Metrics of constant curvature on a Riemann surface with two corners on the boundary (Q1012355)

The paper is a study of the problem of existence of a conformal metric with constant Gaussian curvature on a Riemannian surface with prescribed singularities. Starting from the result that a smooth Riemannian metric on a two-dimensional surface is pointwise conformal to a metric of constant curvature, the authors extend the results on smooth surfaces to the case of a surface with singularities. The case of closed surfaces with conical singularities was studied previously. In this paper the authors consider the case of surfaces with boundary. In particular, on a surface with boundary with prescribed singularities they study the question of existence of a conformal metric of constant Gaussian curvature on the interior and constant geodesic curvature on the boundary with respect to the number, order and angle of the conical singularities. As the existence of conformal metrics is connected to the Liouville equation, the authors apply methods from partial differential equations used to determine the asymptotic behavior of solutions to the Liouville equation near the singularities. The authors prove that on the unit disk with two corners on the boundary there exists a conformal metric with constant Gaussian curvature and constant geodesic curvature on the boundary if and only if the two corners have the same angle.