Free boundary minimal surfaces of unbounded genus

Abstract

For each integer $g\geq 1$ we use variational methods to construct in the unit $3$-ball $B$ a free boundary minimal surface $\Sigma_g$ of symmetry group $\mathbb{D}_{g+1}$. For $g$ large, $\Sigma_g$ has three boundary components and genus $g$. As $g\rightarrow\infty$ the surfaces $\Sigma_g$ converge as varifolds to the union of the disk and critical catenoid. These examples are the first with genus greater than $1$ and were conjectured to exist by Fraser-Schoen. We also construct several new free boundary minimal surfaces in $B$ with the symmetry groups of the cube, tetrahedron and dodecahedron. Finally, we prove that free boundary minimal surfaces isotopic to those of Fraser-Schoen can be constructed variationally using an equivariant min-max procedure. We also prove an $\epsilon$-regularity theorem for free boundary minimal surfaces in $B$.