Abstract
We prove that every properly embedded minimal annulus in $\mathbb{S}^2\times\mathbb{R}$ is foliated by circles. We show that such minimal annuli are given by periodic harmonic maps $\mathbb{C} \to \mathbb{S}^2$ of finite type. Such harmonic maps are parameterized by spectral data, and we show that continuous deformations of the spectral data preserve the embeddedness of the corresponding annuli. A curvature estimate of Meeks and Rosenberg is used to show that each connected component of spectral data of embedded minimal annuli contains a maximum of the flux of the third coordinate. A classification of these maxima allows us to identify the spectral data of properly embedded minimal annuli with the spectral data of minimal annuli foliated by circles.
Optimizing geometric measures for fixed minimal annulus and inradius