On the existence of Hermitian-harmonic maps from complete Hermitian to complete Riemannian manifolds

On non-K"ahler manifolds the notion of harmonic maps is modified to that of Hermitian harmonic maps in order to be compatible with the complex structure. The resulting semilinear elliptic system is {\it not} in divergence form. The case of noncompact complete preimage and target manifolds is considered. We give conditions for existence and uniqueness of Hermitian-harmonic maps and solutions of the corresponding parabolic system, which observe the non-divergence form of the underlying equations. Numerous examples illustrate the theoretical results and the fundamental difference to harmonic maps.