Reshetnyak rigidity for Riemannian manifolds

Abstract

We prove two rigidity theorems for maps between Riemannian manifolds. First, we prove that a Lipschitz map $f:M\to N$ between two oriented Riemannian manifolds, whose differential is almost everywhere an orientation-preserving isometry, is an isometric immersion. This theorem was previously proved using regularity theory for conformal maps; we give a new, simple proof, by generalizing the Piola identity for the cofactor operator. Second, we prove that if there exists a sequence of mapping $f_n:M\to N$, whose differentials converge in $L^p$ to the set of orientation-preserving isometries, then there exists a subsequence converging to an isometric immersion. These results are generalizations of celebrated rigidity theorems by Liouville (1850) and Reshetnyak (1967) from Euclidean to Riemannian settings. Finally, we describe applications of these theorems to non-Euclidean elasticity and to convergence notions of manifolds.