S URFACES OF C ONSTANT M EAN C URVATURE

C ARL J OHAN L EJDFORS

Masters thesis 2003:E11

CENTRUM SCIENTIARUM MATHEMATICARUM

Centre for Mathematical Sciences Mathematics

Abstract The aim of this Masters dissertation is to give a survey of some basic results regarding surfaces of constant mean curvature (CMC) in 3 . Such surfaces are often called soap bubbles since a soap lm in equilibrium between two regions is characterized by having constant mean curvature. The surface area of these surfaces is critical under volume-preserving deformations. CMC surfaces may also be characterized by the fact that their Gauss map N: S 2 is harmonic i.e. it satises

where (N ) is the tension eld of N , generalizing the classical Laplacian. This is a non-linear system of partial differential equations. It was proved in the 1990s that this system has global solutions on compact surfaces of any genus g 0. In this dissertation we study necessary and sufcient conditions for a surface to have CMC. We study the minimal case (characterized by mean curvature H 0) and the well-known Weierstrass representation for such surfaces. Also CMC surfaces with rotational symmetry are considered and a generalization of the Weierstrass representation to surfaces of non-zero constant mean curvature is presented. Finally we show that the only compact embedded CMC surfaces in 3 are spheres.

(N )

It has been my intention throughout this work to give references to the stated results and credit to the work of others. The only part of this Masters dissertation which I claim is my own is the elementary proof of a special case of Ruh-Vilms theorem for surfaces in 3 given in Theorem 4.1.

ii

iii

Acknowledgements I wish to thank my supervisor, Sigmundur Gudmundsson, for his time, knowledge and patience. In particular, I wish to express my gratitude for him inspiring me to study the wonderful subject of geometry. Carl Johan Lejdfors

Contents
Short History Chapter 1. Some basic surface theory 1.1. Notation 1.2. Isothermal coordinates 1.3. The tension eld Chapter 2. Minimal surfaces 2.1. Conformality of the Gauss map 2.2. The Weierstrass representation formula Chapter 3. CMC surfaces of revolution 3.1. Kenmotsus solution 3.2. Delaunays construction Chapter 4. CMC surfaces 4.1. Harmonicity of the Gauss map 4.2. Kenmotsus representation formula Chapter 5. Compact CMC surfaces Recent developments Appendix A. Harmonic maps Bibliography 1 3 3 5 7 9 9 10 15 15 17 23 23 24 33 35 37 41

Short History
In 1841 Delaunay characterized in [1] a class of surfaces in Euclidean space which he described explicitly as surfaces of revolution of roulettes of the conics. These surfaces are the catenoids, unduloids, nodoids and right circular cylinders. Today they are known as the surfaces of Delaunay and are the rst non-trivial examples of surfaces having constant mean curvature, the sphere being the trivial case. In an appended note to Delaunays paper M. Sturm characterized these surfaces variationally as the extremals of surfaces of rotation having xed volume while maximizing lateral area. Using this characterization the following theorem was obtained: T HEOREM (Delaunays theorem). The complete immersed surfaces of revolution in 3 having constant mean curvature are exactly those obtained by rotating about their axis the roulettes of the conics. These surfaces where also recognized by Plateau using soap lm experiments. In 1853 J. H. Jellet showed in [2] that if is a compact star-shaped surface in 3 having constant mean curvature then it is the standard sphere. A hundred years later, in 1956, H. Hopf conjectured that this, in fact, holds for all compact immersions:

C ONJECTURE (Hopf s conjecture). Let be an immersion of an oriented, compact hypersurface with constant mean curvature H 0 in n . Then must be the standard embedded (n 1)-sphere.

Hopf proved the conjecture in [3] for the case of immersions of S 2 into 3 having constant mean curvature and a few years later A. D. Alexandrov showed the conjecture to hold for any embedded hypersurface in n , see [4]. It was widely believed that this conjecture was true until 1982 when Wu-Yi Hsiang constructed a counterexample in 4 . Two years later Wente constructed in [5] an immersion of the torus T 2 in 3 having constant mean curvature. Wentes construction has been thoroughly studied but has only been able to create surfaces having genus g 1. A different method for construct3 ing surfaces in having constant mean curvature of any genus g 3 was presented in 1987 by N. Kapouleas [6]. A proof of the fact that there exist CMC-immersions of compact surfaces of any genus was published in [8] in 1995 by the same author.

CHAPTER 1

Some basic surface theory

In this chapter we introduce the notation to be used in this text. We also introduce some basic results concerning isothermal coordinates and the tension eld of the Gauss map of a surface in 3 . 1.1. Notation

D EFINITION 1.1. A non-empty subset on 3 is said to be a regular there exists an open neighborhood U in surface if for each point p around p and a bijective map (x y ) : U 2 such that its inverse X : (U ) U i. is a homeomorphism, ii. is a differentiable map, iii. (Xx Xy )(q) 0 for all q (U ). The functions x y are called local coordinates around p. The map X is called a local parametrization of around p.

be a regular surface in 3 and p be an arbitrary point. By Let a tangent vector to , at the point p, we mean the tangent vector (0) of a differentiable parametrized curve : ( ) with (0) p. The set of tangent vectors of at a point p is called the tangent space of at p and is denoted by Tp . A local parametrization X determines a basis

of Tp , called the basis associated with X . On the tangent plane we have the usual induced metric from the ambient space 3 with the associated quadratic form Ip : Tp called the rst fundamental form of at p . Given a local parametrization X of and a parametrized curve (t ) X (x (t ) y(t )) for t ( ) with p (0) we have the following form

Xx Xy

Ip ( (0))

E (x )2 2Fx y G (y )2

Xx Xx p (x )2 2 Xx Xy

Xx x Xy y Xx x Xy y

x y Xy Xy

(y )2

(1.1)

where the values of E , F and G are computed for t 0. By condition (iii) of the denition of a regular surface (1.1) we have, given a local parametrization X of a surface in 3 at a point p that the map

1. SOME BASIC SURFACE THEORY

N:

S 2 dened by N (p )
x Xx

Xy (p) Xy

(1.2)

is well dened. This map is known as the Gauss map of . The quadratic form IIp dened in Tp by IIp (v) dNp (v) v is called the second fundamental form of at p. Given a local parametrization X on at a point p and, as above, letting be a parametrized curve such that (t ) X (x (t ) y(t )) for t ( ) with p (0) X (x (0) y(0)), we get

dNp ( )

N (x (t ) y(t ))

Since N N

1 we must have that Nx Ny Nx Ny

Tp and hence
(1.3)

Nx x Ny y

a11 Xx a21 Xy a12 Xx a22 Xy

for some functions aij . We nd that IIp ( )

e(x )2 2fx y g (y )2 N Xxx N Xxy N Xyy

dNp ( )

Nx x Ny y Xx x Xv x

(1.4)

where e f g

Nx Xx Ny Xx Ny Xy
a11

N Xyx

Nx Xy

fF eG gF fG a12 2 EG F EG F 2 eF fE fF gE a21 a22 2 EG F EG F 2 known as the Weingarten equations. Continuing by using that Xx Xy is a basis for Tp and that N is orthogonal to both Xx and Xy we have that Xx Xy N is a basis for 3 . We nd that 1 2 Xxx 11 Xx 11 Xy eN

Using the terms from equations (1.1), (1.3) and (1.4) we arrive at

Xyx Xxy Xyy

1 12 Xx 1 21 Xx 1 22 Xx

2 12 Xy 2 21 Xy 2 22 Xy

fN fN gN

(1.5)

k The ij are known as the Christoffel symbols and are invariant under isometries (i.e. can be computed from the rst fundamental form alone). Using that

(Xxx )y (Xxy )x

1.2. ISOTHERMAL COORDINATES

(Xyy )x (Xxy )y Nxy Nyx we nd that ey fx e e

1 12 1 22

0 0
1 11 ) 1 12 )

fy gx

f( f(

2 12 2 22

g g

2 11 2 12

(1.6)

These equalities are known as the Mainardi-Codazzi equations. D EFINITION 1.2. Let be a surface in 3 and p an arbitrary point. Let dNp : Tp Tp be the differential of the Gauss map. Then the determinant of dNp is called the Gaussian curvature K of at p. The negative half of the trace of dNp is called the mean curvature H of at p.

In terms of the rst and second fundamental forms K and H are given by K H eg f 2 EG F 2 eG 2fF gE 2(EG F 2 ) (1.7) (1.8)

1.2. Isothermal coordinates In this section we introduce the notion of isothermal coordinates which is a useful tool in differential geometry. be a surface in 3 . Then local coordinates D EFINITION 1.3. Let (x y ) : U 2 on are said to be isothermal if there exists a strictly positive function, called the dilation, : U such that

Xx Xx

Xy Xy

We have the following result regarding existence of isothermal coordinates on an arbitrary surface in 2 .

T HEOREM 1.4. Let be a differentiable surface in 3 and p be a point on . Then there exists an open neighborhood U of p and isothermal coordinates 2 around p. (x y ) : U

This was proved in the analytic case by Gauss. For a complete proof in the general case please see [9]. Having chosen isothermal coordinates the mean curvature simplies eG gE 2fF 2(EG F 2 ) The Christoffel symbols similarly simplify H
1 11 2 12 2 11 1 12

eg 2 2

1 22 2 22

1  2 2 2 x 1  2 2 2 y

(1.9)

1. SOME BASIC SURFACE THEORY

Using this we get the following form of the Mainardi-Codazzi equations (1.6): gx fy ey fx (e g ) (e g )
2 22 1 11

(1.10)

The Weingarten relations (eq. 1.3) reduce to e f a11 2 a21 a12 2

Suppose is a surface in 3 and (x y ) : U 2 are local isothermal coordinates on . We may then consider the local coordinates (x y) as a complex-valued map z x iy : U . The inverse X : z (U ) can then be considered as map from an open subset z (U ) in into i.e. a local parametrization of . We then have 1 Xx iXy Xz 2 The complex notation for surfaces in 3 has many advantages which we will be useful in chapters 2 and 3. Letting be the usual inner product in 3 and let ( ) be the complex bilinear extension of in 3 we have the following result.

a22

g2

(1.11)

P ROPOSITION 1.5. Let be a surface in 3 and let z x iy : U be local isothermal coordinates on . Then the inverse X : z (U ) z is conformal i.e. satises

of

4 (Xz Xz ) 4 (Xz Xz )

Xy 2 2i Xx 2 Xx 2 Xy 2i Xx
Xx
2

Xy Xy

0 0

(1.12)

Conversely, if z x iy are local coordinates on they are isothermal.

satisfying equation (1.12) then

P ROOF. The rst statement follows by a direct computation. The reverse implication follows by considering real and imaginary parts of equation (1.12). P ROPOSITION 1.6. Let be a surface in 3 and z x iy : U be local isothermal coordinates on with dilation . Then the inverse X : (U ) of z satises

where N :

4Xzz

Xxx Xyy

S 2 is the Gauss map of

2 2 HN

P ROOF. By a direct computation using the differentiated form of equation (1.12) we have 2 4Xzz [(Xzz Xz ) Xz (Xzz Xz ) Xz ] 4 (Xzz N ) N 2

Xxx Xyy N N

2 2 HN

4(e g )N

1.3. THE TENSION FIELD

This immediately gives our sought result. 1.3. The tension eld

In this section we give an explicit formula for the tension eld (see appendix A) for maps from a surface in 3 into S 2 in terms of local isothermal coordinates. S 2 be a map P ROPOSITION 1.7. Let be a surface in 3 and : into the unit sphere S 2 in 3 . If (x y) : U 2 are local isothermal coordinates on then the tension eld ( ) of is locally given by

2
2 x2

i.e. as the tangential part of the classical Laplacian

2  y2

in 2 . P ROOF. By the denition of the tension eld of a smooth map : we have

S2

)
k 1

ek d (ek )

d (e ek )
k

where is the pull-back connection on the pull-back bundle 1 TS 2 over via . Let p be an arbitrary point and (x y) : U 2 be isothermal coordinates around p. We then have

e ek
k

ek ek ek ek

2 2
2 2

2ek ( 2ek (

1
2

)ek g (ek ek ) grad )ek grad

1
2

2
1
2

for k
1

1 2. Then using the denition of the gradient grad we obtain

2

e e1 e e2

e1 e1 e2 e2   1 x
1 x

e1 (

1
2

)e1 e2 (

)e2 grad

 y

1  x

x

1 y

1 y 1  y

This implies that d (e1 e1 e2 e2 ) 1  x 1

 1 x y

 y

(1.13)

1. SOME BASIC SURFACE THEORY

The other term is given by

e d
1

(e1 ) (e2 )

1  x

1

x
T

 x

 x

1 2 x2

(1.14)
T

1  1 1  1  1 2 2 y y y y  y2 It follows by equations (1.13), (1.14) and (1.15) that

e d

(1.15)

e d
1

(e1 ) e2 d (e2 ) d (e1 e1 ) d (e2 e2 )

2  y2
T

2 x2

Harmonic maps generalize the concept of harmonic functions well known from complex analysis. A harmonic map is one for which the tension eld vanishes everywhere and, as stated in Appendix A, arises as a critical point of a certain variational problem. S 2 be a map into T HEOREM 1.8. Let be a surface in 3 and : 2 3 the unit sphere S in . If is conformal then it is harmonic. P ROOF. Let p be an arbitrary point and (x y) : U local isothermal coordinates around p. Then the conformality of

x y

2 be

and

means that

By differentiating we then obtain

xx xx y x

yy yy x y

yx xy yy

yx yx y

xy xy x

and therefore

xx xx

yx yx yy

yy yy

x y

xx

xx

0 0

These relations imply that

CHAPTER 2

Minimal surfaces
In this chapter we introduce some results concerning minimal surfaces. We also prove the famous Weierstrass representation for minimal surfaces. D EFINITION 2.1. A surface curvature H satises H 0.

in 3 is said to be minimal if its mean

2.1. Conformality of the Gauss map P ROPOSITION 2.2. Let be a minimal surface in 3 . Then the Gauss map N: S 2 of is conformal.

P ROOF. Let p be an arbitrary point on and (x y) be local isothermal coordinates around p. Then it follows by eg H 0 2 2 and equation (1.11) that 1 1 Nx eXx fXy Ny fXx eXy 2 2

This implies that

Nx Ny

and

Nx Nx

Ny Ny

e2 f 2

Hence N is conformal.

A partial reverse implication of the previous theorem is obtained via the following. P ROPOSITION 2.3. Let be a real analytic surface in 3 and N : S2 be a Gauss map of . If N is conformal then is either minimal or part of a sphere.

P ROOF. For local isothermal coordinates (x y) on 0

Nx Ny

4
Let p hood V

1 1 eX fX fX gX x y x y 2 2

we have

ef Xx Xx fg Xy Xy 2fH

be a point. Suppose H (p) around p such that f V

f eg 2

0 then there exists an open neighbor0. For every point in q V we have,

9

10

2. MINIMAL SURFACES

by equation (1.11), that Nx and Ny are with Xx and Xy , respectively. parallel By conformality we have that Nx Ny and, since (x y) are isothermal, that Xx Xy . Hence q is umbilical i.e. the principal curvatures coincide. Let k k1 k2 , where k1 and k2 are the principal curvatures. Differentiating Nx kXx and Ny kXy gives (kXx )y (N x )y (N y )x (kXy )x and since Xx and Xy are linearly independent we must have kx ky 0 so k is constant. If k 0 then H 0 which contradicts the assumption. Hence k 0 and N kX a where a is a constant vector. Then X is a local parametrization for a sphere having radius 1 k centered at a k since 1 1 2 1 X a 2 N k k k2 Thus by real analyticity is either minimal or part of a sphere.

2.2. The Weierstrass representation formula The Weierstrass representation formula was rst presented by Karl Weierstrass in [10]. It states that given two holomorphic functions dened on some simply connected subset of there exists an associated minimal surface. This surface is unique up to motions. T HEOREM 2.4. Let be a surface in 3 and x iy : U be local isothermal coordinates on . Suppose U is an open simply connected subset of . If X : z (U ) is the inverse of z then is minimal if and only if 3 is holomorphic. the derivative Xz : z (U )

P ROOF. This is a direct consequence of Proposition 1.6 and the fact that a map f : U is holomorphic if and only if fz 0. Integration gives us the following corollary. C OROLLARY 2.5. Let be a surface in 3 and x iy : U be local isothermal coordinates on . Suppose U is an open simply connected subset of . Then the inverse X : z (U ) of z is given by

X (z )

2 Re
z0

Xz (z )dz C

(2.1)

where C is some constant vector in 3 . P ROOF. We have Xz dz

1 (Xx iXy )(dx idy) 2 1 Xx dx Xy dy i (Xx dy Xy dx 2 1 Xx dx Xy dy i (Xx dy Xy dx 2

Xz d z

2.2. THE WEIERSTRASS REPRESENTATION FORMULA

11

Integrating dX

Xz dz Xz d z

2 Re Xz dz gives us our sought relation.

This corollary gives us the famous Weierstrass representation for minimal surfaces. T HEOREM 2.6 (Weierstrass Representation). Let V be an open simply connected subset of . Suppose f : V is holomorphic on V , g : V is 2 meromorphic on V and the product fg is holomorphic on V . Then X : V 3 dened by
z

X (z ) where Xz (z ) is a minimal surface.

Re
z0

Xz (z )dz

(2.2)

f (z )(1 g (z )2 i (1 g (z )2 ) 2g (z ))

P ROOF. Using the above results the only thing we need to show is that equation (2.2) dene isothermal coordinates. This, however, follows by direct computation using Proposition 1.5. Examples of minimal surfaces are the surfaces of Sherk (Fig. 2.1) and Catalan (Fig. 2.2).

F IGURE 2.1. Sherks minimal surface. (f g )

2 ( 1 z) z4

An interesting observation is the fact that the Gauss map of minimal surfaces generated using Theorem 2.6 can be identied with the complex valued function g . P ROPOSITION 2.7. Let strass representation
z

be a minimal surface in 3 given by the Weier

X (z )

Re
z0

f (z )(1 g (z )2 i (1 g (z )2 ) 2g (z ))dz S 2 of may be identied, via stereographic

Then the Gauss map N : projection , with g.

12

2. MINIMAL SURFACES

F IGURE 2.2. Catalans minimal surface. (f g )

z1

(2 Re g 2 Im g g 2 1) 1 g2 Now the real and imaginary parts of G

P ROOF. Let G

1 g then

in 3 . Then fg 1 i 1 fg g g ( g) 1 G gg g 2 1 2 g 2 g 2 g and since G 1 it is clear that G is a Gauss map for .

represent two orthogonal tangent vectors on

f (1 g 2 ) if (1 g 2 ) 2fg

We can conclude that the above examples (Figures 2.1, 2.2) have bijective Gauss map i.e. for every point p S 2 there exists only one point on having that point as a normal. Amongst the Enneper surfaces, dened by (f g ) (1 z n ) for every n , only the case of n 1 satises this property (see Figures 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5).

F IGURE 2.3. First order Enneper surface. (f g )

(1 z )

2.2. THE WEIERSTRASS REPRESENTATION FORMULA

13

F IGURE 2.4. Second order Enneper surface. (f g )

(1 z 2 )

F IGURE 2.5. Third order Enneper surface. (f g )

(1 z 3 )

CHAPTER 3

CMC surfaces of revolution

In this chapter we study complete CMC surfaces with rotational symmetry. We present Kenmotsus modern solution given in [11] to the problem of nding all such surfaces. Furthermore we describe the classical construction of the same due to Delaunay, see [1]. D EFINITION 3.1. A surface in 3 is said to have constant mean curvature (CMC) if and only if there exists a c such that H c . 3.1. Kenmotsus solution
with (s) x (s) y(s) be a parametrization of some Let : I regular planar C 2 curve. Assume that is an arclength parametrization and that 0 is contained in the open interval I . Let be the surface of revolution in 3 dened by
2

(s )

(x (s) y(s) cos

y(s) sin ) ds2 y2 d

2

I
2

Then the rst and second fundamental forms are given by IIp Assuming y(s) 0 for s (x y x y )ds2 x yd Ip

Multiplying by x and y , respectively, and simplifying using the fact that (x )2 (y )2 we obtain Setting Z (s) y(s)y (s)iy(s)x (s) and combining these equations the following rst order complex linear differential equation is obtained Z 2iHZ 2Hyx (yy ) 1 0 and 2Hyy (yx ) 0 1 and x x y y 0 s

I we have, by denition of H , that 2Hy x x yy x yy 0 sI

(3.1)

(3.2)

Restricting our attention to the case of H being constant we have: If H 0 then the solution is given by Z (s ) sC
15

s c1 ic2

16

3. CMC SURFACES OF REVOLUTION

for some C

c1 ic2

y (s )

. This gives us

Z (s ) Im Z y

2 (s c 1 )2 c 2

x (s ) By integrating x we obtain x c2 arcsinh

c2
2 (s c 1 )2 c 2

(3.3)

s c1 c2

hence

s c1

sinh

x c2

c2

Substituting into equation (3.3) we obtain

2 (s c 1 )2 c 2

sinh2

x c2

2 2 c2 c2

c2 cosh

x c2

It is clear that this is a parametrization of a catenary. If H 0 then Z (s )

1 1 e2iHs C e2iHs 2iH 1 (1 2iHC ) e2iHs e2iHs 2iH Bei(2Hs ) 1 2iH

(3.4)

where Bei 1 2iHC for some B and C is an arbitrary constant. Using the fact that y(s) 0 we have by translation of the arclength and by restricting our attention to H 0 y (s ) x (s ) 1 1 B 2 2B sin 2Hs 2H Im Z 1 B sin 2Hs y 1 B 2 2B sin 2Hs Z

Hence the solution to equation (3.4) is the one-parameter family of surfaces of revolution having constant mean curvature H given by
s

(s ; H B )
0

for any B and H 0. Studying for varying B (see Fig. 3.1) we nd that (s; H 0) is a generating curve for a right circular cylinder and (s; H 1) is a generating curve for a sequence of continuous half-circles centered on the x -axis. For 0 B 1 the function x (s) increases monotonously whereas in the case of B 1 it does not.

1 B sin 2Ht dt 1 B 2 2B sin 2Ht 1 1 B 2 2B sin 2Hs 2H

(3.5)

3.2. DELAUNAYS CONSTRUCTION

17

P ROOF. Let H be given and let H (s) be a generating curve parametrized by arclength for a complete surface of revolution having constant mean curvature H . By uniqueness of solution of (3.2) we have H (s) (s; H B ) for some B .

T HEOREM 3.2 (Delaunays theorem). Any complete surface of revolution with constant mean curvature is either a sphere, a catenoid or a surface whose generating curve is given by (s; H B ) for some B .

F IGURE 3.1. Solutions for H

0 5 and B

0 05 1 15

3.2. Delaunays construction The surfaces of Delaunay are constructed by rolling a conic along a straight line in the plane and taking the trace of the focus F . This is called a roulette of the conic . This trace then describes a planar curve which is rotated about the axis along which it was rolled. This gives a surface of revolution having constant mean curvature. The construction presented here is based on the article [12] by J. Eells. 3.2.1. is a parabola. Let be a parabola given by : t (t at 2 ) for some a which we take to be strictly positive. Let F be the focus and A be the vertex of (see Figure 3.2). Let K be a point on and denote by P the intersection of the tangent line of at K with the horizontal axis. By solving the line equation for the tangent at K we nd that for K (t ) (t at 2 ) then P (t 2 0). This implies that PK OP . And since FOP PKF we

K F A P

F IGURE 3.2.

is parabola

18

3. CMC SURFACES OF REVOLUTION

F IGURE 3.3. Catenary

also have we have

OPF

KPF FA

. By denition of the trigonometric functions 2

FP cos PFK

FP cos AFP

Now let FP denote the x -axis along which our parabola rolls. Then the ordinate of F in this system of coordinates is given by PF . Denote this by y. We have dx cos PFK ds where s is the arclength of the locus of F . This is equivalent to dx ds cos (3.6)

where denotes the angle made by the tangent of F with the x -axis. We then arrive at c or, equivalently, dy dx y dx ds
dx

y ds 2 dx 2 dy ds ds

y 1

dy 2
dx

y2 c 2 c2 x c

(3.7)

The solution to this differential equation is given by y

cxc e e x c 2

c cosh

which is a catenary (Fig. 3.3). The corresponding surface of revolution is the catenoid (Fig. 3.4). The Gauss map of the locus of F into S 1 is given by x x where cos
x

dx ds

c y

showing that the Gauss map is injective onto an open semicircle.

3.2. DELAUNAYS CONSTRUCTION

19

F IGURE 3.4. Catenoid

3.2.2. is an ellipse. Let F and F be foci of and O its center. Take a point K on and let P and P be the points on the tangent at K closest to F and F , respectively (Fig. 3.5). As above, letting PK be the x -axis and PF (P F ) the ordinate y (y ). Let T and T denote the intersection with the x -axis of the tangent of the locus of F and F , respectively. We have FKP F KP . Also the tangent of the locus of F (F ) is KF T orthogonal to FK (FL ) and hence KFT . This gives us 2 y FK y F K sin FKP sin F KP cos FTP dx ds dx ds 0, and

cos F T P

From the characterization of the ellipse, FK F K 2a for some a the pedal equation, PF P F b2 for some b 0, we nd y y 2a dx ds and yy b2 so

T P K P

F IGURE 3.5.

is ellipse

20

3. CMC SURFACES OF REVOLUTION

F IGURE 3.6. Undulary, H

0 5, B

0 5.

Taking a respectively)

dx b2 0 ds b we get the following cases (when the angle is obtuse and acute, y2 2ay
s

y2 2ay

dx b2 0 ds A solution to this problem is given in Section 3.1 x (s ) y (s )

(3.8)

1 2B sin 2Ht dt 1 B 2B sin 2Ht 0 1 2

2H 1 B 2B sin 2Hs
2

(3.9)

1 where H and B 1 4bH 2 . The locus of either foci is called 2a the undulary (Fig. 3.6). The corresponding surfaces is called the unduloid (Fig. 3.7). The Gauss map of the undulary is given by x x where

cos

dx ds

b y 2 ay
2

F IGURE 3.7. Unduloid, H

0 5, B

0 5.

3.2. DELAUNAYS CONSTRUCTION

21

3.2.3. is a hyperbola. We proceed as in the case of the ellipse but instead use the characterization FK F K 2a 0 of the hyperbola and the pedal equation PF P F b2 (Fig. 3.8). We arrive at the differential equation dx y2 2ay b2 0 ds
K

P F O F

F IGURE 3.8. Hyperbola

This differential equation can be solved in the same manner as for the ellipse with the exception that B in equation (3.9) is given by b2 4H 2 Here the two loci t together to form the curve known as the nodary (Fig. 3.9) and the corresponding surface is called the nodoid (Fig. 3.10) The Gauss map of the nodary is given by x x where B 1 cos
x 2 b2 y 2 ay

This map has no extreme points and is clearly surjective.

F IGURE 3.9. Nodary, H

0 5, B

1 5.

22

3. CMC SURFACES OF REVOLUTION

F IGURE 3.10. Nodoid, H

0 5, B

1 5.

CHAPTER 4

CMC surfaces
The main aim of this chapter is to give a new elementary proof of a special case of the Ruh-Vilms theorem. We also present the Kenmotsu representation formula for CMC surfaces with H 0. 4.1. Harmonicity of the Gauss map Let (M g ) be an orientable m-dimensional Riemannian manifold, i : M o be an isometric immersion and N : M Gp ( mp ) be the associated Gauss map, mapping x M to the oriented normal space of i (M ) at i (x ). Then Ruh-Vilms theorem presented in [13] states that the tension eld (N ) of N satises (N ) mH where H is the covariant derivative of the mean curvature vector eld H . This implies that the Gauss map N is harmonic if and only if the mean curvature vector eld H is parallel. For surfaces in 3 this is equivalent to the surface having constant mean curvature.
mp

T HEOREM 4.1. Let be an oriented surface in 3 . Then has constant S 2 is harmonic. mean curvature if and only if its Gauss map N :

P ROOF. We prove that the following equation

(N ) 2 grad H

holds. Our sought result then follows trivially. Let p be an arbitrary point and (x y) : U coordinates around p. Then we have

2 be isothermal

(Nxx )T

Nxx Xx Xx Nxx Xy Xy

2 1 2 (ex
This follows by using

(ex

Nx Xxx )Xx (fx Nx Xyx )Xy Nx Xxx )Xx (ey (e g )

2 22

Nx Xyx )Xy

ex fx

 x  x

Nx Xx Nx Xy

Nxx Xx Nx Xxx

23

Nxx Xy Nx Xyx

24

4. CMC SURFACES

and the Mainardi-Codazzi equations (1.10). Similarly we have (Nyy )T

1 (gx (e g ) 2

1 11

Ny Xxy )Xy (gy Ny Xyy )Xy

1 11 Xx 2 11 2 12 2 21 2 22

By using the Christoffel relations (1.9) we nd Nx Xxx

Nx Xyx Ny Xyx Ny Xyy

2 a11 2 a11 2 a12 2 a12

a11 Xx a21 Xy
1 11 1 12 1 21 1 22

a21 a21 a22 a22

1 2 e 11 f 22 1 2 f 11 e 22 1 2 g 11 f 22 1 2 g 22 f 11

2 11 Xy

Adding and using the above equations we get N Xx

N Xy

1 2 (ex gx ) 2(e g )
Nxx Nyy Xy 1 (ey gy ) 2(e g ) 2 1 1 1
2

Nxx Nyy Xx 1 (ex gx ) (e g ) 2

1 11

Nx Xxx

Ny Xxy

1 11

2 22

Hence we have

(N ) 12 (

N )T

2 2

ex gx ey gy

ex gx ey gy

e g  2 4  y

g  e 4 x

Xx Xy (

(e g ) (e g )

x  y

2 )
1

Xx Xy

1  1 1  1 1 (e g ) 2 (e g ) ( ) Xx x x 2 1 1 1 1 1 (e g ) 2 (e g ) ( ) Xy y y 2 2 grad H

1
2

2 )

This proves our theorem. 4.2. Kenmotsus representation formula

In this section we show a corresponding result to Weierstrass representation formula for surfaces having non-zero constant mean curvature.

4.2. KENMOTSUS REPRESENTATION FORMULA

25

Let S 2 be the unit sphere in 3 . Cover S 2 by open sets Ui , i 1 2 where U1 S 2 n and U2 S 2 s and n and s are the north and south pole, respectively. Let be the stereographic projection with respect to the north pole n: x1 ix2 for x (x1 x2 x3 ) U1 (x ) (4.1) 13

For a surface ing composition

in 3 having Gauss map N :

:

S 2 consider the follow-

sphere. Using this notation we have the following theorem presented in [14] due to K. Kenmotsu. T HEOREM 4.2 (Kenmotsus representation formula). Let V be an open simply connected subset of and H be an arbitrary non-zero real constant. Supis a harmonic function into the Riemann sphere. If z 0 then pose : V X:V 3 dened by
z

N S2 which we also call the Gauss map of . This map is considered as a complex mapping from a 1-dimensional complex manifold in 3 into the Riemann

X (z ) with Xz (z ) for z :

Re
z0

Xz (z )dz

(4.2)

V , is a regular surface having

 (1) 2 2 1 ( z ) i (1 ( z ) ) 2 ( z ) (z ) H (1 (z ) (z ))2 z

as a Gauss map and mean curvature H .

First we derive an explicit formula of the tension eld of the Gauss map of an arbitrary surface .

be a Gauss P ROPOSITION 4.3. Let be a surface in 3 and : map on . If z x iy are local isothermal coordinates with dilation then

(
P ROOF. Let z u iv. Then g

2  z z 1 4
2

2

  z z

(4.3)

x iy be local isothermal coordinates and denote (z ) and h 4 u2 v 2 )2 (du2 dv2 )

(1 which gives us Christoffel symbols on the Riemann sphere 2u 1 2 1 22 11 12 1 u2 v2 2 v 2 1 2 11 12 22 1 u2 v2

2(dx2 dy2)

26

4. CMC SURFACES

By the explicit formula for the tension eld (eq. A.2) we get

(u) 2
1

1 11

u x v x

u y v y

1 22

1 12

u v x x

u v y y

where is the classical Laplacian. Adding this and the similar formula for (v) we arrive at

2(

2(u) i(v) (u iv) u iv 21 u2 v2

81
4

u x u y

u v 2i  x x

v x v y

2i  y  y

u v

  z z   z z

81  z z

This proves our sought formula.

Next we show that a surface having prescribed mean curvature H satises the following equation. L EMMA 4.4. Let be a surface in 3 having mean curvature H : and let : be a Gauss map of . Then

H where

 z

2 (e g ) 2 if . P ROOF. We show that the following equation holds

1

 z

 z

H 2

2  (X 1 iX 2 ) z

(4.4)

By direct computation using the Weingarten equations (1.11) together with equation (4.1) we have
 z

N 3 )2 Xx1 N 3Xx1 N 1Xx3 i Xx2 N 3Xx2 N 2Xx3

z

N 1 iN 2 1 N3

2 (1

e f

(1 N 3 ) Xy2 Xx2 iXy2 iXx1 (N 1 iN 2) Xy3 iXx3

4.2. KENMOTSUS REPRESENTATION FORMULA

27

Xy2 N 3 Xy2 N 2 Xy3

Xy1 N 3 Xy1 N 1 Xy3

Using the denition 1 N Xx2 Xy3 Xx3 Xy2 Xx3 Xy1 Xx1 Xy3 Xx1 Xy2 Xx2 Xy1 2 and the fact that z

(4.5)

x iy are isothermal together with equation (1 )(1 N 3 ) 1 2 on U1 (4.6)

our sought relation is obtained via 2 2 (1 N 3 )2 2H  (X 1 iX 2 ) (1 N 3 )2 z  (X 1 iX 2 ) (1 )2 H 2 z By similar calculations we have

z  z 

(2)(e g )

 (X 1 iX 2 ) z

(1 2 H
 z

)2

 (X 1 iX 2 ) z

(4.7)

From equations (4.4) and (4.7) we may conclude that

 z

The computations carried out in the proof of the previous lemma give us a way of describing the dilation in terms of the Gauss map . C OROLLARY 4.5. Let be an orientable surface in 3 with mean curvature and : be the Gauss map of . Let z x iy be local H: isothermal coordinates on with dilation . Then

 z  z

2 2

(1 (1

) H )

(4.8) (4.9)
2

P ROOF. By equations (4.5) we have 4 Xz1 iXz2 4 Xz3 The above formulas gives us
2 2

2 2 (1 N 3 ) 4 Xz3

2((N 1)2 (N 2)2)2

2

4 Xz1 iXz2

2(1 N 3)2

(4.10)

From equations (4.4) and (4.6) we get our rst sought result. Equation (4.9) follows from equations (4.10) and (4.7).

28

4. CMC SURFACES

Next we show how the derivatives of the components of X are related to the Gauss map. P ROPOSITION 4.6. Let be an orientable surface in 3 with mean curvature H : and : be the Gauss map of . Let X : V be a local conformal immersion of , then the following equations hold on U1 :

H H H

X 1 z X 2 z X 3 z

1( (1

)2  )2  z (4.11)
z

1 ( )2  (1 )2  z


P ROOF. Let : U2 S2 denote the stereographic projection with 2 respect to the south pole s of S and put N . Then by similar calculations as in the proof of Lemma 4.4 we have

2 (1

)2

Using that U1 U2 : 0 By (

H 1 2  (X 1 iX 2) z 2 z

(4.12)

1 we may conclude that the following equations hold on

1 iX 2 )  (X  z

) H z 2 ) ( )
(

iX  (X  z
1

we have
z

H Rewriting as

 (X 1

iX 2 )
2

2  (X

iX 2 ) z
2

z and substituting into equation (4.4) we arrive at

H (1

X 1

iH (1
2

X 2 z

X 2 z

1 (1

 z

)2

(4.13)

Similarly, we obtain the rst formula of equation (4.11). The third equation follows from X 3 X 1 X 2 2 i z z z (1 )2

This last equation follows by rewriting equation (4.6) to 4

X 3 z  X 1 iX 2 z X 3 z

2 (1

)2

 X 1 iX 2 z

2(1 N 3)(N 1 iN 2)

4.2. KENMOTSUS REPRESENTATION FORMULA

29

Expanding using equation (4.5) and separating out real and imaginary parts we 0 then by equations nd that both vanish and the equation follows. If  z (4.10) and (4.6) we have H
X 3 z

2 (1

1 1 )2 Xz iXz2

2 (1

Xz1 iXz2 )2 Xz1 iXz2

2

4 Xz1 iXz2 1 2 X iX z z (1 )2 (1 N 3)2 This implies the last equation of (4.11) by conjugating and substituting using X1 . If  0 then H must be equation (4.13) and the similar formula for  z z 0.

P ROOF OF K ENMOTSU S REPR . FORMULA . We have shown that for an arbitrary surface having constant mean curvature H 0 and complex Gauss map : the following equations hold

 2 dz 2 ds H (1 )  z 2  2   0  z z 1 z z Similarly, given and H , we may construct a surface parametrized by X using equation (4.2).
2 2

(4.14) (4.15)

which is locally

The last thing we need to show is that this representation is unique up to conformal transformations. T HEOREM 4.7. Let be a simply connected surface in 3 and : U and : U be smooth mappings satisfying equation (4.15) for some constant H 0. We dene a surface X and X by Theorem 4.2 i.e.
z

Re
z0

Xz dz

where
2

(1) 1 1 2 1 i H 2 (1 )2 (1 Then the following conditions are equivalent: i. There exists a holomorphic mapping a motion of 3 such that X f (z ) ii. There exists a holomorphic mapping satisfying Xz (z )

)2

(1

)2

z

f (z ) with f (z ) 0 on and x(z) for z . f (z ) with f (z ) 0 on

f (z )

for

id. Then Xz

P ROOF. Assume condition i. hold. We may assume X f and Xz X f . We have 1

Xx iXy

f 1 Xx i Xy f

30

4. CMC SURFACES

and therefore 2 N (z )

Hence (z ) f (z) and ii. follows from equation (4.4). Conversely suppose condition ii. hold. Then it follows from Theorem 4.2 X X f (z) that z  X (z ) X (f (z )) C 3 where C is some constant. Kenmotsus representation formula allows us to, given a harmonic mapping : U , construct a surface having specied mean curvature and as a Gauss map. E XAMPLE 4.8. Let : 0 be given by (z ) 1 z and H 1. The immersion X obtained via Theorem 4.2 is the standard immersion of the unit sphere (see g. 4.1) in 3 : 1 X (z ) z 0 (z z i (z z ) z z 1) 1 zz

i X iX Xx x y 2

iXy

2N

f (z )

F IGURE 4.1. Unit sphere in 3 .

E XAMPLE 4.9. Let : 0 be given by (z ) 1 z 2 . The by Theorem 4.2 we have 1 z 1 1 z 4 1 z 4 z 2 X (z ) Re i 2 dz H z0 2 1 (z z )2 1 (z z )2 1 (z z )2 The corresponding surface of mean curvature H 1 is given in gure 4.2.

4.2. KENMOTSUS REPRESENTATION FORMULA

31

F IGURE 4.2. Surface with

1 z 2 with H

1.

CHAPTER 5

Compact CMC surfaces

In this chapter we prove a result due to Alexandrov [4] stating that every compact embedded CMC surface in 3 is a sphere. T HEOREM 5.1 (Alexandrovs theorem). Let be a compact embedded surface in 3 having constant mean curvature H 0. Then is a sphere. embedded in . Then

P ROPOSITION 5.2 (Willmores theorem). [15] Let be a compact surface 3

4 is a round sphere. H 2 dA

with equality if and only if P ROOF. Let K (p)

max K 0 then we will show that K dA

4 (5.1) holds for any compact surface in 3 . This follows from the observation that the left hand side of the above equation represents the area of the image under the Gauss map N of the part of having K 0. So the only thing we need to prove is that the image of N covers all of S 2 . Assume that N is oriented outwards, then the point of having minimal y-component has a normal (0 1 0) and K 0 (since otherwise it would be a saddle point). But we may orient our surface however we want (while maintaining K ) and hence we have shown that there exists a point for every normal direction having K 0. The surface area of the unit round sphere is 4 implying equation (5.1). This gives us 4 If K 0 for any point then K 0 in a neighborhood of that point and the rst inequality is strict. Hence equality implies K 0 everywhere and by the previous equation and K dA K dA H
2

k1 k2 2

k1 k2

k1 k2 2

we have proved the rst part of our result. If H 2 K then k1 k2 and we know by Proposition 2.3 that is a round sphere. If is a round sphere then H 2 K proving our second statement.

33

34

5. COMPACT CMC SURFACES

L EMMA 5.3. [16] Let be a compact embedded surface in 3 bounding a domain D of volume V . If the mean curvature H of is positive everywhere, then 1 dA 3V (5.2) H Equality holds if and only if is a round sphere.

P ROOF. Let N be the normal of shell of dened by

and for every [0 1] let

be the

p h(p)N p

where h(p) sup r the point p is the unique nearest point on

to the
(5.3)

The volume of

point q at distance r from p along the normal S at p is then given by V

F dA
h(p) 0

where
h(p)

F
0

(1 k1 t )(1 k2 t ) dt

2Ht Kt 2 dt

Note that the denition of h we prevents overlap i.e. every point in the interior of lies on a unique normal to . For every point q D it lies in the closed shell . Let d dist(q ) then the open ball Bq (d ) centered at p with radius d satises Bq (d ) . But there exists at least one point p contained in the boundary of Bq (d ). For any q on the radius from q to p, if r is the distance from q to p then the closed ball Bq (d ) is contained in Bq (d ) except for the point p. Hence p is the unique point of having distance r from q . By denition of h(p) we must have d h(p) and hence q lie on the closed shell. Since all points of D are covered and the only points covered twice are in the image of the boundary we have that the volume V of D is exactly equal to the volume of the shell given by equation (5.3) The equation 1 max k1 (p) k2(p) (5.4) h(p) hold for every p and we may conclude that

(1 k1 t )

(1 k2 t )
h(p) 0

are non-negative for 0

h(p)

h(p) and hence (1 k1 t )(1 k2 t ) dt (5.5)

F
0

(1 k1 t )(1 k2 t ) dt (1 k1 t )(1 k2 t )

By the inequalities of geometric and arithmetic mean

(1 Ht )2

(5.6)

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

35

and by equation (5.4) we have 1 h(p) Then F

1 H

1 3H p and by equation (5.3) we arrive at the sought equation (5.2). Equality gives us, by Willmores theorem (5.2), that is in fact a round sphere.

(1 Ht )2 dt

P ROOF

OF

A LEXANDROV S

THEOREM .

By the divergence formula

we have A H

X N dA
D

div X dx dy dz

N X dA

div X dx dy dz

3HV

Then by Lemma 5.3 the surface must be a sphere since 1 1 A dA dA 3V H H H Recent developments

Wente was the rst to show that there exists a compact CMC immmersion in 3 which is not the standard sphere. He provided this by explicitly constructing an immersion of the torus T 2 in 3 having constant mean curvature. T HEOREM 5.4 (Wentes counterexample). [5] There exists a countable number of isometrically distinct conformal immersion of T 2 into 3 with constant mean curvature H 0. The problem whether there exists immersions of genus g 2 was addressed by N. Kapouleas in [7, 8]. He successfully showed that there exists CMC immersions of every genus g 2 by fusing Delaunay surfaces and Wente tori. T HEOREM 5.5. For any g 2 there exists innitely many smooth CMC3 surfaces immersed in having constant mean curvature H 1 and genus g. A recent development in the eld is the DPW method [17, 18] named after its creators J. Dorfmeister, F. Pedit and H. Wu. This method gives a description of all immersed CMC surfaces in 3 with or without umbilics. It is often characterized as a Weierstrass type method as it allows the construction of CMC-immersions from a meromorphic and a holomorphic function.

APPENDIX A

Harmonic maps
Harmonic mappings arise as critical points of a certain variational problem. (N h) be a smooth map between two Riemannian manifolds Let : (M g ) of dimension m and n, respectively. We then dene the energy density function, e( ), of at p M by e( ) 1 traceg ( h) 2 1 2
m

h(d (ei ) d (ei ))

i 1 m i 1

1 2

d (ei )
i 1

2 h

where h is the pull back of h via and ei of Tp M with respect to gp . Let p M , (x 1 x 2 xm ) and

is a local orthonormal frame yn ) 1 2

be local coordinates around p and (p) N and for y . Then at each point q in a neighborhood of p e( )(q) 1 2ij
m

(y1 y2

n put

g (q )
1 1

ij

h ( (q))

  xi

(q )

  xj

(q )

where (g ij ) is the inverse of the matrix (gij ) with gij g (ei ej ) on M by We dene the energy or action integral of E( )
M

e( )d volg if it

where volg det(gij )dx1 dxn is the volume form on M . N is said to be a smooth variation of A map F : ( ) M satises

For every t

F (0 p) F : (
t (p )

(p ) )M F (t p )

pM of class C
t

) we dene the smooth variation pM

of

by

D EFINITION A.1. A map : (M g ) (N h) is said to be a harmonic mapping if is a critical point to E at C (M N ) i.e. for any smooth variation N with t and 0 we have t: M
d E ( t ) dt t
37

0
0

38

A. HARMONIC MAPS

Let 1 TN denote the pull-back of the tangent bundle TN of N via ,

1 TN

(p u) M

TN
t 0

pM uT

(p) M

The variation vector eld V along V (p )

is a C mapping from M into TN satisfying V (p ) T

(p) N

d t (p ) dt

dened by for all p M for all p M

We may then dene a connection called the pull-back connection, on the set of smooth sections of X 1 TN by ( V )(p)
X N

(X ) V

where t (t ) M is a C 1 curve in M satisfying (0) p, (0) Xp Tp M , and t is a curve given by t (s) (s), 0 s t that is, the restriction of to the part between p and (t ). The map N P t : T (p) N T ((t )) N is the parallel transport along a C 1 curve t with respect to the Levi-Civita connection N on N .

d N 1 P t V ( (t )) dt t

pM

FACT A.2 (First variational formula). Let : (M g ) map. For a smooth variation t of put V (p ) then

(N h) be a smooth

d dt

t (p )

t 0

pM

Thus

d E ( t ) h(V dt M t 0 is a harmonic mapping if and only if

))d volM

)(p)

0 for all p M

This is known as the Euler-Lagrange equation for harmonic maps. The section ( ) of the pull-back bundle 1 TN is called the tension eld of and is given by

)(p)
i 1

ek d (ek )

d (e ek )
k

(A.1)

The tension eld can be given in local coordinates by the following: let (x 1 x 2 xm ) and (y1 y2 yn ) be local coordinates around p and (p) in M and N , respectively. Then ( ) is given by

( (
m

)
1

 y

where
n

(A.2)
   xi  xj

) (p )
ij 1

ij

2  xi  xj

 k ij (p)

k 1

 xk

( (p))

A. HARMONIC MAPS

39

Here tively.

k N ij ,

are the Christoffel symbols on (M m g ) and (N n h), respec-

Bibliography
[1] C. Delaunay, Sur la surface de rvolution dont la courbure moyenne est constante, J. Math. Pures Appl., 6 (1841), 309320. With a note appended by M. Sturm. [2] J. H. Jellet, Sur la Surface dont la Courbure Moyenne est Constant, J. Math. Pures Appl., 18 (1853), 163167. [3] H. Hopf, Differential Geometry in the Large (Seminar Lectures New York University 1946 and Stanford University 1956), Lecture Notes in Mathematics 1000, Springer Verlag, 1983. [4] A. D. Alexandrov, Uniqueness theorem for surfaces in the large, V. Vestnik, Leningrad Univ. 13, 19 (1958), 58, Amer. Math. Soc. Trans. (Series 2) 21, 412416. [5] H. C. Wente, Counterexample to a conjecture of H. Hopf, Pac. Journal of Math., 245 (1986), 193243. [6] N. Kapouleas, Constant mean curvature surfaces in Euclidean three-space, Bull. AMS, 17 (1987), 318320. [7] N. Kapouleas, Compact constant mean curvature surfaces in Euclidean three-space, J. Differ. Geom., 33 (1991), 683715. [8] N. Kapouleas, Constant mean curvature surfaces constructed by fusing Wente tori, Invent. Math., 119 (1995), 443518. [9] M. Sphivak, A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry, vol. 4, Publish or Perish, Inc., 2 ed., 1979, 455500. [10] K. Weierstrass, Mathematische Werke von Karl Weierstrass, vol. 3, Mayer & Mller, 1903, 3952. [11] K. Kenmotsu, Surfaces of revolution with prescribed mean curvature, Thoku Math. J., 32 (1980), 147153. [12] J. Eells, The Surfaces of Delaunay, The Math. Intelligences, 1 (1987), 5357. [13] E. A. Ruh and J. Vilms, The tension eld of the Gauss map, Trans. Am. Math. Soc., 149 (1970), 569573. [14] K. Kenmotsu, Weierstrass Formula for Surfaces of Prescribed Mean Curvature, Math. Ann., 245 (1979), 8999. [15] R. Osserman, Curvature in the Eighties, Amer. Math. Monthly, 97 (1990), no. 8, 731755. [16] A. Ros, Compact hypersurfaces with constant scalar curvature and a congruence theorem, J. Differ. Geom., 20 (1984), 215220. [17] J. Dorfmeister, F. Pedit and H. Wu, Weierstrass type representation of harmonic maps into symmetric spaces, Comm. Anal. Geom, 6 (1998), 633668. [18] J. Dorfmeister, I. McIntosh, F. Pedit and H. Wu, On the meromorphic potential for a harmonic surface in a k-symmetric space, Manuscripta Math., 92 (1997), 143152.

41

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