An example of Lichnerowicz-type Laplacian

We consider the Sampson Laplacian acting on covariant symmetric tensors on a Riemannian manifold. This operator is an example of the Lichnerowicz-type Laplacian. It is of fundamental importance in mathematical physics and appears in many problems in Riemannian geometry including the theories of infinitesimal Einstein deformations, the stability of Einstein manifolds and the Ricci flow. We study the Sampson Laplacian using the analytical method, due to Bochner, of proving vanishing theorems for the null space of a Laplace operator admitting Weitzenböck decomposition and further of estimating its lowest eigenvalue. In addition, we also survey a series of results that we obtained earlier.