A singular sphere covering inequality: uniqueness and symmetry of solutions to singular Liouville-type equations (Q2314811)

The authors consider the Louiville type equation \(\Delta u + h(x)e^u=f(x)\) on a smooth bounded domain \(\Omega\) in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) where \(h(x)>0\). They derive a singular version of the sphere covering inequality (see [\textit{C. Gui} and \textit{A. Moradifam}, Invent. Math. 214, No. 3, 1169--1204 (2018; Zbl 1410.53037)]) and use this result to derive uniqueness results for solutions to the singular mean field equations. They also give a new proof of the uniqueness of spherical convex polygons (see [\textit{F. Luo} and \textit{G. Tian}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 116, No. 4, 1119--1129 (1992; Zbl 0806.53012)]). The first section contains an introduction to the matter at hand. The second section treats the singular sphere covering inequality. The third section deals with the singular sphere covering equality with the same total mass. The fourth section studies uniqueness of solutions of the singular Liouville equation on the 2 dimensional sphere. The fifth section discusses symmetry for the spherical Onsager vortex equation.