Curvature estimates for minimal surfaces with total boundary curvature less than 4π

Abstract

We establish a curvature estimate for classical minimal surfaces with total boundary curvature less than 4π. The main application is a bound on the genus of these surfaces depending solely on the geometry of the boundary curve. We also prove that the set of simple closed curves with total curvature less than 4πand which do not bound an orientable compact embedded minimal surface of genus greater than g, for any given g, is open in the C^{2,α} topology.

7 pages