The second variation of the Dirichlet energy on contact manifolds (Q1190675)

Let \(M^{2n+1}\) be a compact contact manifold with contact form \(\eta\) and characteristic vector field \(\xi\). Denote by \({\mathcal M}(\eta)\) the set of associated metrics. For \(g\in {\mathcal M}(\eta)\), let \(\tau={\mathcal L}_ \xi(g)\) and define a functional on \({\mathcal M}(\eta)\) by \(L(g)=\int_ M|\tau|^ 2\;dV_ g\). In dimension 3 this integral was studied by \textit{S. S. Chern} and \textit{R. S. Hamilton} in [Lect. Notes Math. 1111, 279-305 (1985; Zbl 0561.53039)]. Since \(\text{Ric}(\xi)=2n-{1\over 4}|\tau|^ 2\), the critical point condition for \(L\) is the same as for \(I(g)=\int_ M\text{Ric}(\xi)\;dV_ g\) and was obtained by the reviewer in [J. Aust. Math. Soc. 37, 82-88 (1984; Zbl 0552.53014)]. If \(\xi\) is a regular vector field (i.e., each point of the manifold has a neighborhood such that integral curves passing through the neighborhood, pass through only once) the critical point condition forces the metric to be such that \(\xi\) generates a 1-parameter group of isometries but in general a critical point with \(\tau\neq 0\) may exist [again see the reviewer (loc. cit.) and ibid. 50, No. 2, 189-196 (1991; 733.53015)]. In the present paper the author proves that along any path \(g_{ij}(t)=g_{ir}[\delta^ r_ j+tH^ r_ j+\cdots]\) in \({\mathcal M}(\eta)\), \(L''(0)=2\int_ M|{\mathcal L}_ \xi H|^ 2\;dV_ g\geq 0\), \(\mathcal L\) denoting Lie differentiation, and that \(L(g)\) has a minimum at each critical point. The proof of the formula for \(L''(0)\) is a lengthy computation. The proof that each critical point is a minimum makes use of a second result in the paper that if \({\mathcal L}_ \xi H=0\), then \(| \tau|^ 2\) is constant along the geodesics \(g(t)=ge^{Ht}\) in \({\mathcal M}(\eta)\).