Curvature estimates for the Ricci flow I

In this paper we present several curvature estimates for solutions of the Ricci flow and the modified Ricci flow (including the volume normalized Ricci flow and the normalized Kähler-Ricci flow), which depend on the smallness of certain local \(L^{\frac{n}{2}}\) integrals of the norm of the Riemann curvature tensor |Rm|, where n denotes the dimension of themanifold. These local integrals are scaling invariant and very natural.     

The Ricci flow in a class of solvmanifolds

In this paper, we study the Ricci flow of solvmanifolds whose Lie algebra has an abelian ideal of codimension one, by using the bracket flow. We prove that solutions to the Ricci flow are immortal, the ω-limit of bracket flow solutions is a single point, and that for any sequence of times there exists a subsequence in which the Ricci flow converges, in the pointed topology, to a manifold which is locally isometric to a flat manifold. We give a functional which is non-increasing along a normalized bracket flow that will allow us to prove that given a sequence of times, one can extract a subsequence converging to an algebraic soliton, and to determine which of these limits are flat. Finally, we use these results to prove that if a Lie group in this class admits a Riemannian metric of negative sectional curvature, then the curvature of any Ricci flow solution will become negative in finite time.     

Ricci flow on a 3-manifold with positive scalar curvature

In this paper we consider Hamilton's Ricci flow on a 3-manifold with a metric of positive scalar curvature. We establish several a priori estimates for the Ricci flow which we believe are important in understanding possible singularities of the Ricci flow. For Ricci flow with initial metric of positive scalar curvature, we obtain a sharp estimate on the norm of the Ricci curvature in terms of the scalar curvature (which is not trivial even if the initial metric has non-negative Ricci curvature, a fact which is essential in Hamilton's estimates [R.S. Hamilton, Three-manifolds with positive Ricci curvature, J. Differential Geom. 17 (1982) 255-306]), some L²-estimates for the gradients of the Ricci curvature, and finally the Harnack type estimates for the Ricci curvature. These results are established through careful (and rather complicated and lengthy) computations, integration by parts and the maximum principles for parabolic equations.     

Space-time formulation of Harnack inequalities for curvature flows of hypersurfaces

We consider the motion of hypersurfaces in Riemannian manifolds by their curvature vectors. We show that the Harnack quadratic is an affine second fundamental form of the space-time track of the hypersurface. Given a solution to the Ricci flow, we show that with respect to an appropriate metric on space-time, the space-slices evolve by mean curvature flow. This enables us to identify the Harnack quadratic for the mean curvature flow with the trace Harnack quadratic for the Ricci flow.     

Ricci Yang-Mills flow on surfaces

We study the behavior of the Ricci Yang-Mills flow for U(1) bundles on surfaces. By exploiting a coupling of the Liouville and Yang-Mills energies we show that existence for the flow reduces to a bound on the isoperimetric constant or the L⁴ norm of the bundle curvature. We furthermore completely describe the behavior of long time solutions of this flow on surfaces. Finally, in Appendix A we classify all gradient solitons of this flow on surfaces.     

Curvature bounds by isoperimetric comparison for normalized Ricci flow on the two-sphere

We prove a comparison theorem for the isoperimetric profiles of solutions of the normalized Ricci flow on the two-sphere: If the isoperimetric profile of the initial metric is greater than that of some positively curved axisymmetric metric, then the inequality remains true for the isoperimetric profiles of the evolved metrics. We apply this using the Rosenau solution as the model metric to deduce sharp time-dependent curvature bounds for arbitrary solutions of the normalized Ricci flow on the two-sphere. This gives a simple and direct proof of convergence to a constant curvature metric without use of any blowup or compactness arguments, Harnack estimates, or any classification of behaviour near singularities.     

Integral pinching theorems

Using Hamilton's Ricci flow we shall prove several pinching results for integral curvature. In particular, we show that if p>n/2$ and the L ^p norm of the curvature tensor is small and the diameter is bounded, then the manifold is an infra-nilmanifold. We also obtain a result on deforming metrics to positive sectional curvature. Received: 17 February 1999     

Spectral gap on Riemannian path space over static and evolving manifolds

In this article, we continue the discussion of Fang–Wu (2015) to estimate the spectral gap of the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck operator on path space over a Riemannian manifold of pinched Ricci curvature. Along with explicit estimates we study the short-time asymptotics of the spectral gap. The results are then extended to the path space of Riemannian manifolds evolving under a geometric flow. Our paper is strongly motivated by Naber's recent work (2015) on characterizing bounded Ricci curvature through stochastic analysis on path space.     

Estimate and monotonicity of the first eigenvalue under the Ricci flow

In this paper, we first derive a monotonicity formula for the first eigenvalue of on a closed surface with nonnegative scalar curvature under the (unnormalized) Ricci flow. We then derive a general evolution formula for the first eigenvalue under the normalized Ricci flow. As an application, we obtain various monotonicity formulae and estimates for the first eigenvalue on closed surfaces.     

Four-dimensional Einstein-like manifolds and curvature homogeneity

The aim of this paper is to classify 4-dimensional Einstein-like manifolds whose Ricci tensor has constant eigenvalues (this being a special kind of curvature homogeneity condition). We give a full classification when the Ricci tensor is of Codazzi type; when the Ricci tensor is cyclic parallel, we classify all such manifolds when not all Ricci curvatures are distinct. In this second case we find a one-parameter family of Riemannian metrics on a Lie groupG as the only possible ones which are irreducible and non-symmetric.     

Conformal deformations of integral pinched 3-manifolds

In this paper we prove that, under an explicit integral pinching assumption between the L²-norm of the Ricci curvature and the L²-norm of the scalar curvature, a closed 3-manifold with positive scalar curvature admits a conformal metric of positive Ricci curvature. In particular, using a result of Hamilton, this implies that the manifold is diffeomorphic to a quotient of S³. The proof of the main result of the paper is based on ideas developed in an article by M. Gursky and J. Viaclovsky.     

A uniformization theorem for complete Kähler manifolds with positive holomorphic bisectional curvature

In the theory of complex geometry, one of the famous problems is the following conjecture of Greene and Wu [13] and Yau [33]: Suppose M is a complete noncompact Kähler manifold with positive holomorphic bisectional curvature; then M is biholomorphic to ?ⁿ. In this paper we use the Ricci flow evolution equation to study this conjecture and prove the result that if M has bounded and positive curvature such that the L’ norm of the curvature on geodesic ball is small enough, then the conjecture is true. Our result gives an improvement on the results of Mok et al. [21] and Mok [22].     

On the rigidity of constant mean curvature complete vertical graphs in warped products

We investigate constant mean curvature complete vertical graphs in a warped product, which is supposed to satisfy an appropriated convergence condition. In this setting, under suitable restrictions on the values of the mean curvature and the norm of the gradient of the height function, we obtain rigidity theorems concerning to such graphs. Furthermore, applications to the hyperbolic and Euclidean spaces are given.     

Rigidity and sphere theorem for manifolds with positive Ricci curvature

LetM be a complete Riemannian manifold with Ricci curvature having a positive lower bound. In this paper, we prove some rigidity theorems forM by the existence of a nice minimal hypersurface and a sphere theorem aboutM. We also generalize a Myers theorem stating that there is no closed immersed minimal submanifolds in an open hemisphere to the case that the ambient space is a complete Riemannian manifold withk-th Ricci curvature having a positive lower bound. Supported by the JSPS postdoctoral fellowship and NSF of China     

Harmonic maps from closed Riemannian manifolds with positive scalar curvature

It is well known there is no non-constant harmonic map from a closed Riemannian manifold of positive Ricci curvature to a complete Riemannian manifold with non-positive sectional curvature. By reducing the assumption on the Ricci curvature to one on the scalar curvature, such vanishing theorem cannot hold in general. This raises the question: “What information can we obtain from the existence of non-constant harmonic map?” This paper gives answer to this problem; the results obtained are optimal.     

On Ricci negative solvmanifolds and their nilradicals

In the homogeneous case, the only curvature behavior which is still far from being understood is Ricci negative. In this paper, we study which nilpotent Lie algebras admit a Ricci negative solvable extension. Different unexpected behaviors were found. On the other hand, given a nilpotent Lie algebra, we consider the space of all the derivations such that the corresponding solvable extension has a metric with negative Ricci curvature. Using the nice convexity properties of the moment map for the variety of nilpotent Lie algebras, we obtain a useful characterization of such derivations and some applications.     

The logarithmic entropy formula for the linear heat equation on Riemannian manifolds

In this paper we introduce a new logarithmic entropy functional for the linear heat equation on complete Riemannian manifolds and prove that it is monotone decreasing on complete Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature. Our results are simpler version, without Ricci flow, of R.-G. Ye’s recent result (arXiv:math.DG/0708.2008). As an application, we apply the monotonicity of the logarithmic entropy functional of heat kernels to characterize Euclidean space.     

Improved Chen–Ricci inequality for curvature-like tensors and its applications

We present Chen–Ricci inequality and improved Chen–Ricci inequality for curvature like tensors. Applying our improved Chen–Ricci inequality we study Lagrangian and Kaehlerian slant submanifolds of complex space forms, and C-totally real submanifolds of Sasakian space forms.     

Number of Singularities of Stable Maps

Sharp estimates for the Ricci curvature of a submanifold M ⁿ of an arbitrary Riemannian manifold N ^n+p are established. It is shown that the equality in the lower estimate of the Ricci curvature of M ⁿ in a space form N ^n+p (c) is achieved only when M ⁿ is quasiumbilical with a flat normal bundle. In the case when the codimension p satisfies 1 ≤ p ≤ n − 3, the only submanifolds in N ^n+p (c) on which the Ricci curvature is minimal are the conformally flat ones with a flat normal bundle.      

On the Chern‐Ricci flow and its solitons for Lie groups

This paper is concerned with Chern‐Ricci flow evolution of left‐invariant hermitian structures on Lie groups. We study the behavior of a solution, as t is approaching the first time singularity, by rescaling in order to prevent collapsing and obtain convergence in the pointed (or Cheeger‐Gromov) sense to a Chern‐Ricci soliton. We give some results on the Chern‐Ricci form and the Lie group structure of the pointed limit in terms of the starting hermitian metric and, as an application, we obtain a complete picture for the class of solvable Lie groups having a codimension one normal abelian subgroup. We have also found a Chern‐Ricci soliton hermitian metric on most of the complex surfaces which are solvmanifolds, including an unexpected shrinking soliton example.