 Solution

The determinant condition is $r^{\prime }(r/R{)}^2=1$, or $r^2{r}^{\prime }=R^2$. Integration gives $r^3=R^3+C$ and the outer boundary value fixes $C=t^3-1$. ThusFor $t>1$, $r(R)$ tends to the positive cavity radius $(t^3-1{)}^{1/3}$ as $R\downarrow 0$. Its tangential stretches grow like that radius divided by $R$, so $|F|\to \infty$. The deformation is singular at the origin and is interpreted as a finite-energy Sobolev deformation, with a point value irrelevant to its energy.

Since $r^{\prime }=R^2/r^2$ and the determinant penalty is zero almost everywhere,For fixed $t>1$, the first integrand is $O(R^6)$ near zero and the second is bounded. Thus the energy is finite despite the unbounded gradient. In particular the gradient is square integrable, as required for this competitor.

For large $t$, $r(R)/t\to 1$ uniformly on $[0,1]$. The first integral is $O(t^{-4})$, while ${\int }_0^{1}r(R{)}^{2}dR\sim t^2$. ConsequentlyThe spherical volume factor $R^{2}dR$ is what makes the $R^{-1}$ tangential-gradient singularity integrable in three dimensions.