Let M and N be two compact complex manifolds. We show that if the tautological line bundle O_{T^∗}M(1) is not pseudo-effective and O_{T^∗}N(1) is nef, then there is no non-constant holomorphic map from M to N. In particular, we prove that any holomorphic map from a compact complex manifold M with RC-positive tangent bundle to a compact complex manifold N with nef cotangent bundle must be a constant map. As an application, we obtain that there is no non-constant holomorphic map from a compact Hermitian manifold with positive holomorphic sectional curvature to a Hermitian manifold with non-positive holomorphic bisectional curvature.

Loewner’s equation provides a way to encode a simply connected domain or equivalently its uniformizing conformal map via a real-valued driving function of its boundary. The first main result of the present paper is that the Dirichlet energy of this driving function (also known as the Loewner energy) is equal to the Dirichlet energy of the log-derivative of the (appropriately defined) uniformizing conformal map. This description of the Loewner energy then enables to tie direct links with regularized determinants and Teichmüller theory: We show that for smooth simple loops, the Loewner energy can be expressed in terms of the zeta-regularized determinants of a certain Neumann jump operator. We also show that the family of finite Loewner energy loops coincides with the Weil–Petersson class of quasicircles, and that the Loewner energy equals to a multiple of the universal Liouville action introduced by Takhtajan and Teo, which is a Kähler potential for the Weil–Petersson metric on the Weil–Petersson Teichmüller space.

In this paper, we prove some results on bi-Hölder extensions not only for biholomorphisms but also for more general Kobayashi metric quasi-isometries between the domains. Furthermore, we establish the Gehring–Hayman type theorems on certain complex domains which play an important role through the paper. Then by applying the above results, we show the bi-Hölder equivalence between the Euclidean boundary and the Gromov boundary of bounded convex domains which are Gromov hyperbolic with respect to their Kobayashi metrics.