Harmonic maps between 3-dimensional hyperbolic spaces (Q2017456)

In the theory of harmonic maps, a major open problem is Schoen's conjecture: ``Suppose that \(f:S^{n-1} \rightarrow S^{n-1}\) is quasiconformal. Then there exists a unique harmonic and quasi-isometric map from \(\mathbb{H}^n\) to itself that extends \(f\)''. In this paper, the author confirms this conjecture in the case of \(n=3\). Actually, \textit{P. Li} and \textit{L.-F. Tam} proved that if \(f\) is a \(C^1\) diffeomorphism then the conjecture holds[Ann. Math. (2) 137, No. 1, 167--201 (1993; Zbl 0776.58010); Indiana Univ. Math. J. 42, No. 2, 591--635 (1993; Zbl 0790.58011)]. The author reduces the general case to this one by a clever technique. The main result is Theorem 1.1. which roughly states that the set of \(K\)-qc maps that admit harmonic quasi-isometric extensions is closed with respect to pointwise convergence. To do so, a clear outline is detailed in Section 1.3 (main ideas). A major step seems to be the construction of a ``good extension'' which is almost harmonic and is quasi-isometric.