Non-existence of Poincaré-Einstein manifolds with prescribed conformal infinity (Q2400826)

A Poincaré-Einstein manifold is a pair \((X,g_+)\), such that \(X\) is the interior of a compact manifold \(\overline X\) with boundary \(\partial X =M\), \(g_+\) is an Einstein metric of negative scalar curvature, there exists a positive smooth function \(\rho\) on \(X\) such that \(d\rho\neq 0\) on \(M\) and \(\rho^2g_+\) extends to a metric \(\overline g\) on \(\overline X\). The compactified metric \(\overline g\) is assumed to be at least \(C^2\), up to the boundary. Putting \(\gamma=\overline g_{|M}\), the conformal class \([\gamma]\) is called the conformal infinity of \((X,g_+)\). The main example is the Poincaré model for the hyperbolic space on the unit ball \(B^n\subset\mathbb{R}^n\), \(\partial B^n= S^{n-1}\) being the round sphere and the conformal infinity the standard conformal structure on \(S^{n-1}\). Vice versa, given a conformal class of metrics on \(M =\partial X\), one asks whether the interior \(X\) admits a Poincaré-Einstein metric whose conformal infinity is the given conformal class. A partial solution of this problem was given by \textit{C. R. Graham} and \textit{J. M. Lee} [Adv. Math. 87, No. 2, 186--225 (1991; Zbl 0765.53034)], who proved that, if \(\gamma\) is a metric sufficiently close to the round metric on \(S^{n-1}\), there exists a Poincaré-Einstein metric on the ball \(B^n\) whose conformal infinity is \([\gamma]\). In this nice paper the authors state the existence of infinitely many conformal classes on the sphere \(S^7\) which are not conformal infinity to a Poincaré-Einstein metric on the ball \(B^8\). They use the construction of \textit{M. Gromov} and \textit{H. B. Lawson}, jun. [Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 58, 83--196 (1983; Zbl 0538.53047)], who proved that the space \({\mathcal R}^+(S^7)\) of positive scalar curvature metrics on \(S^7\) has infinitely many connected components. This helps in proving the next result. Theorem. There are infinitely many connected components of \({\mathcal R}^+ (S^7)\) containing metrics whose conformal class cannot be conformal infinity of a Poincaré-Einstein metric on the ball \(B^8\). The existence of a compactification of \((X, g_+)\) and of a metric with constant scalar curvature such that \(\partial X\) is minimal in \(\overline X\) is equivalent to solving one version of the boundary Yamabe problem. The authors prove a sharp inequality between the Yamabe invariant associated with any compact Riemannian manifold with boundary and the Yamabe invariant of the boundary. This allows to reobtain a result of Qing.