Associate and conjugate minimal immersions in \(M \times R\) (Q940732)

In Euclidean space there exists an \(1\)-parameter family of minimal isometric surfaces connecting the catenoid and the helicoid and the same property does hold for any two conformal isometric minimal surfaces in a space form. In this paper the authors discuss the same phenomenon in the product space \(M \times {\mathbb R}\), where \(M\) is a two-dimensional Riemann surface and prove some existence and uniqueness results for conformal isometric minimal immersions in case \(M = {\mathbb H}^2\), the hyperbolic plane and \(M = S^2\), the sphere. Let \(z = x+iy\) be conformal coordinates on \(M\) and let \(\sigma^2 |dz|^2\) be the metric on \(M\). Let \(\Omega \subset {\mathbb C}\) be a simply connected domain of the plane with a conformal metric \(\lambda^2(w)|dw|^2, w = u+iv \in \Omega\). It is well-known that if \(X: \Omega \to M\times {\mathbb R}, w \to (h(w), f(w))\) is a conformal minimal immersion, then \(h: \Omega \to (M, \sigma^2 |dz|^2)\) is a harmonic map and so we can consider the Hopf quadratic differential \(Q(h)\) defined by \(Q(h) = (\sigma \circ h)^2 h_w \bar{h}_{\bar w} (dw)^2\). Assume that \(\Omega\subset {\mathbb C}\) is a simply connected open subset and \(M = {\mathbb R}^2, {\mathbb H}^2\) or \(S^2\). One of main results is that the conformal metric and the Hopf differential determine a minimal conformal immersion up to an isometry of \(M\times {\mathbb R}\). Namely, the authors show that if the Hopf differential coincide for two conformal minimal immersions \(X, X^* : \Omega \to M\times {\mathbb R}\) which are isometric, then \(X\) and \(X^*\) are congruent, that is, \(X^*\) differs from \(X\) by an isometry. In case that the Hopf differential \(Q(h)\) has zeros (if any) of even order, the authors prove that there exists a conformal minimal immersion \(X: \Omega \to M\times {\mathbb R}\) with respect to the metrics \(\lambda^2(w)|dw|^2\) and \(\sigma^2 |dz|^2 + dt^2\) if and only if \(\lambda\) satisfies \(\lambda^2 - 4|\phi| \geq 0\) and \(\Delta_0 \omega = -2K_M \sinh 2\omega |\phi|\) in which \(\phi\neq 0\), where \(\phi = (\sigma \circ h)^2 h_w \bar{h}_{\bar w}\), \(K_M\) is the (constant) Gaussian curvature of \(M\), \(\Delta_0\) is the Euclidean Laplacian and \[ \omega:= \log\frac{\lambda +\sqrt{\lambda^2 - 4|\phi|}}{2}- \frac{1}{2}\log|\phi|. \] On the other hand, the authors obtain that if \(X = (h,f): \Omega \to M\times{\mathbb R}\) is a conformal minimal immersion, then for any \(\theta \in {\mathbb R}\) there exists a \(\theta\)-associate immersion \(X_\theta = (h_\theta, f_\theta): \Omega \to M\times{\mathbb R}\) which is unique up to isometries of \(M\times {\mathbb R}\). Here two conformal minimal immersions \(X= (h,f)\) and \((X^* = (h^*, f^*)\) are said to be \(\theta\)-associate if they are isometric and \(Q(h^*) = e^{2i\theta}Q(h)\). In particular if \(\theta = \pi/2\), \(X\) and \(X^*\) are said to be conjugate. The second main result in this paper is the generalization of Krust's theorem for vertical graphs and a family of associate surfaces. Let \(U \subset M\) be an open subset and \(f(z)\) a smooth function on \(U\). We say that \(F\) is a vertical graph in \(M \times {\mathbb R}\) if \(F = \{(z, t)\in M\times {\mathbb R}\,:\, t = f(z), z \in U\,\}\). The authors prove that if \(X(\Omega)\) is a vertical minimal graph on a convex domain \(h(\Omega)\) in \(M\), then the associate surface \(X_\theta(\Omega)\) is a graph provided that \(K_M \leq 0\). When \(K_M =0\), this is a result of Krust. Finally, the authors constructed two conformal minimal immersions \(X, Y: D \to {\mathbb H}^2 \times {\mathbb R}\) from the unit disk \(D\) which are isometric to each other, but not associate.