Einstein metrics with prescribed conformal infinity on 4-manifolds (Q938227)

Let \(M\) be a compact, connected, oriented manifold with non-empty boundary \(\partial M\). A defining function \(\rho\) for \(\partial M\) in \(M\) is a non-negative \(C^\infty\) function on the closure \(\overline M=M\cup\partial M\) such that \(\rho^{-1}(0)=\partial M\) and \(d \rho\neq 0\) on \(\partial M\). A complete Riemannian metric \(g\) on \(M\) is conformally compact if there is a defining function \(\rho\) such that the conformally equivalent metric \(\widetilde g=\rho^ 2\,g\) extends at least continuously to a Riemannian metric \(\widetilde g\) on \(\overline M\). The metric \(\gamma=\widetilde g_{|\partial M}\) induced on \(\partial M\) is the boundary metric induced by \(g\) and the compactification \(\rho\). Any compact manifold with boundary carries many conformally compact metrics. The compactification \(\rho\) is not uniquely determined by \((M,g)\). The conformal class \([\gamma]\) of a boundary metric is uniquely determined by \(g\) and is called the conformal infinity of \((M,g)\). In this paper, the author considers complete conformally compact Einstein metrics \(g\) on \((n + 1)\)-dimensional manifolds \(M\), normalized so that \(\text{Ric}_ g = -n g\). It is shown that the existence of conformally compact Einstein metrics with prescribed conformal infinity, when the conformal infinity is of positive scalar curvature, on \(4\)-manifolds depends on the topology of the filling manifold. The obstruction to extending these results to arbitrary boundary values is also given. The author shows that if \(M\) is a \(4\)-manifold satisfying \(\pi_ 1(M,\partial M)=0\) for which the inclusion \(i: \partial M \to \overline M\) induces a surjection \(H_ 2(\partial M,\mathbb F)\to H_ 2(\overline M,\mathbb F)\to 0\) for all fields \(\mathbb F\), then, for any \((m,\alpha)\), \(m\geq 4\), the natural boundary map \(\Pi^ 0: {\mathcal E}^ 0_{AH}\to {\mathcal C}^ 0\), taking a class \([g]\) of asymptotically hyperbolic Einstein metrics \(g\) on \(M\) to its conformal infinity \([\gamma]\) on \(\partial M\), is proper. Also, it is shown that if \(M=B^ 4\) is the \(4\)-ball, with \(\partial M=S^ 3\), \({\mathcal C}^ 0\) is the component of the non-negative \(C^ {m,\alpha}\) conformal classes containing the round metric on \(S^ 3\), and \({\mathcal E}_{AH}^ 0\) is the component of \(\Pi^{-1}({\mathcal C}^ 0)\) containing the Poincaré metric on \(B^ 4\), then the \(\mathbb Z\)-valued invariant \(\text{deg}_{B^ 4}\Pi^ 0\) is \(1\).