The devils in node opening.

Author: Hao Chen

Abstract: The node opening technique is a powerful tool developed by Traizet for constructing minimal surfaces. It has been very successful in gluing catenoids into minimal surfaces, but its application to gluing saddle towers has met with many restrictions. I will give a detailed account of our recent construction that glues saddle towers into minimal surfaces. It makes use of many devils in the details of the node opening technique.