SYMMETRY AND UNIQUENESS OF EMBEDDED MINIMAL HYPERSURFACES IN ℝn+1

In this paper, we prove some rigidity results about embedded minimal hypersurface M ⊂ ℝn+1 with compact ∂M that has one end which is regular at infinity. We first show that if M ⊂ ℝn+1 meets a hyperplane in a constant angle ≥ ��/2, then M is part of an n-dimensional catenoid. We show that if M meets a sphere in a constant angle and ∂M lies in a hemisphere determined by the hyperplane through the center of the sphere and perpendicular to the limit normal vector nM of the end, then M is part of either a hyperplane or an n-dimensional catenoid. We also show that if M is tangent to a C2 convex hypersurface S, which is symmetric about a hyperplane P and nM is parallel to P, then M is also symmetric about P. In special, if S is rotationally symmetric about the xn+1-axis and nM = en+1, then M is also rotationally symmetric about the xn+1-axis.