We prove an extension of Eells and Sampson's rigidity theorem for harmonic maps from a closed manifold of non-negative Ricci curvature to a manifold of non-positive sectional curvature. We give an application of our result in the setting of harmonic-Einstein (or Ricci-harmonic) metrics and as a consequence we recover a classical rigidity result of Hamilton for the problem of prescribed positive definite Ricci curvature.
In this paper, we consider critical maps of a horizontal energy functional for maps from a sub-Riemannian manifold to a Riemannian manifold. These critical maps are referred to as subelliptic harmonic maps. In terms of the subelliptic harmonic map heat flow, we investigate the existence problem for subelliptic harmonic maps. Under the assumption that the target Riemannian manifold has non-positive sectional curvature, we prove some Eells-Sampson type existence results for this flow when the source manifold is either a step-2 sub-Riemannian manifold or a step-r sub-Riemannian manifold whose sub…
Conformal harmonic maps from a 4-dimensional conformal manifold to a Riemannian manifold are maps satisfying a certain conformally invariant fourth order equation. We prove a general existence result for conformal harmonic maps, analogous to the Eells-Sampson theorem for harmonic maps. The proof uses a geometric flow and relies on results of Gursky-Viaclovsky and Lamm.
This report attempts a clean presentation of the theory of harmonic maps from complex and Kähler manifolds to Riemannian manifolds. After reviewing the theory of harmonic maps between Riemannian manifolds initiated by Eells--Sampson and the Bochner technique, we specialize to Kähler domains and introduce pluriharmonic maps. We prove a refined Bochner formula due to Siu and Sampson and its main consequences, such as the strong rigidity results of Siu. We also recount the applications to symmetric spaces of noncompact type and their relation to Mostow rigidity. Finally, we explain the key role o…
In this paper, we discuss the heat flow of a pseudo-harmonic map from a closed pseudo-Hermitian manifold to a Riemannian manifold with non-positive sectional curvature, and prove the existence of the pseudo-harmonic map which is a generalization of Eells-Sampson's existence theorem. We also discuss the uniqueness of the pseudo-harmonic representative of its homotopy class which is a generalization of Hartman theorem, provided that the target manifold has negative sectional curvature.
J.Eells and L. Lemaire introduced k-harmonic maps, and T. Ichiyama, J. Inoguchi and H.Urakawa showed the first variation formula. In this paper, we describe the ordinary differential equations of $3$-harmonic curves into a Riemannian manifold with constant sectional curvature, and show biharmonic curve is k-harmonic curve $(k\geq 2)$.
We study analytic properties of harmonic maps from Riemannian polyhedra into CAT($κ$) spaces for $κ\in\{0,1\}$. Locally, on each top-dimensional face of the domain, this amounts to studying harmonic maps from smooth domains into CAT($κ$) spaces. We compute a target variation formula that captures the curvature bound in the target, and use it to prove an $L^p$ Liouville-type theorem for harmonic maps from admissible polyhedra into convex CAT($κ$) spaces. Another consequence we derive from the target variation formula is the Eells-Sampson Bochner formula for CAT(1) targets.
J. Eells and L. Lemaire introduced k-harmonic maps, and Wang Shaobo showed the first variational formula. When, k=2, it is called biharmonic maps (2-harmonic maps). There have been extensive studies in the area. In this paper, we consider the relationship between biharmonic maps and k-harmonic maps, and show non-existence theorem of 3-harmonic maps. We also give the definition of k-harmonic submanifolds of Euclidean spaces, and study k-harmonic curve in Euclidean spaces. Futhermore, we give a conjecture for k-harmonic submanifolds of Euclidean spaces.
By making use of the classification of real simple Lie algebra, we get the maximum of the squared length of restricted roots case by case, thus we get the upper bounds of sectional curvature for irreducible Riemannian symmetric spaces of compact type. As an application, we verify Sampson's conjecture in all cases for irreducible Riemannian symmetric spaces of noncompact type.
In this article, a six-parameter family of highly connected 7-manifolds which admit an SO(3)-invariant metric of non-negative sectional curvature is constructed and the Eells-Kuiper invariant of each is computed. In particular, it follows that all exotic spheres in dimension 7 admit an SO(3)-invariant metric of non-negative curvature.
J.Eells and L. Lemaire introduced $k$-harmonic maps, and Wang Shaobo showed the first variation formula. In this paper, we give the second variation formula of $k$-energy, and give a notion of index, nullity and weakly stable. We also study $k$-harmonic maps into the product Riemannian manifold, and $k$-harmonic curves into a Riemannian manifold with constant sectional curvature, and show their non-trivial solutions.
Let $(M,H,g_H;g)$ be a sub-Riemannian manifold and $(N,h)$ be a Riemannian manifold. For a smooth map $u: M \to N$, we consider the energy functional $E_G(u) = \frac{1}{2} \int_M[|\mathrm{d}u_H|^2-2G(u)] \mathrm{d}V_M$, where $\mathrm{d}u_H$ is the horizontal differential of $u$, $G:N\to \mathbb{R}$ is a smooth function on $N$. The critical maps of $E_G(u)$ are referred to as subelliptic harmonic maps with potential $G$. In this paper, we investigate the existence problem for subelliptic harmonic maps with potentials by a subelliptic heat flow. Assuming that the target Riemannian manifold has …
Fifty years ago, Eells and Sampson have proved a famous theorem in which they argued that any harmonic mapping $f:(M,g) \rightarrow (\bar{M},\bar{g})$ is totally geodesic if $(M, g)$ is a compact manifold with the nonnegative Ricci tensor and the section curvature of $(\bar{M},\bar{g})$ is nonpositive. Moreover, other main results of the theory of harmonic mappings "in the large" are the results on harmonic maps into nonpositively curved Riemannian manifolds. In our paper we develop a theory of harmonic mappings into Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature. In particular, we …
In this paper we study an energy of maps between almost Hermitian manifolds for which pseudo-holomorphic maps are global minimizers. We derive its Euler-Lagrange equation, the $\bar{\partial}$-harmonic map equation, and show that it coincides with the harmonic map equation up to first order terms. We prove results analogous to the those that hold for harmonic maps, including obstructions to the long time existence of the associated parabolic flow, an Eells-Sampson type result under appropriate conditions on the target manifold, and a bubbling result for finite time singularities on surfaces. W…
We generalize the results of Song-Zelditch on geodesics in spaces of Kahler metrics on toric varieties to harmonic maps of any compact Riemannian manifold with boundary into the space of Kahler metrics on a toric variety. We show that the harmonic map equation can always be solved and that such maps may be approximated in the C^2 topology by harmonic maps into the spaces of Bergman metrics. In particular, WZW maps, or equivalently solutions of a homogeneous Monge-Ampere equation on the product of the manifold with a Riemann surface with S^1 boundary admit such approximations. We also show that…
The twistor space \Z of an oriented Riemannian 4-manifold M admits a natural 1-parameter family of Riemannian metrics h_t compatible with the almost complex structures J_1 and J_2 introduced, respectively, by Atiyah, Hitchin and Singer, and Eells and Salamon. In this paper we compute the first Chern form of the almost Hermitian manifold (\Z,h_t,J_n), n=1,2 and find the geometric conditions on M under which the curvature of its Chern connection D^n is of type (1,1). We also describe the twistor spaces of constant holomorphic sectional curvature with respect to D^n and show that the Nijenhuis te…
We extend Siu's and Sampson's celebrated rigidity results to non-compact domains. More precisely, let $M$ be a smooth quasi-projective variety with universal cover $\tilde M$ and let $\tilde X$ be a symmetric space of non-compact type, a locally finite Euclidean building or the Weil-Petersson completion of the Teichmüller space of a surface of genus $g$ and $p$ punctures with $3g-3+p>0$. Under suitable assumptions on a homomorphism $ρ: π_1(M) \rightarrow \mathsf{Isom}(\tilde X)$, we show that there exists a $ρ$-equivariant pluriharmonic map $\tilde u: \tilde M \rightarrow \tilde X$ of possibly…
We extend the adiabatic limit formula for eta-invariants by Bismut-Cheeger and Dai to Seifert fibrations. Our formula contains a new contribution from the singular fibres that takes the form of a generalised Dedekind sum. As an application, we compute the Eells-Kuiper and t-invariants of certain cohomogeneity one manifolds that were studied by Dearricott, Grove, Verdiani, Wilking, and Ziller. In particular, we determine the diffeomorphism type of a new manifold of positive sectional curvature.
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University（纽约大学柯朗数学科学研究所）；Dipartimento di Matematica “Felice Casorati”, Università di Pavia（帕维亚大学费利切·卡索拉蒂数学系）；Johns Hopkins University（约翰斯·霍普金斯大学）；Department of Mathematics, Purdue University（普渡大学数学系）
In this paper, we investigate critical maps of the horizontal energy functional $E_{H,\widetilde{H}}(f)$ for maps between two pseudo-Hermitian manifolds $(M^{2m+1},H(M),J,θ)$ and $(N^{2n+1},\widetilde{H}(N), \widetilde{J},\widetildeθ)$. These critical maps are referred to as $(H,\widetilde{H})$-harmonic maps. We derive a CR Bochner formula for the horizontal energy density $|df_{H, \widetilde{H}}|^{2}$, and introduce a Paneitz type operator acting on maps to refine the Bochner formula. As a result, we are able to establish some Bochner type theorems for $(H,\widetilde{H})$-harmonic maps. We al…
