A NONEXISTENCE THEOREM FOR STABLE EXPONENTIALLY HARMONIC MAPS

Let M and N be compact Riemannian manifolds and $f : M \to N$ be a smooth map. Following J. Eells, f is exponentially harmonic if it represents a critical point of the exponential energy integral $$ E(f) = \int_{M} exp(\left\$\mid$ df \right\$\mid$^2) dM $$ where $(\left\ df $\mid$\right\$\mid$^2$ is the energy density defined as $\sum_{i=1}^{m} \left\$\mid$ df(e_i) \right\$\mid$^2$, m = dimM, for orthonormal frame $e_i$ of M. The Euler- Lagrange equation of the exponential energy functional E can be written $$ exp(\left\$\mid$ df \right\$\mid$^2)(\tau(f) + df(\nabla\left\$\mid$ df \right\$\mid$^2)) = 0 $$ where $\tau(f)$ is the tension field along f. Hence, if the energy density is constant, every harmonic map is exponentially harmonic and vice versa.