Guo–Wang's conjecture for positive harmonic functions on the unit ball

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Let n≥3n\geq 3, let Bn⊂Rn\mathbb{B}^n\subset\mathbb{R}^n be the unit ball with boundary sphere Sn−1\mathbb{S}^{n-1}, and let u∈C∞(Bn)u\in C^{\infty}(\mathbb{B}^n) be positive and satisfy

{Δu=0in⁡Bn,∂u∂ν+λu=uqon⁡Sn−1,\begin{cases} \Delta u=0 & \operatorname{in} \mathbb{B}^n,\\\\ \dfrac{\partial u}{\partial\nu}+\lambda u=u^q & \operatorname{on} \mathbb{S}^{n-1}, \end{cases}

where 1<q≤nn−21<q\leq\dfrac{n}{n-2} and 0<λ≤1q−10<\lambda\leq\dfrac{1}{q-1} are constants. Guo–Wang's conjecture. Either uu is constant, or q=nn−2q=\dfrac{n}{n-2}, λ=n−22\lambda=\dfrac{n-2}{2}, and, for some a∈Bna\in\mathbb{B}^n,

u(x)=(n−221−∣a∣2∣a∣2∣x∣2−2⟨x,a⟩+1)n−22.u(x)=\left(\dfrac{n-2}{2}\dfrac{1-|a|^2}{|a|^2|x|^2-2\langle x,a\rangle+1}\right)^{\frac{n-2}{2}}.

This is the model-space version of Wang's conjecture. The paper gives partial verification, while the conjecture in the full stated parameter range remains open; related results resolve the two-dimensional analogue and the ball case cited in the paper.

References

Primary source

Xiaohan Cai, “Uniqueness results for positive harmonic functions on manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature and strictly convex boundary”, arXiv:2511.09994 (2026).

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