A characteristic of hyperbolic space form (Q1284265)

The authors prove the following (Theorem 2.1): Let \(M\) be a complete manifold of dimension \(n\) which is isomorphic to the hyperbolic space form \(\mathbb H^n\)(-c) iff \(M\) admits a \(C^2\) real-valued function \(\Phi\) satisfying \(D^2 \Phi = c^2\Phi g\), \(c\neq 0\), and such that \(\Phi\) has at least one extreme value at some point on \(M\); in the above formula \(g\) is the Riemannian metric on \(M\). Similar results for a sphere are proved in \textit{M. Obata} [J. Math. Soc. Japan 14, 333-339 (1962; Zbl 0115.39302)]. See also \textit{Y. Zheng} [Tsukuba, J. Math. 18,135-143 (1994; Zbl 0812.53042)].