Harmonic maps of foliated Riemannian manifolds (Q1938044)

A foliation \({\mathcal F}\) of a manifold \(M\) is harmonic if all leaves of \({\mathcal F}\) are minimal submanifolds of \(M\). This paper is on the borderline between the study of harmonic maps and the geometry of Riemannian foliations. A foliated map \(\Phi:(M,{\mathcal F},g)\to (N,{\mathcal G},h)\) is said to be a \(({\mathcal F},{\mathcal F})\)-harmonic map if \(\phi\) is a critical point of the energy functional \(E_T: C^\infty({\mathcal F},{\mathcal G})\to \mathbb{R}\), \(E_T(\phi)= \int_M e_T(\phi)\,dv_g\) and the Euler-Lagrange equations of the corresponding variational principle \(\delta E_T(\phi)= 0\) are \(\text{trace\,}g_2\beta_T(\phi)- \phi_*\tau{\mathcal F}= 0\), where \(\tau_{{\mathcal F}}\) is the mean curvature of \({\mathcal F}\). The authors study \(({\mathcal F},{\mathcal G})\)-harmonic maps between foliated Riemannian manifold \((M,{\mathcal F},g)\) and \((N,{\mathcal G},h)\), i.e., critical points \(\phi: M\to N\) of the functional \(E_T(\phi)\) with respect to variations through foliated maps. From the content of the paper: \(({\mathcal F},{\mathcal G})\)-harmonic maps and morphisms, stability of \(({\mathcal F},{\mathcal G})\)-harmonic maps, transversally holomorphic maps of Kählerian foliations and an application to holomorphic maps of Vaisman manifolds, \(({\mathcal F},{\mathcal G})\)-harmonic maps into spheres. From the results: Theorem 1. ``Let \((M,{\mathcal F},g)\) be a compact orientable foliated Riemannian manifold, where \({\mathcal F}\) is transersally oriented Riemannian and \(g\) is bundle-like. Then, for any surjective, submersive \(({\mathcal F},{\mathcal G})\)-harmonic morphism \(\phi: M\to N\) of \((M,{\mathcal F},g)\) into another compact orientable foliated Riemannian manifold \((N,{\mathcal G},h)\) (with \({\mathcal G}\) transversally oriented Riemannian and \(h\) bundle-like) the induced map of basic cohomology \(\phi^*: H^1_B({\mathcal G})\to H^1_B({\mathcal F})\) is injective. In particular \(\dim_{\mathbb{R}}{\mathcal H}^1_B({\mathcal F})\geq\dim_{\mathbb{R}}{\mathcal H}^1_B({\mathcal G})\). Here, \({\mathcal H}^*_B({\mathcal F})= \{w\in \Omega^*_B({\mathcal F}):\Delta_B\omega= 0\}\).'' Theorem 2. ``If the foliated Riemannian manifold \((N,{\mathcal G},h)\) has nonpositive transverse sectional curvature then any \(({\mathcal F},{\mathcal G})\)-harmonic map \(\Phi\in C^\infty({\mathcal F},{\mathcal G})\) is weakly stable.'' Some examples are given.