The Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, Volume 35, Number 1D

May 2010, Pages 79–85

ON HORIZONTAL BIHARMONIC CURVES IN THE HEISENBERG GROUP Heis 3

TALAT KÖRPINAR AND ESSİN TURHAN

Abstract. In this paper, we study non-geodesic biharmonic curves in the Heisenberg group
Heis 3 . We prove that there exist no non-geodesic horizontal biharmonic curves in the Heisenberg
group Heis 3 .

1. I n t r o d u c t i o n

In the last decade, there has been a growing interest in the theory of biharmonic maps, which can be
divided into two main research directions. On the one hand, the di¤erential geometric aspect has driven
attention to the construction of examples and classification results. On the other hand, the analytic aspect
from the point of view of PDE is a solution of a fourth order strongly elliptic semilinear PDE.
Let f : ðM; gÞ ! ðN; hÞ be a smooth map between two Riemannian manifolds. The bienergy E2 ð f Þ of
f over a compact domain W H M is defined by
ð
E2 ð f Þ ¼ hðtð f Þ; tð f ÞÞ dvg ;
W

where tð f Þ ¼ traceg ‘df is the tension field of f and dvg is the volume form of M. Using the first varia-
tional formula, one sees that f is a biharmonic map if and only if its bitension field vanishes identically,
i.e.,
t~ð f Þ :¼
s f ðtð f ÞÞ
traceg R N ðdf ; tð f ÞÞ df ¼ 0; ð1Þ
where
s f ¼
traceg ð‘ f Þ 2 ¼
traceg ð‘ f ‘ f
‘‘f M Þ

is the Laplacian on sections of the pull-back bundle f
1 ðTNÞ and R N is the curvature operator of ðN; hÞ
defined by
RðX ; Y ÞZ ¼
½‘X ; ‘Y Z þ ‘½X ; Y  Z:

Chen and Ishikawa classified biharmonic curves in the semi-Euclidean 3-space (see [3]). In particular,
they showed that in the Euclidean 3-space, there are no proper biharmonic curves (i.e., biharmonic curves
which are not harmonic). On the other hand, in any indefinite semi-Euclidean 3-space, there exist proper
biharmonic curves.
Clearly, any harmonic map is biharmonic. However, the converse is not true. Nonharmonic bihar-
monic maps are said to be proper. It is well known that proper biharmonic maps, that is, biharmonic
functions, play an important role in elasticity and hydrodynamics.
Recently, some work has been done in the study of non-geodesic biharmonic curves in some model
spaces. For a study of biharmonic curves in Berger’s spheres and in Minkowski 3-spaces, (see [1] and
[5]).
In this paper, we study the position vectors of a horizontal biharmonic curve in the Heisenberg group
Heis 3 . We prove that there exists no non-geodesic horizontal biharmonic curve in the Heisenberg group
Heis 3 .

Received June 19, 2009; Accepted January 20, 2010.

2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 58E20.
Key words and phrases. Heisenberg group, biharmonic curve, horizontal curve.
Corresponding author: Essin Turhan.
79
80 TALAT KÖRPINAR AND ESSİN TURHAN

2. H e i s en b e r g g r o u p Heis 3
Heisenberg group Heis 3 can be seen as the space R 3 endowed with the following multipilcation:


1 1
ðx; y; zÞðx; y; zÞ ¼ x þ x; y þ y; z þ z
xy þ xy ð2Þ
2 2
Heis 3 is a three-dimensional, connected, simply connected and 2-step nilpotent Lie group.
The Riemannian metric g is given by

2
2 2 y x
g ¼ dx þ dy þ dz þ dx
dy : ð3Þ
2 2
The Lie algebra of Heis 3 has an orthonormal basis
q y q q x q q
e1 ¼
; e2 ¼ þ ; e3 ¼ ;
qx 2 qz qy 2 qz qz
for which we have the Lie products
½e1 ; e2  ¼ e3 ; ½e2 ; e3  ¼ ½e3 ; e1  ¼ 0
with
gðe1 ; e1 Þ ¼ gðe2 ; e2 Þ ¼ gðe3 ; e3 Þ ¼ 1:
We obtain
1 1 1
‘e1 e1 ¼ ‘e2 e2 ¼ ‘e3 e3 ¼ 0; ‘e1 e2 ¼
‘e2 e1 ¼ e3 ; ‘e1 e3 ¼ ‘e3 e1 ¼
e2 ; ‘e2 e3 ¼ ‘e3 e2 ¼ e1 :
2 2 2
We adopt the following notation and sign convention for Riemannian curvature operator on Heis 3
defined by
RðX ; Y ÞZ ¼
‘X ‘Y Z þ ‘Y ‘X Z þ ‘½X ; Y  Z;
while the Riemannian curvature tensor is given by
RðX ; Y ; Z; W Þ ¼ gðRðX ; Y ÞZ; W Þ;
where X , Y , Z, W are smooth vector fields on Heis 3 :
The components fRijkl g of R relative to fe1 ; e2 ; e3 g are defined by
gðRðei ; ej Þek ; el Þ ¼ Rijkl:
The non-vanishing components of the above tensor fields are
3 1 3 1 1 1
R121 ¼
e2 ; R131 ¼ e3 ; R122 ¼ e1 ; R232 ¼ e3 ; R133 ¼
e1 ; R233 ¼
e2 ;
4 4 4 4 4 4
and
3 1
R1212 ¼
; R1313 ¼ R2323 ¼ : ð4Þ
4 4

3. H o ri z o n t a l bi h a r mo n i c c u rv e s i n Heis 3
Let I H R be an open interval and g : I ! ðN; hÞ be a curve parametrized by arc length on a Rieman-
nian manifold. Putting T ¼ g 0 , we can write the tension field of g as tðgÞ ¼ ‘g 0 g 0 and the biharmonic map
equation (1) reduces to
‘T3 T þ RðT; ‘T TÞT ¼ 0: ð5Þ
A successful key to study the geometry of a curve is to use the Frenet frames along the curve, which is
recalled in the following.
Let g : I ! Heis 3 be a curve on Heis 3 parametrized by arc length. Let fT; N; Bg be the Frenet frame
fields tangent to Heis 3 along g defined as follows: T is the unit vector field g 0 tangent to g, N is the unit
 ON HORIZONTAL BIHARMONIC CURVES IN THE HEISENBERG GROUP Heis 3 81

vector field in the direction of ‘T T (normal to g), and B is chosen so that fT; N; Bg is a positively ori-
ented orthonormal basis. Then, we have the following Frenet formulas:
‘T T ¼ kN; ‘T N ¼
kT
tB; ‘T B ¼ tN; ð6Þ
where k ¼ jtðgÞj ¼ j‘T Tj is the curvature of g and t is its torsion. With respect to the orthonormal basis
fe1 ; e2 ; e3 g; we can write
T ¼ T1 e1 þ T2 e2 þ T3 e3 ; N ¼ N1 e1 þ N2 e2 þ N3 e3 ; B ¼ T  N ¼ B 1 e1 þ B 2 e2 þ B 3 e3 :
Consider a nonintegrable 2-dimensional distribution ðx; yÞ ! Hðx; yÞ in R 3 ¼ Rðx; 2
yÞ  Rz defined as
3
H ¼ ker o, where o is a 1-form on R . The distribution H is called the horizontal distribution.
A curve s ! gðsÞ ¼ ðxðsÞ; yðsÞ; zðsÞÞ is called horizontal curve if g 0 ðsÞ A HgðsÞ , for every s. As,
g 0 ðsÞ ¼ x 0 ðsÞqx þ y 0 ðsÞqy þ z 0 ðsÞqz ¼ x 0 ðsÞe1 þ y 0 ðsÞe2 þ oðg 0 ðsÞÞqz ;
then gðsÞ is a horizontal curve if and only if
1 1
oðg 0 ðsÞÞ ¼ z 0 ðsÞ
yðsÞx 0 ðsÞ þ xðsÞy 0 ðsÞ:
2 2
Theorem 3.1. Let g : I ! Heis 3 be a non-geodesic curve on Heis 3 parametrized by arc length. Then g is a
non-geodesic biharmonic curve if and only if
1
k ¼ constant 0 0; k2 þ t2 ¼
B32 ; t 0 ¼ N3 B 3 : ð7Þ
4
Proof. From (5), we obtain
t~ðgÞ ¼ ‘T3 T þ RðT; ‘T TÞT
¼ ð
3kk 0 ÞT þ ðk 00
k 3
kt 2 þ kRðT; N; T; NÞÞN þ ð
2k 0 t
kt 0 þ kRðT; N; T; BÞÞB
¼ 0:
We see that it is a biharmonic curve if and only if
kk 0 ¼ 0; k 00
k 3
kt 2 þ kRðT; N; T; NÞ ¼ 0;
2k 0 t
kt 0 þ kRðT; N; T; BÞ ¼ 0;
which are equivalent to
k ¼ constant 0 0; k 2 þ t 2 ¼ RðT; N; T; NÞ; t 0 ¼ RðT; N; T; BÞ: ð8Þ
A direct computation using (4) yields
1
RðT; N; T; NÞ ¼
B32 ; RðT; N; T; BÞ ¼ N3 B3 :
4
These, together with (8), complete the proof of the theorem. r
Theorem 3.2. Let g : I ! Heis 3 be a non-geodesic curve on the Heisenberg group Heis 3 parametrized by
arc length. If k is constant and N1 B1 0 0, then g is not biharmonic.
Proof. We can use (6) to compute the covariant derivatives of the vector fields T, N, B as
‘T T ¼ ðT10 þ T2 T3 Þe1 þ ðT20
T1 T3 Þe2 þ T30 e3 ;




0 1 0 1 0 1
‘T N ¼ N1 þ ðN3 T2 þ T3 N2 Þ e1 þ N2 þ ðN1 T3 þ T1 N3 Þ e2 þ N3 þ ðN2 T1
T2 N1 Þ e3 ;
2 2 2




0 1 0 1 0 1
‘T B ¼ B1 þ ðB3 T2 þ T3 B2 Þ e1 þ B2 þ ðB1 T3 þ T1 B3 Þ e2 þ B3 þ ðB2 T1
T2 B1 Þ e3 :
2 2 2
It follows that the first components of these vectors are given by
1 1
h‘T T; e3 i ¼ T30 ; h‘T N; e3 i ¼ N30 þ ðN2 T1
T2 N1 Þ; h‘T B; e3 i ¼ B30 þ ðB2 T1
T2 B1 Þ: ð9Þ
2 2
On the other hand, using Frenet formulas (6), we have
h‘T T; e3 i ¼ kN3 ; h‘T N; e3 i ¼
kT3
tB3 ; h‘T B; e3 i ¼ tN3 : ð10Þ
82 TALAT KÖRPINAR AND ESSİN TURHAN

These, together with (9) and (10), yield

1 1
T30 ¼ kN3 ; N30 þ ðN2 T1
T2 N1 Þ ¼
kT3
tB3 ; B30 þ ðB2 T1
T2 B1 Þ ¼ tN3 : ð11Þ
2 2
Assume now that g is biharmonic. Then using t 0 ¼ N3 B3 0 0 and from (6), we obtain
tt 0 ¼
B3 B30 ;
and
tN3 B3 ¼
B3 B30 :
As N ¼ B  T, we have N3 ¼ B2 T1
T2 B1 : Substituting N3 in Equation (11), we find
 
N3 t
12
t¼
: ð12Þ
N3
Thus, Equation (12) becomes
1
t ¼ ¼ constant:
4
Therefore, t is constant and we have a contradiction. r
If gðsÞ is a non-geodesic biharmonic curve, then we can write its position vector as follows:
gðsÞ ¼ xðsÞTðsÞ þ hðsÞNðsÞ þ rðsÞBðsÞ ð13Þ
for some di¤erentiable functions x, h and r of s A I H R: These functions are called component functions
(or simply components) of the position vector.
Di¤erentiating (13) with respect to s and by using the corresponding Frenet equation (6), we find that
x 0 ðsÞ
hðsÞk ¼ 1; h 0 ðsÞ þ xðsÞk þ rðsÞt ¼ 0; r 0 ðsÞ
hðsÞt ¼ 0: ð14Þ
From (14), we get the following di¤erential equation:
h 00 ðsÞ þ ðk 2 þ t 2 ÞhðsÞ þ k ¼ 0: ð15Þ
By using (7), we find


00 1 2
h ðsÞ þ
B3 hðsÞ þ k ¼ 0: ð16Þ
4
The solution of (16) is
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
1 2 1 k
hðsÞ ¼ c1 cos s
B3 þ c2 sin s
B32
1 2
; ð17Þ
4 4 4
B3
where c1 ; c2 A R:
The picture of hðsÞ at c1 ¼ c2 ¼ k ¼ 1 and 14
B32 ¼ 1 is as follows:
 ON HORIZONTAL BIHARMONIC CURVES IN THE HEISENBERG GROUP Heis 3 83

From x 0 ðsÞ ¼ hðsÞk þ 1 and using (17), we find the solution of this equation as follows:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
c1 k 1 c 2 k 1 ks
xðsÞ ¼ s þ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sin s
B32
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cos s
B32
1 :
1

B2 4 1

B2 4 4
B32
4 3 4 3

The picture of xðsÞ at c1 ¼ c2 ¼
k ¼ 1 and 14
B32 ¼ 1 is as follows:

Using (17), we find the solution of r 0 ðsÞ ¼ hðsÞt as follows:

rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
c1 t 1 c 2 t 1 kts
rðsÞ ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sin s
B32
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cos s
B32
1
:
1

B2 4 1

B2 4 4
B32
4 3 4 3

The picture of rðsÞ at c1 ¼ c2 ¼ k ¼ t ¼ 1 and 14
B32 ¼ 1 is as follows:

Thus, we find the position vector

84 TALAT KÖRPINAR AND ESSİN TURHAN

0 1
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
B c1 k 1 c2 k 1 ks C
gðsÞ ¼ @s þ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sin s
B32
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cos s
B32
1 2A
TðsÞ
1

B 2 4 1

B 2 4 4
B3
4 3 4 3
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! !
1 1 k
þ c1 cos s
B32 þ c2 sin s
B32
1 2
NðsÞ
4 4 4
B3
0 1
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
B c1 t 1 c2 t 1 kts C
þ @qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sin s
B32
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cos s
B32
1 2A
BðsÞ:
1

B2 4 1

B2 4 4
B3
4 3 4 3

Theorem 3.3. There exist no non-geodesic horizontal biharmonic curves in Heis 3 .

Proof. Assume that g is non-geodesic horizontal biharmonic curve in Heis 3 . Then, we have N3 ¼ 0 and
T3 ¼ 0. These, together with (11), yield
1

tB3 ¼ B3 :
2
From B3 0 0; we have
1
t¼
: ð18Þ
2
Substituting (18) into the second equation in (7), we have
k ¼ 0 and B3 ¼ 0:
We conclude that k ¼ 0, i.e., is not a biharmonic, a contradiction. r
Acknowledgement. The authors would like to thank the referees for their helpful comments.

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Department of Mathematics, Firat University, 23119, Elaziğ, Turkey

E-mail addresses: essin.turhan@gmail.com, tkorpinar@firat.edu.tr
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