Uniqueness of small solutions to the Dirichlet problem for the higher dimensional \(H\)-system (Q1384869)

Consider a smooth bounded domain \(\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^n\), \(n\geq 2\), and a sufficiently regular boundary datum \(u_0:\partial \Omega\to \mathbb{R}^{n+1}\). Let \(u,v\in C^0 (\overline \Omega, \mathbb{R}^{n+1}) \cap W^1_n\) denote weak solutions of the Dirichlet problem \[ \sum^n_{i=1} {\partial\over \partial x_i} \left(| \nabla u|^{n-2} {\partial\over \partial x_i} u \right) =n^{n/2} H(u_{x_1} \times \cdots \times u_{x_n}) \quad \text{in } \Omega,\;u=u_0 \text{ on } \partial \Omega, \] where \(H\) is a constant and \(a_1\times \cdots \times a_n\) denotes the cross product of \(n\) vectors in \(\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\). Assuming the smallness condition \(| H| \cdot \max \bigl(\sup | u|, \sup| v| \bigr) <1/n\), the author proves that \(u=v\). An essential tool is an optimal estimate for the permanent of \(n\times n\)-matrices.