On a differentiable map commuting with an elliptic pseudo-differential operator (Q801583)

\textit{B. Watson} [J. Differential Geometry 8, 85-94 (1973; Zbl 0274.53040)] showed that a differentiable map between Riemannian manifolds, X and Y, which commutes with the Laplacians, \(\Delta\) X and \(\Delta\) Y, must be a Riemannian submersion. In this paper the author proves an analogous result for elliptic pseudo-differential operators: Theorem: Let X and Y be smooth connected manifolds without boundary, and let \(\pi\) : \(X\to Y\) be a smooth map. Suppose that P and Q are elliptic pseudo-differential operators of positive order, and of the same type (\(\rho\),\(\delta)\), on X and Y, respectively. (The author follows closely the terminology of \textit{L. Hörmander} [Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 10, 138- 183 (1967; Zbl 0167.096)].) Suppose further that either X and Y are compact or P and Q are properly supported. If \(\pi\) commutes with P and Q, then the orders of P and Q are equal and \(\pi\) is a submersion. Moreover, if P has homogeneous principle symbol, then so does Q, and the actions of \(\pi\) commute with these symbols. Corollary: Suppose that X and Y are compact Riemannian manifolds, and that \(\pi\) : \(X\to Y\) is a map commuting with the complex powers \(P=\Delta X^ s\) and \(Q=\Delta Y^ t\). If Re(s) and Re(t) are positive, then \(s=t\) and \(\pi\) is a Riemannian submersion. If, in addition, \(X=Y\), then \(\pi\) is an isometry. The proof of the theorem involves standard techniques; the proof of the corollary uses asymptotic properties of the eigenvalues of the Laplacian to reduce to the case studied by Watson. The author had already noted these results in the case of differential operators [J. Math. Soc. Japan 35, 153-162 (1983; Zbl 0502.58040)].