On the index of minimal surfaces with free boundary in a half-space

Abstract

We study the Morse index of minimal surfaces with free boundary in a half-space. We improve previous estimates relating the Neumann index to the Dirichlet index and use this to answer a question of Ambrozio, Buzano, Carlotto, and Sharp concerning the non-existence of index two embedded minimal surfaces with free boundary in a half-space. We also give a simplified proof of a result of Chodosh and Maximo concerning lower bounds for the index of the Costa deformation family.