Abstract: In this talk, we discuss critical maps of a horizontal energy functional for maps from a sub-Riemannian manifold to a Riemannian manifold. These critical maps are referred to as subelliptic harmonic maps. In terms of the subelliptic harmonic map heat flow, we investigate the existence problem for subelliptic harmonic maps. Under the assumption that the target Riemannian manifold has non-positive sectional curvature, we are able to establish some Eells-Sampson type existence results, and also some Hartman type results for the flow.
