An extrinsic rigidity theorem for submanifolds with parallel mean curvature in a sphere (Q534548)

The authors prove the following extrinsic rigidity theorem for submanifolds with parallel mean curvature in the unit sphere \(S^{n+p}\): Theorem. Let \(M^n\) be an \(n\)-dimensional compact submanifold in a unit sphere \(S^{n+p}(1)\) with parallel mean curvature vector field of norm \(H\). Denote by \(\tilde h\) the trace-free part of the second fundamental form of \(M\) in \(S^{n+p}\), and define \[ \tilde\sigma(u)=||\tilde h(u,u)||^2\qquad \forall u\in UM, \] where \(UM\) means the unit tangent bundle over \(M\). If \[ \tilde\sigma(u)\leq C(n,p,H)\qquad \forall u\in UM, \] then \(M\) is one of the following: {\parindent6.5mm \begin{itemize}\item[(1)] the totally umbilical sphere \(\displaystyle S^n_H=S^n\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{1+H^2}}\right)\); \item[(2)] The Clifford isoparametric hypersurface \[ S^{n/2}\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{2(1+H^2+H\sqrt{1+H^2})}}\right)\times S^{n/2}\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{2(1+H^2-H\sqrt{1+H^2})}}\right); \] \item[(3)] one of the embeddings \(\phi_{i,p},\;i=1,2,3,4\) or the immersion \(\phi'_{i,p}\). \end{itemize}} Here, \(C(n,p,H)\) is a given constant related with \(n,p,H\). Denote by \(\psi_1:\mathbb RP^2\to S^4(1),\;\psi_2:\mathbb CP^2\to S^7(1),\;\psi_3:\mathbb QP^2\to S^{13}(1)\) and \(\psi_4:\text{Cay}\, P^2\to S^{25}(1)\) the isometric embeddings, and let \(\psi'_1=\psi_1\circ\pi:S^2(\sqrt{3})\to S^4(1)\), where \(\pi:S^2(\sqrt{3})\to \mathbb RP^2\) is the canonical projection, and let \(\tau_{n,m}:S^n(1)\to S^{n+m}(1)\) be the inclusion, and \[ \begin{alignedat}{2} \phi_{1,p}&=\tau_{4,p-1}\circ\psi_1:\mathbb RP^2\to S^{2+p}\qquad&&\forall p\geq 2,\\ \phi_{2,p}&=\tau_{7,p-3}\circ\psi_2:\mathbb CP^2\to S^{4+p}\qquad&&\forall p\geq 3,\\ \phi_{3,p}&=\tau_{13,p-5}\circ\psi_3:QP^2\to S^{8+p}\qquad&&\forall p\geq 5,\\ \phi_{4,p}&=\tau_{25,p-9}\circ\psi_4:Cal\, P^2\to S^{16+p}\qquad&&\forall p\geq 9,\\ \phi'_{1,p}&=\tau_{4,p-2}\circ\psi'_1:S^2(\sqrt{3})\to S^{2+p}\qquad&&\forall p\geq 2. \end{alignedat} \] This is an extension of a paper by \textit{H. Gauchman} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 298, 779--791 (1986; Zbl 0608.53056)]. For original papers about this topic, see [\textit{S. S. Chern, M. do Carmo} and \textit{S. Kobayashi} Funct. Anal. Relat. Fields, Conf. Chicago 1968, 59--75 (1970; Zbl 0216.44001); \textit{H. B. Lawson}, Ann. Math. (2) 89, 187--197 (1969; Zbl 0174.24901)].