A note on equivariant biharmonic maps and stable biharmonic maps (Q2195206)

A harmonic map \(\varphi : M \to N\) between Riemannian manifolds is a critical point of the energy functional \(E(\varphi)= \frac{1}{2}\int_M |d\varphi|^2 \, dv_g\), and a map is called biharmonic if it is a critical point of the bienergy functional \[ E_2(\varphi) = \frac{1}{2}\int_M |\tau(\varphi)|^2\, dv_g. \] Here \(\tau(\varphi)\) is the tension field of \(\varphi\). A harmonic map is biharmonic by definition, but the coverse is not true in general. In this paper, the author generalizes biharmonic equation for rotationally symmetric maps to equivariant maps between model spaces. A Riemannian manifold \((M^m, g)\) with a pole \(o\) is called a \textit{model} in the sense of [\textit{R. E. Greene} and \textit{H.-H. Wu}, Function theory on manifolds which possess a pole. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag (1979; Zbl 0414.53043)] if every linear isometry of \(T_oM\) is the differential at \(o\) of an isometry of \(M\). In a model space, the metric can be written as a warped product \((M, g) = ([0, \infty) \times {\mathbb S}^{m-1}, dr^2 + f^2(r) g_{{\mathbb S}^{m-1}})\). Recall that an equivariant map is a map \(\phi : ({\mathbb R}^+ \times {\mathbb S}^{m-1}, dr^2 + \sigma^2(r) g_{{\mathbb S}^{m-1}}) \to ({\mathbb R}^+ \times {\mathbb S}^{n-1}, d \rho^2 + \lambda^2(\rho) g_{{\mathbb S}^{n-1}})\) between model spaces defined by \(\phi(r, \theta)) = (\rho(r), \varphi(\theta)\), where \(\varphi : {\mathbb S}^{m-1} \to {\mathbb S}^{n-1}\) is an eigenmap with eigenvalue \(2e(\varphi) = |d\varphi|^2 = 2k >0\). In particular, a map of the form \(\phi(r, \theta)) = (\rho(r), \theta)\) is called a rotationally symmetric map. The author, first, shows that for an eigenmap \(\varphi : {\mathbb S}^{m-1} \to {\mathbb S}^{n-1}\) with eigenvalue \(2e(\varphi) = 2k\), the equivariant map \(\phi : ({\mathbb R}^+ \times {\mathbb S}^{m-1}, dr^2 + \sigma^2(r) g_{{\mathbb S}^{m-1}}) \to ({\mathbb R}^+ \times {\mathbb S}^{n-1}, d \rho^2 + \lambda^2(\rho) g_{{\mathbb S}^{n-1}})\) between model spaces defined by \(\phi(r, \theta)) = (\rho(r), \varphi(\theta)\) is a biharmonic map if and only if \(\rho\) satisfies \[ \Delta^2 \rho - 2k \Delta \left(\frac{\lambda \lambda'(\rho)}{\sigma^2}\right) - 2k \frac{(\lambda \lambda')'(\rho)}{\sigma^2} \left(\Delta \rho - 2k \frac{\lambda \lambda'(\rho)}{\sigma^2}\right) =0. \] This property gives a generalization of results in [\textit{A. Balmuş} et al., J. Geom. Phys. 57, No. 2, 449--466 (2007; Zbl 1108.58011)] and [\textit{Z.-P. Wang} et al., J. Geom. Phys. 77, 86--96 (2014; Zbl 1284.58007)], and from this, the author provides a complete classification of rotationally symmetric maps from a \(4\)-dimensional space form into a \(4\)-dimensional model space. Namely, the author proves that a rotationally symmetric map \(\phi : M^4(c) \to ({\mathbb R}^+ \times {\mathbb S}^{3}, d \rho^2 + \lambda^2(\rho) g_{{\mathbb S}^{3}})\) defined by \(\phi(r, \theta)) = (\rho(r), \theta)\) is a proper biharmonic conformal diffeomorphism if and only if the target model is a space form, and up to a homothety, the map \(\phi\) is one of the three types of maps given in [\textit{S. Montaldo} et al., J. Math. Anal. Appl. 431, No. 1, 494--508 (2015; Zbl 1371.37025)]. Finally, the author also gives an improved second variational formula for biharmonic maps into a space form, and use it to prove that there exists no stable proper biharmonic maps with constant square norm of tension field from a compact Riemannian manifold into a space form of positive sectional curvature.