Mappings of least Dirichlet energy and their Hopf differentials

The paper is concerned with mappings between planar domains having least Dirichlet energy. The existence and uniqueness (up to a conformal change of variables in the domain) of the energy-minimal mappings is established within the class $\bar{\mathscr H}_2(X, Y)$ of strong limits of homeomorphisms in the Sobolev space $W^{1,2}(X, Y)$, a result of considerable interest in the mathematical models of Nonlinear Elasticity. The inner variation leads to the Hopf differential $h_z \bar{h_{\bar{z}}} dz \otimes dz$ and its trajectories. For a pair of doubly connected domains, in which $X$ has finite conformal modulus, we establish the following principle: A mapping $h \in \bar{\mathscr H}_2(X, Y)$ is energy-minimal if and only if its Hopf-differential is analytic in $X$ and real along the boundary of $X$. In general, the energy-minimal mappings may not be injective, in which case one observes the occurrence of cracks in $X$. Nevertheless, cracks are triggered only by the points in the boundary of $Y$ where $Y$ fails to be convex. The general law of formation of cracks reads as follows: Cracks propagate along vertical trajectories of the Hopf differential from the boundary of $X$ toward the interior of $X$ where they eventually terminate before making a crosscut.Comment: 51 pages, 4 figure

Existence of energy-minimal diffeomorphisms between doubly connected domains

The paper establishes the existence of homeomorphisms between two planar domains that minimize the Dirichlet energy. Specifically, among all homeomorphisms f : R -> R* between bounded doubly connected domains such that Mod (R) < Mod (R*) there exists, unique up to conformal authomorphisms of R, an energy-minimal diffeomorphism. No boundary conditions are imposed on f. Although any energy-minimal diffeomorphism is harmonic, our results underline the major difference between the existence of harmonic diffeomorphisms and the existence of the energy-minimal diffeomorphisms. The existence of globally invertible energy-minimal mappings is of primary pursuit in the mathematical models of nonlinear elasticity and is also of interest in computer graphics.Comment: 34 pages, no figure

Invertible harmonic mappings, beyond Kneser

We prove necessary and sufficient criteria of invertibility for planar harmonic mappings which generalize a classical result of H. Kneser, also known as the Rad\'{o}-Kneser-Choquet theorem.Comment: One section added. 15 page

Quantitative estimates on Jacobians for hybrid inverse problems

We consider $\sigma$-harmonic mappings, that is mappings $U$ whose components $u_i$ solve a divergence structure elliptic equation ${\rm div} (\sigma \nabla u_i)=0$, for $i=1,\ldots,n$. We investigate whether, with suitably prescribed Dirichlet data, the Jacobian determinant can be bounded away from zero. Results of this sort are required in the treatment of the so-called hybrid inverse problems, and also in the field of homogenization studying bounds for the effective properties of composite materials.Comment: 15 pages, submitte

Smooth equivalence of deformations of domains in complex euclidean spaces

We prove that two smooth families of 2-connected domains in \cc are smoothly equivalent if they are equivalent under a possibly discontinuous family of biholomorphisms. We construct, for $m \geq 3$, two smooth families of smoothly bounded $m$-connected domains in \cc, and for $n\geq2$, two families of strictly pseudoconvex domains in \cc^n, that are equivalent under discontinuous families of biholomorphisms but not under any continuous family of biholomorphisms. Finally, we give sufficient conditions for the smooth equivalence of two smooth families of domains

Quasisymmetric distortion spectrum

We give improved bounds for the distortion of the Hausdorff dimension under quasisymmetric maps in terms of the dilatation of their quasiconformal extension. The sharpness of the estimates remains an open question and is shown to be closely related to the fine structure of harmonic measure.Comment: 14 page