A Liouville type theorem for minimizing maps (Q2565443)

Let \(\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^2\) be a bounded open connected smooth subset, \(S^2\subset \mathbb{R}^3\) be the standard 2-sphere, \(S^1\) be the horizontal great circle on \(S^2\), and \(g:\partial\Omega\to S^1\) be a smooth map. The authors establish a Liouville type theorem for minimizing maps from \(\mathbb{R}^2\) into a compact Riemannian manifold \(N\). The main theme relies on the fact that minimizers of such boundary value problems always lie in a half sphere. As a consequence of this, they prove a local gradient estimate for minimal solutions to a variational problem arising from planar ferromagnetism and anti-ferromagnetism. Furthermore, it can be studied the asymptotic behavior of entire solutions.