Existence and regularity for generalised harmonic maps associated to a nonlocal polyconvex energy of Skyrme type

Abstract

We prove existence and regularity of critical points of arbitrary degree for a generalised harmonic map problem, in which there is an additional nonlocal polyconvex term in the energy, heuristically of the same order as the Dirichlet term. The proof of regularity hinges upon a special nonlinear structure in the Euler–Lagrange equation similar to that possessed by the harmonic map equation. The functional is of a type appearing in certain models of the quantum Hall effect describing nonlocal Skyrmions.