On the critical points of the energy functional on vector fields of a Riemannian manifold (Q670320)

Let $M$ be a compact Riemannian manifold with a Levi-Civita connection $\nabla$, and let $G$ be a compact Lie subgroup of the isometry group $\text{Iso}(M)$ of $M$. In this paper, the authors study the critical points of the energy functional \[ \mathcal F(X) = \frac{\int_M \Vert \nabla X\Vert^2dM}{\int_M \Vert X\Vert^2 dM} \] on the space of $G$-invariant vector fields. Consider a left-invariant Riemannian metric induced by a left-invariant metric on $\text{Iso}(M)$. Given a vector field $V \in C^\infty(TM)$, the $G$-symmetrization of $V$ is the vector field $V_G$ defined by setting, at a given point $p \in M$, \[ \langle V_G(), u\rangle = \frac{1}{\text{Vol}(G)} \int_G \langle (dg_p)^{-1}V(g(p)), u \rangle dg, \] where $u \in T_pM$. Note that $V_G \in C^\infty(TM)$ is $G$-invariant, that is, $V_G(g(p)) = dg_p(V_G(p))$ for all $p\in M$ and $g \in G$. Let ${\mathcal S}$ be the set of all critical points of $\mathcal F$, and let ${\mathcal S}_G$ be the set of all critical points of $\mathcal F$ restricted to the subspace of $G$-invariant vector fields of $C^\infty(TM)$. The authors prove that ${\mathcal S}_G \subset \mathcal S$ and there is a case where the inclusion is strict. They obtain an integral identity as byproduct which implies that for any vector field $V$ on a rank-1 compact symmetric space $M$, if $G = \text{Iso}(M)$, then $V_G = 0$. The authors also show that the infimum of $\mathcal F$ on $\mathbb{S}^3$ is not attained by a $\mathbb{S}^3$-invariant vector field. In fact, they prove that the infimum of $\mathcal F$ on the sphere $\mathbb{S}^n, n \ge 2$, of radius $1/k$ is $k^2$, and is attained by a vector field invariant by the isotropy subgroup of the isometry group of $\mathbb{S}^n$ at any given point of $\mathbb{S}^n$. Finally, the authors prove that if $G$ is a compact Lie subgroup of the isometry group of a compact rank-1 symmetric space $M$ which leaves pointwise fixed a totally geodesic submanifold of dimension $\ge 1$, then the infimum of $\mathcal F$ is attained by a $G$-invariant vector field.