Generalized Liouville theorem in nonnegatively curved Alexandrov spaces (Q1044797): Difference between revisions

A conjecture by S.\,T.\thinspace Yau, solved by \textit{T.\,H.\thinspace Colding} and \textit{W.\,P.\thinspace Minicozzi II} [Ann.\ Math.\ (2) 146, No.\,3, 725--747 (1997; Zbl 0928.53030)], states that, for an open manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature, the space of harmonic functions with polynomial growth of a fixed rate is finite-dimensional. Here, the same is proved for harmonic functions on an Alexandrov space with nonnegative curvature, which is assumed to be connected, noncompact and without boundary. Under the same assumption, it is also proved that any positive harmonic function must be constant, a Liouville-type theorem. Key ingredients of the proof are uniform Poincaré and Sobolev inequalities, which are used to derive a Harnack inequality by Moser iteration.