The spectral geometry of harmonic maps into \(HP^n(c)\) (Q1364543)

Let \(\phi:(M,g)\rightarrow(N,h)\) be a harmonic map from a Riemannian manifold \((M,g)\) to a Riemannian manifold \((N,h)\). Let \(E:=\pi^*TN\) be the pullback of the tangent bundle of \(N\) to the tangent bundle of \(M\) and let \(\widetilde\nabla=\phi^*\nabla_N\) be the pullback of the Levi-Civita connection on \(N\) to the bundle \(E\) over \(M\). The operator \(J_\phi\) is the operator of Laplace type on the space of smooth sections to \(E\) given by \[ J_\phi f=\widetilde\nabla^*\widetilde\nabla f-\Sigma_iR_h(\phi^*e_i,f)\phi^*e_i \] for \(f\in C^\infty(E)\) and \(\{e_i\}\) a local orthonormal frame field on \(TN\). For \(t>0\), the fundamental solution of the heat equation \(e^{-tJ_\phi}\) is of trace class in \(L^2\) and there is an asymptotic expansion \(\text{Tr}_{L^2}e^{-tJ_\phi}\sim\Sigma_{\nu\geq0}a_nt^{\nu-m/2}\) where \(m\) denotes the dimension of \(M\). The coefficients \(a_\nu\) have been computed by \textit{H. Urakawa} [Ill. J. Math. 33, 250-267 (1989; Zbl 0644.53048)] for \(\nu=0,1,2\). The author studies the case when the target manifold is quaternionic projective space \(\mathbb{H} P^k(c)\) with quaternionic sectional curvature \(c\) and specializes Urakawa's formulas to this setting. The author uses this calculation to show that if the operators \(J_\phi\) associated to two different harmonic maps \(\phi_1\) and \(\phi_2\) are isospectral, then the two harmonic maps have the same energy and also satisfy certain additional properties. The author uses this result to obtain some geometric results distinguishing typical harmonic maps (i.e., isometric minimal immersions and Riemannian submersions with minimal fibers).