Distances between classes of sphere-valued Sobolev maps (Q292516)

This note reports on two recent works by the authors, including [ESAIM, Control Optim. Calc. Var. 22, No. 4, 1204--1235 (2016; Zbl 1371.46027)], on the subject of distances between homotopy classes of (fractional) Sobolev self-maps of \(\mathbb S^n\) and between classes of (fractional) Sobolev maps from smooth bounded simply-connected domains in \(\mathbb R^n\) taking values in \(\mathbb S^1\). In some cases, exact formulas are provided for such distances. A number of interesting open problems are discussed along the text.