The hedgehog uniquely minimises every $p$-energy

RESUMO

We prove that for every dimension $n \geq 2$ and parameter $p \in ]1,n[$, the hedgehog $u_0(x) = x/|x|$ is the unique minimiser of the $p$-energy $\mathcal{E}_p [u]:=\int_{\mathbf{B}^n}|\nabla u|^p\,{\rm d}x$ in the class of $W^{1,p}$-mappings from the $n$-dimensional unit ball $\mathbf{B}^n$ to the $(n-1)$-dimensional unit sphere $\mathbf{S}^{n-1}=\partial\mathbf{B}^n$ whose trace equal to the identity on $\mathbf{S}^{n-1}$. This answers in the affirmative an open question on p.29 in [Robert M. Hardt, Singularities of harmonic maps, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 34 (1997), 15--34].