A Bochner formula for harmonic maps into non-positively curved metric spaces (Q2003742)

In this paper, the author studies the harmonic maps from Riemannian manifolds into non-positively curved (NPC) metric spaces and CAT(-1) metric spaces. The main result is a Bochner formula involving the Ricci curvature of the domain. Precisely, let \(u:M\to X\) be a harmonic map from a Riemannian manifold \(M\) to an NPC metric space \(X\). Then, the energy density of the map satisfies \[ \frac 12\Delta|\nabla u|^2\geq \langle \mathrm{Ric},\pi\rangle \] in the weak sense. Here, \(\pi\) denotes the pull-back tensor of the map \(u\) and Ric denotes the Ricci curvature tensor on \(M\). If target space \(X\) is CAT(-1), then \[ \frac 12\Delta|\nabla u|^2\geq \langle \mathrm{Ric},\pi\rangle+|\nabla u|^4-|\pi|^2. \] This generalizes the classical Bochner identity for harmonic maps between smooth Riemannian manifolds by \textit{J. Eells jun.} and \textit{J. H. Sampson} [Am. J. Math. 86, 109--160 (1964; Zbl 0122.40102)], and the Bochner formula for harmonic maps from Riemannian manifolds of non-negative sectional curvature to non-positively curved simplicial complexes by \textit{J. Chen} [Duke Math. J. 79, No. 1, 77--99 (1995; Zbl 0855.58015)]. As applications, the author concludes that the harmonic map \(u\) from a compact Riemannian manifold \(M\) with non-negative Ricci curvature into an NPC metric space has constant energy density. If in addition the Ricci curvature of \(M\) is positive somewhere, \(u\) must be a constant map. Moreover, if the target space is CAT\((-1)\) and the harmonic map \(u\) is not a constant map, then the rank of the pull-back tensor \(\pi\) is equal to one almost everywhere.