A note on harmonic quasiconformal mappings (Q950456)

Let \((M^m,g)\) and \((N^n,h)\) be two Riemannian manifolds with metrics \(g=\sum_{i,j=1}^mg_{ij}dx^idx^j\) and \(h=\sum_{\alpha,\beta=1}^nh_{\alpha\beta}dy^{\alpha}dy^{\beta}\), respectively. For a \(C^2\) mapping \(f\), the tension fields of \(f=(f^1,\dots,f^n)\) are given by \[ \tau^{\alpha}(f)= \Delta_Mf^{\alpha}+\sum_{i,j=1}^m\sum_{\beta,\gamma=1}^n \Gamma_{\beta\gamma}^{\alpha}(f) \frac{\partial f^{\beta}}{\partial x^i}\frac{\partial f^{\gamma}}{\partial x^j}g^{ij}, \] where \(\alpha=1,2,\dots,n\), and \(\{\Gamma_{\beta\gamma}^{\alpha}\}\) are the Christoffel symbols of \(N\). Then \(f\) is called a harmonic mapping if \(\tau^{\alpha}(f)=0\) for all \(\alpha=1,2,\dots,n\). When \(M\) and \(N\) are two Riemann surfaces the harmonicity of \(f\) depends only on the target metric \(h\). If \(f\) is also quasiconformal, it is called a harmonic quasiconformal mapping with respect to \(h\). Schoen conjectured that the harmonic quasiconformal mappings with respect to the Poincaré metric of the upper half plane \(\mathbb{R}_+^2\) onto itself are parameterized by the set of quasisymmetric homeomorphisms of the real axis \(R\) onto itself. The uniqueness part of the Schoen conjecture has been proved by Li and Tam while the existence part is partially solved by confining to some classes of mappings. The authors of the paper show that there is no solution to the Schoen conjecture among the class of mappings which imaginary parts are functions only in \(y\) unless \(f=u+iv\) is a conformal mapping. Namely, the main result is Theorem 1.1: Suppose that \(f=u+iv\) is a harmonic quasiconformal mapping with respect to the Poincaré metric of \(\mathbb{R}_+^2\) onto itself. If \(v(x,y)=v(y)\), then \(f=c(x+iy)+b\), where \(c>0\) and \(b\) is a real number.