Radó-Kneser-Choquet theorem for harmonic mappings between surfaces (Q522251)

A classical result on harmonic mappings is the Radó-Kneser-Choquet theorem, which says that an Euclidean harmonic mapping from the unit disk onto a Jordan domain bounded by a convex curve is a diffeomorphism if the boundary mapping is a homeomorphism. In the paper under review, the author studies the condition under which a given orientation-preserving harmonic mapping between surfaces is a diffeomorphism. The author begins with a recent result of \textit{G. J. Martin} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 368, No. 1, 647--658 (2016; Zbl 1350.30033)]: Let \(f:\Omega\to\tilde\Omega\) be a harmonic mapping between two domains \(\Omega\) and \(\tilde\Omega\) in the complex plane \(\mathbb C\) with respect to a \(C^{\infty}\) positive function \(\rho\) on \(\tilde\Omega\), that is, \(f\) is a solution to the non-linear second-order elliptic equation \[ f_{z\bar z}(z) + (\log\rho)_z(f) f_z(z) f_{\bar z}(z) = 0. \] Then for any relatively compact subset \(U\subset\Omega\), there is a quasiconformal diffeomorphism \(g: U\to\mathbb C\) and a holomorphic function \(\phi: g(U) \to\mathbb C\) such that \(f =\phi\circ g\). In particular, if \(f\) has degree 1, then \(f\) is a diffeomorphism. The author first points out that the quasiconformal mapping \(g\) here is not a diffeomorphism in general, and gives a fast approach to this result under the weak assumption that \(\rho\) is \(C^2\)-smooth. Then he uses this result to prove that an orientation-preserving harmonic mapping of the unit disk onto a \(C^{3, \alpha}\) surface bounded by a Jordan curve which belongs to the boundary of a convex domain in \(\mathbb R^3\) is a diffeomorphism.