Is there a Teichmüller principle in higher dimensions? (Q1624795)

The present paper is devoted to Teichmüller's principle for one-dimensional holomorphic maps and its extension to higher dimensions. For a meromorphic function \(Q\) on \(\mathbb C\), a formal expression \(Q(w)dw^2\) is a quadratic differential. Let \(F\in S\), i.e., \(F\) is holomorphic and univalent in the unit disk \(\mathbb D=\{z\in\mathbb C:|z|<1\}\), \(F(0)=0\), \(F'(0)=1\). We say that \(F\) is admissible for \(Q(w)dw^2\) if \(F\) maps \(\mathbb D\) onto \(\mathbb C\) minus finitely many analytic arcs \(w=w(t)\) satisfying \(Q(w)dw^2>0\). Teichmüller's principle connects an extremal problem for univalent functions with an associated quadratic differential. The discussion in the paper is restricted to the \(N\)-th coefficient functional \(J_N(f):=a_N\) for \(f(z)=z+\sum_{k=2}^{\infty}a_kz^k\in\text{Hol}(\mathbb D,\mathbb C)\). The author introduces Schiffer's and Teichmüller's theorems for a function \(F\in S\) that is extremal for \(\text{Re}\,J_N\) over \(S\), and writes down the Loewner differential equation in higher dimensions. The goal of the paper is to show that Schiffer's theorem can be extended to higher dimensions using the Loewner equation. A statement of Teichmüller's coefficient theorem in terms of the Loewner equation opens up the possibility for an extension of Teichmüller's principle to higher dimensions. The author proposes the following scheme. The Loewner equation is interpreted as a control system, and extremal coefficient problems are treated as optimal control problems to find a reachable set for the time \(t\) of the Loewner equation. The Pontryagin maximum principle provides the standard necessary condition for an optimal control. The intimate relation between the one-dimensional Schiffer's differential equation and Pontryagin's maximum principle is briefly described, and Schiffer's theorem is extended to higher dimensions. Finally, the Teichmüller coefficient problem is formulated solely in terms of the Loewner differential equation. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1393.32001].