Biharmonic Riemannian submersions from 3-manifolds (Q658328)

A biharmonic map between Riemannian manifolds is a critical point of the bi-energy functional given by integration of the square of the tension field. A submanifold is called a biharmonic submanifold if the isometric immersion that defines the submanifold is a biharmonic map. It is well-known [\textit{B.-Y. Chen} and \textit{S. Ishikawa}, Kyushu J. Math. 52, No.~1, 167--185 (1998; Zbl 0892.53012); \textit{G. Jiang}, Chin. Ann. Math., Ser. A 8, No. 1--5, 377--383 (1987; Zbl 0637.53071)] that an isometric immersion of a surface into the three-dimensional Euclidean space is biharmonic if and only if it is harmonic (i.e., minimal), and, later, \textit{R. Caddeo, S. Montaldo} and \textit{C. Oniciuc} [Isr. J. Math. 130, 109--123 (2002; Zbl 1038.58011)] proved that the Euclidean space can be replaced by a three-dimensional hyperbolic space. In this paper, the authors prove the dual results for Riemannian submersions, i.e., a Riemannian submersion from a three-dimensional space form into a surface is biharmonic if and only if it is harmonic.