Free Boundary Minimal Surfaces in the Unit Ball With Low Cohomogeneity

Abstract: We study free boundary minimal surfaces in the unit ball of low cohomogeneity. For each pair of positive integers $(m,n)$ such that $m, n >1$ and $m+n\geq 8$, we construct a free boundary minimal surface $\Sigma_{m, n} \subset B^{m+n}$(1) invariant under $O(m)\times O(n)$. When $m+n<8$, an instability of the resulting equation allows us to find an infinite family ${\Sigma_{m,n, k}}{k\in \mathbb{N}}$ of such surfaces. In particular, ${\Sigma{2, 2, k}}_{k\in \mathbb{N}}$ is a family of solid tori which converges to the cone over the Clifford Torus as $k$ goes to infinity. These examples indicate that a smooth compactness theorem for Free Boundary Minimal Surfaces due to Fraser and Li does not generally extend to higher dimensions. For each $n\geq 3$, we prove there is a unique nonplanar $SO(n)$-invariant free boundary minimal surface (a "catenoid") $\Sigma_n \subset B^n(1)$. These surfaces generalize the "critical catenoid" in $B^3(1)$ studied by Fraser and Schoen.