Critical points of the total scalar curvature functional on the space of metrics of constant scalar curvature

It is well known that critical points of the total scalar curvature functional ? on the space of all smooth Riemannian structures of volume 1 on a compact manifold M are exactly the Einstein metrics. When the domain of ? is restricted to the space of constant scalar curvature metrics, there has been a conjecture that a critical point is also Einstein or isometric to a standard sphere. In this paper we prove that n-dimensional critical points have vanishing n− 1 homology under a lower Ricci curvature bound for dimension less than 8. Received: 12 July 1999     

The number of exceptional orbits of a pseudofree circle action on S 5

Let M be a closed Riemannian manifold of dimension 5 which admits a Riemannian metric of nonnegative sectional curvature. The aim of this short paper is to show that under certain lower bound of the orders of isotropy subgroups, every pseudofree and isometric S ¹-action on M cannot have more than five exceptional circle orbits. As a consequence, we conclude that a pseudofree and isometric S ¹-action on a 5-sphere S ⁵ with a Riemannian metric of nonnegative sectional curvature cannot have more than five exceptional circle orbits. This gives a result related to the Montgomery–Yang problem. In addition, we also give some further related result about nonnegatively curved manifolds of dimension 5 with an isometric but not necessarily pseudofree circle action.     

Local Existence for Inhomogeneous Schrödinger Flow into Kähler Manifolds

In this paper we show that there exists a unique local smooth solution for the Cauchy problem of the inhomogeneous Schr?dinger flow for maps from a compact Riemannian manifold M with dim(M) ≤ 3 into a compact K?hler manifold (N, J) with nonpositive Riemannian sectional curvature Received November 1, 1999, Revised January 14, 2000, Accepted March 29, 2000     

A splitting theorem for the weighted measure

Let M be an n-dimensional complete noncompact Riemannian manifold, h be a smooth function on M and dμ = e ^h dV be the weighted measure. In this article, we prove that when the spectrum of the weighted Laplacian \triangle_m{\triangle_{\mu}} has a positive lower bound λ₁(M) > 0 and the m(m > n)-dimensional Bakry-émery curvature is bounded from below by -\fracm-1m-2l₁(M){-\frac{m-1}{m-2}\lambda_1(M)}, then M splits isometrically as R × N whenever it has two ends with infinite weighted volume, here N is an (n − 1)-dimensional compact manifold.     

Complete harmonic stable minimal hypersurfaces in a Riemannian manifold

In this paper, we will introduce the notion of harmonic stability for complete minimal hypersurfaces in a complete Riemannian manifold. The first result we prove, is that a complete harmonic stable minimal surface in a Riemannian manifold with non-negative Ricci curvature is conformally equivalent to either a plane R ² or a cylinder R × S ¹, which generalizes a theorem due to Fischer-Colbrie and Schoen [12]. The second one is that an n ≥ 2-dimensional, complete harmonic stable minimal, hypersurface M in a complete Riemannian manifold with non-negative sectional curvature has only one end if M is non-parabolic. The third one, which we prove, is that there exist no non-trivial L ²-harmonic one forms on a complete harmonic stable minimal hypersurface in a complete Riemannian manifold with non-negative sectional curvature. Since the harmonic stability is weaker than stability, we obtain a generalization of a theorem due to Miyaoka [20] and Palmer [21]. Research partially Supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. The author’s research was supported by grant Proj. No. KRF-2007-313-C00058 from Korea Research Foundation, Korea. Authors’ addresses: Qing-Ming Cheng, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Saga University, Saga 840-8502, Japan; Young Jin Suh, Department of Mathematics, Kyungpook National University, Taegu 702-701, South Korea     

Compact manifolds of constant scalar curvature

We consider a compact non-negatively curved Riemannian manifold M of constant scalar curvature and obtain a sufficient condition for it to be isometric to a sphere.     

On the conditions to control curvature tensors of Ricci flow

An important problem in the study of Ricci flow is to find the weakest conditions that provide control of the norm of the full Riemannian curvature tensor. In this article, supposing (M ⁿ , g(t)) is a solution to the Ricci flow on a Riemmannian manifold on time interval [0, T), we show that L^\fracn+22{L^\frac{n+2}{2}} norm bound of scalar curvature and Weyl tensor can control the norm of the full Riemannian curvature tensor if M is closed and T < ∞. Next we prove, without condition T < ∞, that C ⁰ bound of scalar curvature and Weyl tensor can control the norm of the full Riemannian curvature tensor on complete manifolds. Finally, we show that to the Ricci flow on a complete non-compact Riemannian manifold with bounded curvature at t = 0 and with the uniformly bounded Ricci curvature tensor on M ⁿ  × [0, T), the curvature tensor stays uniformly bounded on M ⁿ  × [0, T). Hence we can extend the Ricci flow up to the time T. Some other results are also presented.     

Best Sobolev Constants and Manifolds with Positive Scalar Curvature Metrics

We study the Yamabe invariant of manifolds which admit metrics of positive scalar curvature. Analysing `best Sobolev constants'we give a technique to find positive lower bounds for the invariant.We apply these ideas to show that for any compact Riemannian manifold (N ⁿ ,g) of positive scalarcurvature there is a positive constant K =K(N, g), which depends only on (N, g), such that for any compact manifold M ^m , the Yamabe invariantof M ^m × N ⁿ is no less than K times the invariant ofS ^{n + m} . We will find some estimates for the constant K in the case N =S ⁿ .     

Rigidity for closed manifolds with positive curvature

Let M be an n-dimensional complete connected Riemannian manifold with sectional curvature sec(M) ≥ 1 and radius rad(M) > π/2. In this article, we show that M is isometric to a round n-sphere if for any x ∈ M, the first conjugate locus of x is a single point and if M contains a geodesic loop of length 2 · rad(M). We also show that the same conclusion is true if the conjugate value function at any point of M is a constant function. This work was done while the author was visiting MPI for Mathematics in Leipzig, Germany. The author is very grateful to MPI for Mathematics in Leipzig for its hospitality and CAPES.     

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     

Index parity of closed geodesics and rigidity of Hopf fibrations

The diameter rigidity theorem of Gromoll and Grove [1987] states that a Riemannian manifold with sectional curvature ≥ 1 and diameter ≥ π/2 is either homeomorphic to a sphere, locally isometric to a rank one symmetric space, or it has the cohomology ring of the Cayley plane Caℙ. The reason that they were only able to recognize the cohomology ring of Caℙ is due to an exceptional case in another theorem [Gromoll and Grove, 1988]: A Riemannian submersion σ:?^m→B ^b with connected fibers that is defined on the Euclidean sphere ?^m is metrically congruent to a Hopf fibration unless possibly (m,b)=(15,8). We will rule out the exceptional cases in both theorems. Our argument relies on a rather unusal application of Morse theory. For that purpose we give a general criterion which allows to decide whether the Morse index of a closed geodesic is even or odd. Oblatum 7-II-2000 & 11-X-2000?Published online: 29 January 2001     

A Note on the Infimum of Energy of Unit Vector Fields on a Compact Riemannian Manifold

Our main result in this paper establishes that if G is a compact Lie subgroup of the isometry group of a compact Riemannian manifold M acting with cohomogeneity one in M and either G has no singular orbits or the singular orbits of G have dimension at most n−3, then the unit vector field N orthogonal to the principal orbits of G is weakly smooth and is a critical point of the energy functional acting on the unit normal vector fields of M. A formula for the energy of N in terms of the of integral of the Ricci curvature of M and of the integral of the square of the mean curvature of the principal orbits of G is obtained as well. In the case that M is the sphere and G the orthogonal group it is known that that N is minimizer. It is an open question if N is a minimizer in general.     

Characterizing spheres by conformal vector fields

In this short note we consider an n-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold (M, g) of constant scalar curvature S = n(n − 1)c and show that the presence of a nontrivial conformal vector field ξ on M forces S to be positive. Then we show that an appropriate control on the energy of ξ makes M to be isometric to the n-sphere S ⁿ (c).     

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.      

Kähler hyperbolicity and the Euler number of a compact manifold with geodesic flow of Anosov type

 Let M be a 2m-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold with Anosov geodesic flow. We prove that every closed bounded k form, k≥2, on the universal covering of M is d(bounded). Further, if M is homotopy equivalent to a compact K?hler manifold, then its Euler number χ(M) satisfies (−1) ^m χ(M)>0. Received: 25 September 2001 / Published Online: 16 October 2002     

Classification of manifolds with weakly 1/4-pinched curvatures

We show that a compact Riemannian manifold with weakly pointwise 1/4-pinched sectional curvatures is either locally symmetric or diffeomorphic to a space form. More generally, we classify all compact, locally irreducible Riemannian manifolds M with the property that M × R ² has non-negative isotropic curvature. The first author was partially supported by a Sloan Foundation Fellowship and by NSF grant DMS-0605223. The second author was partially supported by NSF grant DMS-0604960.     

Total curvatures of model surfaces control topology of complete open manifolds with radial curvature bounded below: I

We investigate the finiteness structure of a complete non-compact n-dimensional Riemannian manifold M whose radial curvature at a base point of M is bounded from below by that of a non-compact von Mangoldt surface of revolution with its total curvature greater than π. We show, as our main theorem, that all Busemann functions on M are exhaustions, and that there exists a compact subset of M such that the compact set contains all critical points for any Busemann function on M. As corollaries by the main theorem, M has finite topological type, and the isometry group of M is compact.     

On the fundamental group of Riemannian manifolds with omitted fractal subsets

We show that if K is a closed bounded subset of a Riemannian manifold M of dimension m > 3 and the fractal dimension of K is less than m − 3, then the fundamental groups of M and M − K are isomorphic.     

Stable minimal hypersurfaces in a Riemannian manifold with pinched negative sectional curvature

We give an estimate of the smallest spectral value of the Laplace operator on a complete noncompact stable minimal hypersurface M in a complete simply connected Riemannian manifold with pinched negative sectional curvature. In the same ambient space, we prove that if a complete minimal hypersurface M has sufficiently small total scalar curvature then M has only one end. We also obtain a vanishing theorem for L ² harmonic 1-forms on minimal hypersurfaces in a Riemannian manifold with sectional curvature bounded below by a negative constant. Moreover, we provide sufficient conditions for a minimal hypersurface in a Riemannian manifold with nonpositive sectional curvature to be stable.     

Fiberwise volume non-increasing diffeomorphisms on product manifolds

Given a closed connected Riemannian manifold M and a connected Riemannian manifold N, we consider fiberwise, i.e. M×{z}, z ? N{M\times \{z\}, z\in N}, volume non-increasing diffeomorphisms on the product M × N. Our main theorems show that in the presence of a certain cohomological condition on M and N such diffeomorphisms must map a fiber diffeomorphically onto another fiber and are therefore fiberwise volume preserving. As a first corollary, we show that the isometries of M × N split. As a second corollary, we prove a special case of an extension of Talelli’s conjecture.