Conformally formal manifolds and the uniformly quasiregular non-ellipticity of \((\mathbb{S}^2 \times\mathbb{S}^2)\#(\mathbb{S}^2\times\mathbb{S}^2)\) (Q2054265)

The paper is devoted to quasiregular self-maps answering an open question. Given two oriented Riemann \(n\)-manifolds \(M\) and \(N\), a map \(f:M\to N\) is \(K\)-quasiregular, \(K\geq1\), if \(f\) is continuous, \(f\in W_{\text{loc}}^{1,n}(M,N)\) and \(|Df(x)|^n\leq KJ_f(x)\) for almost every \(x\in M\). Here, \(|\cdot|\) is the operator norm, and \(J_f\) is the Jacobian determinant. A \(K\)-quasiregular homeomorphism is called \(K\)-quasiconformal. A self-map \(M\to M\) is uniformly \(K\)-quasiregular if every iterate of \(f\) is \(K\)-quasiregular. A closed, connected, oriented Riemann \(n\)-manifold \(M\) is quasiregularly elliptic if there exists a non-constant quasiregular map \(f:\mathbb R^n\to M\). Similarly, \(M\) is uniformly quasiregularly elliptic if there exists a non-constant non-injective uniformly quasiregular self-map \(f:M\to M\). The author resolves negatively an open question in the following theorem. Theorem 1.1. The manifold \((\mathbb S^2\times\mathbb S^2)\#(\mathbb S^2\times\mathbb S^2)\) is not uniformly quasiregularly elliptic. The author gives also the concrete topological obstruction for uniformly quasiregular ellipticity.