Conformal metrics with prescribed boundary mean curvature on balls (Q1039328)

The problem studied by the authors appears as the Euler equation of the functional \[ J(u)=\left( \int_{\mathbb{S}^{n-1}} Hu^{\frac{2(n-1)}{n-2}}\, d\sigma_{g_0} \right)^{\frac{2-n}{n-1}} \] defined on \(H^1(\mathbb{B}^n)\) with the norm \[ \|u\|^2=\int_{\mathbb{B}^n} |\nabla u|^2 \, dv_{g_0} +\frac{n-2}{2} \int_{\mathbb{S}^{n-1}} u^2 \, d\sigma_{g_0}. \] Here, the flat metric \(g_0\) on \(\mathbb{R}^n\) induces the corresponding metrics on \(\mathbb{B}^n\) and \(\mathbb{S}^{n-1}\). The paper provides an expansion of \(J\) and its gradient near a critical point at infinity. Applying Morse theory techniques, while extending certain topological invariants defined by Bahri in the study of Yamabe type problems on closed manifolds, leads to a variety of classes of functions that can be realized as the mean curvature on the boundary of a ball.