In this chapter, we introduce the concept of conserved quantity of a constrained Willmore surface in a space-form. In codimension 1, the existence of a conserved quantity for a constrained Willmore surface characterizes the constancy of the mean curvature of the surface in some space-form. In codimension 2, surfaces with holomorphic mean curvature vector in some space-form are examples of constrained Willmore surfaces admitting a conserved quantity. Both constrained Willmore spectral deformation and Bäcklund transformation preserve the existence of a conserved quantity of a constrained Willmore surface, defining, in particular, transformations within the class of constant mean curvature surfaces in 3-dimensional space-forms, with, furthermore, preservation of both the space-form and the mean curvature, in the latter case, as we shall prove.

Among the classes of Riemannian submanifolds, there is that of Willmore surfaces, named after Thomas Willmore, although the topic had already made its appearance early in the nineteenth century, through the works of Germain and Poisson, and again in the 1920s, through the works of Blaschke and Thomsen, whose findings were forgotten and only brought to light after the increased interest on the subject motivated by the work of T. Willmore, in part due to the celebrated Willmore conjecture, now affirmed by Marques–Neves. From the early 1960s, Willmore devoted particular attention to the quest for the optimal immersion of a given closed surface into Euclidean 3-space, regarding the minimization of some natural energy, motivated by questions on the elasticity of biological membranes and the energetic cost associated with membrane-bending deformations. The Willmore energy of a surface in Euclidean 3-space is given by its total squared mean curvature. We present a manifestly conformally invariant formulation of the Willmore energy of a surface in n-dimensional space-form. Willmore surfaces are the critical points of the Willmore functional, characterized by the harmonicity of the mean curvature sphere congruence. This characterization will enable us to apply to the class of Willmore surfaces the well-developed integrable systems theory of harmonic maps.

Willmore surfaces in space-forms are characterized by the harmonicity of the mean curvature sphere congruence. In this chapter, we introduce the concept of perturbed harmonicity of a bundle, which will apply to the mean curvature sphere congruence to provide a characterization of constrained Willmore surfaces in space-forms. A generalization of the well-developed integrable systems theory of harmonic maps emerges. The starting point is a zero-curvature characterization of constrained Willmore surfaces, due to Burstall–Calderbank, which we derive in this chapter. Constrained Willmore surfaces come equipped with a family of flat metric connections. We then define a spectral deformation of perturbed harmonic bundles, by the action of a loop of flat metric connections, and Bäcklund transformations, defined by the application of a version of the Terng–Uhlenbeck dressing action by simple factors. Transformations on the level of perturbed harmonic bundles prove to give rise to transformations on the level of constrained Willmore surfaces, via the mean curvature sphere congruence. We establish a permutability between spectral deformation and Bäcklund transformation and show that all these transformations corresponding to the zero Lagrange multiplier preserve the class of Willmore surfaces. We define, more generally, transformations of complexified surfaces and prove that, for special choices of parameters, both spectral deformation and Bäcklund transformation preserve reality conditions.

This chapter is dedicated to the very special class of constant mean curvature surfaces. A classical result by Thomsen characterizes isothermic Willmore surfaces in 3-space as minimal surfaces in some 3-dimensional space-form. Constant mean curvature surfaces in 3-dimensional space-forms are examples of constrained Willmore surfaces, characterized by the existence of some conserved quantity. Both constrained Willmore spectral deformation and Bäcklund transformation prove to preserve the existence of such a conserved quantity, defining, in particular, transformations within the class of constant mean curvature surfaces in 3-dimensional space-forms, with, furthermore, preservation of both the space-form and the mean curvature, in the latter case. The class of constant mean curvature surfaces in 3-dimensional space-forms lies, in this way, at the intersection of several integrable geometries, with classical transformations of its own, as well as transformations as a class of constrained Willmore surfaces, together with transformations as a subclass of the class of isothermic surfaces, as we explore in this chapter. Constrained Willmore transformation proves to be unifying to this rich transformation theory, as we shall conclude.