Counting solutions of perturbed harmonic map equations (Q819480)

The authors study the solvability of a class of semilinear and quasilinear perturbations of the harmonic map equation for maps \(u:M\to M^{\prime}\) from a closed \(n\)-dimensional Riemannian manifold \(M\) into a closed \(n^{\prime}\)-dimensional Riemannian manifold \(M^{\prime}\) with nonpositive sectional curvature. In the case when the target manifold has negative sectional curvature, it is proved -- among other results -- that for a large class of perturbations, the perturbed harmonic map equations have solutions in any homotopy class of maps for which the Euler characteristic of the set of harmonic maps does not vanish. As well, it is shown that under an additional condition, similar results hold true in the more general nonpositive sectional curvature case.