A weighted Poincaré inequality and removable singularities for harmonic maps (Q1416715)

This work is articulated around the following Poincaré inequality with weights: \[ \int_{{\mathbb R}^n} \frac{| f| ^{p}}{d^{p}(x,\Sigma)} \, dx \leq C_{p} \int_{{\mathbb R}^n} | Df| ^{p} \, dx \quad \forall f\in C_{0}^{1}({\mathbb R}^n) , \] where \(1<p< \infty\) and \(\Sigma\) is a closed subset of \({\mathbb R}^n\). First, a necessary condition is found: let \(1<p\leq n\), if \(\Sigma\) is a \(WP_{p}({\mathbb R}_{+})\)-fine set then the above weighted Poincaré inequality holds for any \(f\in C_{0}^{1}(Q)\), where \(Q\) is a cube in \({\mathbb R}^n\) of small enough side-length. While the definition of \(WP_{p}({\mathbb R}_{+})\)-fineness is rather technical, it is shown to be equivalent to a locally uniform covering property, which, for example, is satisfied by compact Riemannian manifolds of dimensions less than \(n-[p]-1\), though having a finite \((n-p)\)-Hausdorff measure is not enough. This concept is then used to prove that, for \(2\leq p < n\), if a stationary \(p\)-harmonic map of small enough \(p\)-energy has a set of singularities which is \(WP_{p}({\mathbb R}_{+})\)-fine, then this set is removable. The case \(1<p<2\) remains open.