Lu's conjecture for minimal surfaces in codimension two

Abstract

Let $M^2\to\mathbb{S}^4$ be a closed minimal immersion, let $S$ be the squared norm of its second fundamental form, and let $\lambda_1\geq\lambda_2\geq0$ be the eigenvalues of Lu's fundamental matrix. We classify all such immersions for which $S+\lambda_2$ is constant. We prove that the constant can only be $0$ or $2$. In the first case the image is a totally geodesic $2$-sphere; in the second case it is either a Clifford torus in a totally geodesic $\mathbb{S}^3$ or the Veronese surface in $\mathbb{S}^4$. In particular, there is no closed minimal surface in $\mathbb{S}^4$ with constant $S+\lambda_2>2$. Consequently, Lu's second-gap conjecture holds for minimal surfaces in codimension two. Together with the hypersurface result of Peng--Terng and the counterexamples of Li--Zhao in every codimension $m\geq3$, this completes the codimension picture for minimal surfaces.