On the conformal-biharmonic stability of the identity map of Einstein manifolds

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Branding, Volker, Nistor, Simona, Oniciuc, Cezar
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866914498295627776
author Branding, Volker
Nistor, Simona
Oniciuc, Cezar
author_facet Branding, Volker
Nistor, Simona
Oniciuc, Cezar
contents The identity map of an Einstein manifold is a critical point of both the classical energy functional and the conformal-bienergy functional. In this paper, we investigate the conformal-biharmonic stability of the identity map of compact Einstein manifolds of dimension at least four and with nonnegative scalar curvature, and we compare it with the harmonic stability, when the identity map is considered as a harmonic map. Somewhat surprisingly, we show that the conformal-biharmonic index coincides with the harmonic index, with a single notable exception: the four-dimensional Euclidean sphere. In this case, the identity map is unstable with respect to the energy functional, as shown independently by Mazet and Smith, whereas it is stable with respect to the conformal-bienergy functional.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_20257
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the conformal-biharmonic stability of the identity map of Einstein manifolds
Branding, Volker
Nistor, Simona
Oniciuc, Cezar
Differential Geometry
58E20, 53C43
The identity map of an Einstein manifold is a critical point of both the classical energy functional and the conformal-bienergy functional. In this paper, we investigate the conformal-biharmonic stability of the identity map of compact Einstein manifolds of dimension at least four and with nonnegative scalar curvature, and we compare it with the harmonic stability, when the identity map is considered as a harmonic map. Somewhat surprisingly, we show that the conformal-biharmonic index coincides with the harmonic index, with a single notable exception: the four-dimensional Euclidean sphere. In this case, the identity map is unstable with respect to the energy functional, as shown independently by Mazet and Smith, whereas it is stable with respect to the conformal-bienergy functional.
title On the conformal-biharmonic stability of the identity map of Einstein manifolds
topic Differential Geometry
58E20, 53C43
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.20257