In this paper we survey recent developments in the classical theory of minimal surfaces in Euclidean spaces which have been obtained as applications of both classical and modern complex analytic methods; in particular, Oka theory, period dominating holomorphic sprays, gluing methods for holomorphic maps, and the Riemann–Hilbert boundary value problem. Emphasis is on results pertaining to the global theory of minimal surfaces, in particular, the Calabi–Yau problem, constructions of properly immersed and embedded minimal surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^{n}$ and in minimally convex domains of $\mathbb{R}^{n}$, results on the complex Gauss map, isotopies of conformal minimal immersions, and the analysis of the homotopy type of the space of all conformal minimal immersions from a given open Riemann surface.

We obtain all the solutions of types u(x, y) = f(x) + g(y) and u(x, y) = f(x)g(y) for three known mean-curvature-prescribed equations, namely, the capillary equation, the translating soliton equation and the two-dimensional analogue of the catenary.

In the ambient space of a semidirect product $\mathbb{R}^{2}\rtimes _{A}\mathbb{R}$, we consider a connected domain ${\rm\Omega}\subseteq \mathbb{R}^{2}\rtimes _{A}\{0\}$. Given a function $u:{\rm\Omega}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$, its ${\it\pi}$-graph is $\text{graph}(u)=\{(x,y,u(x,y))\mid (x,y,0)\in {\rm\Omega}\}$. In this paper we study the partial differential equation that $u$ must satisfy so that $\text{graph}(u)$ has prescribed mean curvature $H$. Using techniques from quasilinear elliptic equations we prove that if a ${\it\pi}$-graph has a nonnegative mean curvature function, then it satisfies some uniform height estimates that depend on ${\rm\Omega}$ and on the supremum the function attains on the boundary of ${\rm\Omega}$. When $\text{trace}(A)>0$, we prove that the oscillation of a minimal graph, assuming the same constant value $n$ along the boundary, tends to zero when $n\rightarrow +\infty$ and goes to $+\infty$ if $n\rightarrow -\infty$. Furthermore, we use these estimates, allied with techniques from Killing graphs, to prove the existence of minimal ${\it\pi}$-graphs assuming the value zero along a piecewise smooth curve ${\it\gamma}$ with endpoints $p_{1},\,p_{2}$ and having as boundary ${\it\gamma}\cup (\{p_{1}\}\times [0,\,+\infty ))\cup (\{p_{2}\}\times [0,\,+\infty ))$.

We detail a construction of totally symmetric surfaces of constant mean curvature 0≤H<1 in hyperbolic 3-space of sectional curvature −1 via the generalized Weierstrass type representation.

We prove the existence of a one parameter family of minimal embedded hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$, for $n\geq3$, which generalize the well known two-dimensional ‘Riemann minimal surfaces’. The hypersurfaces we obtain are complete, embedded, simply periodic hypersurfaces which have infinitely many parallel hyperplanar ends. By opposition with the two-dimensional case, they are not foliated by spheres.

Résumé Nous prouvons l’existence d’une famille à un paramètre d’hypersurfaces de $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$, pour $n\geq 3$, qui sont minimales et qui généralisent les surfaces minimales de Riemann. Les hypersurfaces que nous obtenons sont des hypersurfaces complètes, simplement périodiques et qui ont une infinité de bouts hyperplans parallèles. Contrairement au cas des surfaces, i.e. $n=2$, ces hypersurfaces ne sont pas feuilletées par des sphères.

It is still an open question whether a compact embedded hypersurface in the Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ with constant mean curvature and spherical boundary is necessarily a hyperplanar ball or a spherical cap, even in the simplest case of surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$. In a recent paper, Alías and Malacarne (Rev. Mat. Iberoamericana18 (2002), 431–442) have shown that this is true for the case of hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ with constant scalar curvature, and more generally, hypersurfaces with constant higher-order $r$-mean curvature, when $r\geq2$. In this paper we deal with some aspects of the classical problem above, by considering it in a more general context. Specifically, our starting general ambient space is an orientable Riemannian manifold $\bar{M}$, where we will consider a general geometric configuration consisting of an immersed hypersurface into $\bar{M}$ with boundary on an oriented hypersurface $P$ of $\bar{M}$. For such a geometric configuration, we study the relationship between the geometry of the hypersurface along its boundary and the geometry of its boundary as a hypersurface of $P$, as well as the geometry of $P$ as a hypersurface of $\bar{M}$. Our approach allows us to derive, among others, interesting results for the case where the ambient space has constant curvature (the Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$, the hyperbolic space $\mathbb{H}^{n+1}$, and the sphere $\mathbb{S}^{n+1}$). In particular, we are able to extend the symmetry results given in the recent paper mentioned above to the case of hypersurfaces with constant higher-order $r$-mean curvature in the hyperbolic space and in the sphere.

In this paper we prove a uniqueness theorem for minimal discs in R3 spanning a polygonal boundary.

A minimal surface is a surface with vanishing mean curvature. In this paper we study self θ -congruent minimal surfaces, that is, surfaces which are congruent to their θ-associates under rigid motions in R3 for 0 ≤ θ < 2π. We give necessary and sufficient conditions in terms of its Weierstrass pair for a surface to be self θ-congruent. We also construct some examples and give an application.