A maximum principle for generalizations of harmonic maps in Hermitian, affine, Weyl, and Finsler geometry (Q253807)

In this paper, the authors prove that the maximum principle of Jäger-Kaul for harmonic maps holds for a more general class of maps. Let \((M, g)\) be a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary \(\partial M\) and \((X, h)\) a complete manifold without boundary. Let \(B_R(p)\) be a geodesic ball in \(X\) of radius \(R<\frac{\pi}{2\sqrt{\kappa}}\) which is disjoint from the cut-locus of its center \(p\). Here \(\kappa\) is the maximum among zero and the supremum of the sectional curvature on \(B_R(p)\). The maximum principle of Jäger-Kaul says that if \(u\), \(v : M\to X\) are two harmonic maps into a geodesic ball \(B_R(p)\), then the function \(\Theta : M \to \mathbb R\) defined by \[ \Theta (x) = \frac{q_\kappa (d(u(x), v(x)))}{\cos \left(\sqrt{\kappa} d(p, u(x))\right) \cos\left(\sqrt{\kappa} d(p, v(x))\right)} \] satisfies the maximum principle, namely, \(\max\limits_M \Theta \leq \max\limits_{\partial M} \Theta\). Here \(d\) is the distance function on \(X\), and \(q_\kappa:\mathbb R\to\mathbb R_+\) is defined by \(q_\kappa(t) = \frac{t^2}{2}\) if \(\kappa=0\) and \(q_\kappa(t) = \frac{1}{\kappa} (1-\cos \sqrt{\kappa} t)\) if \(\kappa >0\). Now let \(V\) be a vector field on \(M\). We call a map \(u : M\to X\) a V-harmonic map if \(u\) satisfies \(\tau(u) + du(V) = 0\), where \(\tau(u) = \mathrm{tr}D du\) is the tension field of the map \(u\). Note that the notion of \(V\)-harmonic maps includes Hermitian harmonic maps in [the second author and \textit{S.-T. Yau}, Acta Math. 170, No. 2, 221--254 (1993; Zbl 0806.53064)], Weyl harmonic maps in [\textit{G. Kokarev}, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3) 99, No. 1, 168--194 (2009; Zbl 1175.53073)], affine harmonic maps in [the second author and \textit{F. Muazzez Şimşir}, Analysis, München 29, No. 2, 185--197 (2009; Zbl 1185.53072)], and Finsler maps from a Finsler manifold into a Riemannian manifold. The main result in this paper is that the maximum principle of Jäger-Kaul is true for \(V\)-harmonic maps. Namely, if \(u\), \(v \in C^0(M, X)\) are two \(V\)-harmonic maps into a geodesic ball \(B_R(p)\), then the function \(\Theta\) defined above satisfies the maximum principle. For the heat flow of \(V\)-harmonic maps, the analogue result also holds. Precisely, for \(T>0\), let \(M_T = M \times [0, T]\), and denote the parabolic boundary of \(M_T\) by \(\partial_pM_T = (M \times \{0\}) \cup (\partial M \times [0, T])\). Consider the heat flow of \(V\)-harmonic maps \[ \partial_t u = \tau(u) + du(V). \] The authors show that if \(u\), \(v \in C^(M, X)\) are two solutions of the heat flow for \(V\)-harmonic maps into a geodesic ball \(B_R(p)\), then the function \(\Theta: M_T \to \mathbb R\) defined by above with \(M\) replaced by \(M_T\) satisfies the maximum principle. Finally, as a direct application of the maximum principle, the authors prove the existence of the \(V\)-harmonic maps into a geodesic ball.