Partial regularity for stationary harmonic maps at a free boundary (Q2491117)

Considering two smooth Riemannian manifolds \(M\) and \(N\), where \(M\) is of dimension \(n\geq 2\) with nonempty boundary and \(N\) compact with boundary, the author studies stationary harmonic maps \(u\in H^1(M,N)\) which satisfy a free boundary condition \(u(\partial M)\subset\Gamma\), where \(\Gamma\) is a submanifold \(\Gamma\subset M\). A partial regularity result is proved, namely \({\mathcal H}^{n-2}( \text{sing}(u))=0\), which extends the known one -- stated only for the interior of the domain [\textit{F. Bethuel}, Manuscr. Math. 78, No. 4, 417--443 (1993; Zbl 0792.53039)]. This result allows to reduce the dimension of the singular set further under additional assumptions on the target manifold and the submanifold.