Explicit formulas for biharmonic submanifolds in Sasakian space forms (Q1011623)

Biharmonic \(\varphi:(M,g)\rightarrow(N,h)\) maps between Riemannian manifolds generalize harmonic ones and are the critical points of the bienergy functional \[ \frac{1}{2}\int_M |\tau(\varphi)| ^2 v_g, \] where \(\tau(\varphi)=\text{trace}\,\nabla d\varphi\). The Euler-Lagrange equation for the bienergy functional is \[ \tau_2(\varphi):=-\Delta\tau(\varphi)-\text{trace}\,R^N(d\varphi,\tau(\varphi))d\varphi=0. \] A contact metric manifold \((N,\varphi,\xi,\eta,g)\) is a Riemannian manifold \((N,g)\) with a tensor field \(\varphi\) of type \((1,1)\), a vector field \(\xi\), and a 1-form \(\eta\) such that \[ \varphi^2=-\text{id}+ \eta\otimes\xi, \quad \eta(\xi)=1, \quad g(\varphi X,\varphi Y)=g(X,Y)-\eta(X)\eta(Y), \quad g(X,\varphi Y) =d\eta(X,Y), \] for all vector fields \(X,Y\) on \(N\). In this case it can be shown that \(g(\xi,X)=\eta(X)\) for every vector field \(X\). \((N,\varphi,\xi,\eta,g)\) is called Sasakian if it is normal, meaning that \(N_\varphi+2\,d\eta\otimes\xi=0\), where \[ N_\varphi(X,Y):=[\varphi X,\varphi Y]-\varphi[\varphi X,Y]- \varphi[X,\varphi Y]+\varphi^2[X,Y], \] for vector fields \(X,Y\). The sectional curvature of a 2-plane generated by \(X\) and \(\varphi X\), where \(X\) is a unit vector orthogonal to \(\xi\), is called \(\varphi\)-sectional curvature determined by \(X\). If the \(\varphi\)-sectional curvature is constant, \(N\) is called a Sasakian space form. A submanifold \(M\) of \(N\) is called integral if \(\eta(X)=0\) for every vector \(X\) tangent to \(M\); a Legendre curve is by definition an integral curve in \(N\). The biharmonic equation for a Legendre curve \(\gamma\) simplifies to \[ \tau_2(\gamma)=\nabla_T^3 T-R(T,\nabla_TT)T=0, \] where \(T=\gamma^\prime\). The authors classify all biharmonic Legendre curves in a Sasakian space form and obtain their explicit parametric equations in the \((2n+1)\)-dimensional unit sphere \(S^{2n+1}\) endowed with the following canonical and deformed Sasakian structures: For the canonical one let \(g_0\) be the standard metric field, \(\xi_0(z):=-Jz\), where \[ Jz:=(-y_1,\dots,-y_{n+1},x_1,\dots,x_{n+1}) \] for \(z=(x_1,\dots,x_{n+1},y_1,\dots,y_{n+1}) \), \(\eta_0(X)=g_0(\xi_0,X)\), and \(\varphi_0(z):=s_z\circ J\), where \(s_z:{\mathbb R}^{2n+2}\rightarrow T_zS^{2n+1}\) denotes the orthogonal projection. For the deformed one let \(\xi=\frac{1}{a}\xi_0\), \( \varphi=\varphi_0\), \(g=ag_0+a(a-1)\eta_0\otimes\eta_0\) \((a>0)\). With these structures, \(S^{2n+1}\) becomes a Sasakian space form of \(\varphi\)-sectional curvature \(\frac{4}{a}-3\). In the sequel, the authors show that, under the flow-action of \(\xi\), a biharmonic integral submanifold becomes a biharmonic anti-invariant one, that is, a submanifold \(M\) tangent to \(\xi\) such that \(\varphi\) maps every vector tangent to \(M\) and normal to \(\xi\) to a vector normal to \(M\). At last, the authors obtain new examples of biharmonic submanifolds of \(S^7\).