The differential equation $\Delta u = 8\pi - 8\pi h\exp {u}$ on a compact Riemann surface

Abstract

Let $M$ be a compact Riemann surface, $h(x)$ a positive smooth function on $M$. In this paper, we consider the functional $$J(u)={1/2}\int \sb{M}|\bigtriangledown u|\sp 2 + 8\pi \int\sb{M}u -8\pi \log\int\sb{M}h\exp {u}$$. We give a sufficient condition under which $J$ achieves its minimum.