English

On an extremal problem for harmonic maps conformal at a point

Complex Variables 2026-05-12 v1

Abstract

Let D\mathbb D denote the unit disc in C\mathbb C. For a domain DCD\subset\mathbb C and a point pDp\in D, let MD(p)M_D(p) denote the supremum of df0\|df_0\| over all harmonic maps f:DDf:\mathbb D\to D with f(0)=pf(0)=p whose differential df0df_0 at 0D0\in \mathbb D is conformal. If f:DDf:\mathbb D\to D is a conformal diffeomorphism onto DD with f(0)=pf(0)=p, then df0MD(p)\|df_0\|\le M_D(p). In a recent paper, the authors proved that equality holds when D=DD=\mathbb D, and they asked whether equality can hold only when DD is a round disc. We give a negative answer by proving that, among bounded convex pointed domains pDCp\in D\subset\mathbb C and up to translations, rotations, and reflections, equality holds if and only if, after moving pp to the origin, D=F(D)D=F(\mathbb D) where F:DCF:\mathbb D\to\mathbb C is a holomorphic map with F(0)=0F(0)=0 and F(z)=c1+az+λz2F'(z)=\frac{c}{1+az+\lambda z^2}, where c>0c>0, λ<1|\lambda|<1, and aaˉλ<1λ2|a-\bar a\lambda|<1-|\lambda|^2. This family contains strongly convex examples which are not round discs.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.09576,
  title  = {On an extremal problem for harmonic maps conformal at a point},
  author = {Franc Forstneric and David Kalaj},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.09576},
  year   = {2026}
}