^{(r|1,0)}_r\rangle\,dz^{2r|2} \] are the Hopf differentials. It is known that \(\Phi_1\), is always holomorphic. A characterization of the holomorphicity of the other of the Hopf differentials is given in: Theorem 1. Let \(f: (M, ds^2)\to S^n\) be a minimal surface. Its Hopf differentials \(B_2,B_3,\dots, B_{r+1}\) are holomorphic if and only if the higher curvature ellipses have constant excentricity up to order \(r\). Finally, one considers the \(r\)-exceptional minimal surfaces as minimal surfaces for which the Hopf differentials \(\Phi_2,\Phi_3,\dots, \Phi_{r+ 1}\) are holomorphic and one proves that \(r\)-exceptional minimal surfaces allow a multiparameter family of isometric deformations rotating the higher fundamental forms.