No label defined (Q4720007)

A map \(\phi: M\to N\) between Riemannian manifolds \(M\) and \(N\) is a harmonic morphism if it carries germs of harmonic functions to germs of harmonic functions. It is well known that a map \(\phi\) is a harmonic morphism if and only if it is harmonic and horizontally conformal. In this paper, by using the theory of submanifold geometry, the author proves the following theorem: Let \(U\) be a connected open subset in \(\mathbb{R}^m\), and \(\phi:U\to \mathbb{R}^n\) a harmonic morphism which is horizontally homothetic. Then \(\phi\) is a composition of \(P|_U\) and a homothetic map, where \(P|_U\) denotes the restriction of an orthogonal projection \(P:\mathbb{R}^m\to \mathbb{R}^n\) to \(U\). An application of this theorem is to give a simple proof of the following result due to \textit{S. Gudmundsson} and \textit{R. Sigurdsson} [Potential Anal. 2, No. 3, 295-298 (1993; Zbl 0783.58015)]: Let \(U\) be a connected open subset in \(\mathbb{C}^m\), and \(\phi: U\to\mathbb{C}^n\) a nonconstant holomorphic map. Then (i) \(\phi\) is a harmonic morphism when \(n=1\). (ii) If \(n\geq 2\), then \(\phi\) is a harmonic morphism if and only if \(\phi\) is a composition of \(P|_U\) and a homothetic map, where \(P|_U\) denotes the restriction of an orthogonal projection \(P:\mathbb{C}^m\to \mathbb{C}^n\) to \(U\).