No label defined (Q4549283)

Let \((M,g)\) be a Riemannian manifold of dimension \(m\) and \((N,J,h)\) a Kähler manifold, where \(h\) is the Kähler metric and \(J\) the complex structure on \(N\). The Schrödinger flow is the infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian flow defined on the space of mappings from \((M,g)\) into \((N,J,h)\) by the evolution equation \(u_t=J(u)\tau(u)\), where \(\tau(u)\) is the so-called tension field, well-known in the theory of harmonic maps. For certain specific cases there are some remarkable results on the existence of solutions for this nonlinear evolution system [the author and \textit{Y. Wang}, Sci. China Ser. A 41, 746-755 (1998; Zbl 0918.53017); \textit{N. Chang, J. Shatah} and \textit{K. Uhlenbeck}, Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 53, 590-602 (2000; Zbl 1028.35134); \textit{Y. Zhou, B. Guo} and \textit{S. Tan}, Sci. China Ser. A 34, 257-266 (1991; Zbl 0752.35074); \textit{P. Sulem, C. Sulem} and \textit{C. Bardos}, Commun. Math. Phys. 107, 431-454 (1986; Zbl 0614.35087); \textit{P. Pang, H. Wang} and \textit{Y. D. Wang}, Commun. Anal. Geom. 10, 653-681 (2002; Zbl 1032.53057)]. par For the general case, however, it turns out that even local existence is hard to prove. In this respect, the author gives a description of the proof of the following result obtained together with \textit{Y. D. Wang} and stated in a previous paper [Sci. China, Ser. A 44, 1446-1464 (2001; Zbl 1019.53032)]: If \(M\) and \(N\) are closed, \(m_0=[m/2]+1\) and \(u_0\in W^{k,2}(M,N)\) for any \(k\geq m_0+3\), then the initial value problem for the above equation with the initial value \(u_0\) has a unique local solution. Moreover, if \(u_0\in C^{\infty}(M,N)\), the local solution is \(C^{\infty}\). Some open problems concerning Schrödinger flows are pointed out. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0993.00022].