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Given a surface of genus g with fundamental group π, a representation of π into PSL(2,R) is a homomorphism that assigns to each generator of π an element of P SL(2, R). The group P SL(2, R) acts on Hom(π, P SL(2, R)) by conjugation. Define therepresentationspaceRg tobethequotientspaceHom(π,PSL(2,R))\PSL(2,R). Associated to each representation ρ is a number e(ρ) called its Euler class. Goldman showed that the space Rg has components that can be indexed by Euler classes of rep- resentations, and that there is one component for each integer e satisfying |e| ≤ 2g−2. The two maximal components correspond to Teichmu ̈ller space, the space of isotopy classes of hyperbolic structures on a surface. Teichmu ̈ller space is known to be homeomorphic to a ball of dimension 6g − 6. The other components of Rg are not as well understood. The theory of harmonic maps between non-positively curved manifolds has been used to study Teichmu ̈ller space. Given a harmonic map between hyperbolic surfaces, there is an associated quadratic differential on the domain surface called the Hopf differential. Wolf, following Sampson, proved that via the Hopf differential, harmonic maps parametrize Teichmu ̈ller space. This thesis extends his work to the case of branched hyperbolic structures, which correspond to certain elements in non- maximal components of representation space. More precisely, a branched hyperbolic structure is a pair (M, σ|dz|2) where M is a compact surface of genus g and σ|dz|2 is a hyperbolic metric with integral order cone singularities at a finite number of points expressed in terms of a conformal parameter. Fix a base surface (M, σ|dz|2). For each target surface (M, ρ|dw|2) with the same number and orders of cone points as (M,σ|dz|2), there is a unique harmonic map w : (M,σ|dz|2) → (M,ρ|dw|2) homotopic to the identity that fixes the cone points of M pointwise. Thus we may define another map from the space of branched hyperbolic structures with the same number and orders of cone points to the space of meromorphic quadratic differentials on the base surface M. This map, Φ, takes the harmonic map w associated with a metric ρ|dw|2 to the Hopf differential of w. This thesis shows that the map Φ is injective.

published_or_final_version / Mathematics / Master / Master of Philosophy

Let f : S → S(^4) be an immersion of a Riemann surface in the 4-sphere. The thesis begins with a study of the adapted moving frame of / in order to produce conditions for certain naturally defined lifts to SO(5)/U(2) and S0(5)T(^2) to be conformal, harmonic and holomorphic with respect to two different but naturally occuring almost complex structures. This approach brings together the results of a number of authors regarding lifts of conformal, minimal immersions including the link with solutions of the Toda equations. Moreover it is shown that parallel mean curvature immersions have haj-monic lifts into S0(5)/U(2).A certain natural lift of / into CP(^3), the twistor space of S(^4), is studied more carefully via an explicit description and in the case of / being a conformal immersion this gives a beautiful and simple formula for the lift in terms of a stereographic co-ordinate associated to /. This involves establishing explicitly the two-to-one correspondence between elements of the matrix groups Sp(2) and SO(5) and working with quaternions. The formula enables properties of such lifts to be explored and in particular it is shown that the harmonic sequence of a harmonic lift is either finite or satisfies a certain symmetry property. Uniqueness properties of harmonic lifts are also proved. Finally, the ideas are extended to the hyperbolic space H(^4) and after an exposition of the twistor fibration for this case, a method for constructing superminimal immersions of surfaces into H'^ from those in S"' is given.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 61-66).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Mathematics." Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-52).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-80). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Let f_1, f_2 be univalent harmonic mappings of some planar domain D into the complex plane C. This thesis contains results concerning conditions under which the convolution f_1 ∗ f_2 or the convex combination tf_1 + (1 − t)f_2 is univalent. This is a long-standing problem, and I provide several partial solutions. I also include applications to minimal surfaces.

This manuscript demonstrates the well-posedness (existence, uniqueness, and regularity of solutions) of the Cauchy problem for simplified equations of nematic liquid crystal hydrodynamic flow in three dimensions for initial data that is uniformly locally L3(R3) integrable (L3U(R3)). The equations examined are a simplified version of the equations derived by Ericksen and Leslie. Background on the continuum theory of nematic liquid crystals and their flow is provided as are explanations of the related mathematical literature for nematic liquid crystals and the Navier–Stokes equations.

This manuscript demonstrates the regularity and uniqueness of some geometric heat flows with critical nonlinearity. First, under the assumption of smallness of renormalized energy, several issues of the regularity and uniqueness of heat flow of harmonic maps into a unit sphere or a compact Riemannian homogeneous manifold without boundary are established. For a class of heat flow of harmonic maps to any compact Riemannian manifold without boundary, satisfying the Serrin's condition, the regularity and uniqueness is also established. As an application, the hydrodynamic flow of nematic liquid crystals in Serrin's class is proved to be regular and unique. The natural extension of all the results to the heat flow of biharmonic maps is also presented in this manuscript.