Harmonic maps on complete manifolds (Q1576867)

It is an interesting problem to know when there exist a harmonic map between the two complete noncompact manifolds. By a heat flow method, the authors observe the behaviour of harmonic maps between two complete noncompact manifolds \(M^m\) and \(N^n\). The major approach is to study the corresponding parabolic equation with a proper initial data, then to show the convergence of the solution as time \(t\) tends to infinitely. The sufficient conditions are that the manifold \(M\) admits a positive Green's function and \(\int_M G(x,y)|u(h(y))|dV_y\) is bounded on each compact subset of \(M\) if the Ricci curvature of \(M\) is bounded from below by a negative constant. Where \(u(h(y))\) is the tension field of the initial data \(h(x)\) to ensure the uniform convergence of the heat flow, and hence the existence of harmonic maps. For the related papers to refer \textit{J. Eells} and \textit{L. Lemaire} [Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 20, No. 5, 385-524 (1988; Zbl 0669.58009)], \textit{Y. Shen} [Am. J. Math. 117, No. 3, 773-785 (1995; Zbl 0839.53027)] and \textit{R. Schoen} and \textit{S. T. Yau} [Commentarr. Math. Helvet. 51, 333-341 (1976; Zbl 0361.53040)].