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.     

Riemannian metrics of positive scalar curvature on compact manifolds with boundary

We prove that any metric of positive scalar curvature on a manifold X extends to the trace of any surgery in codim > 2 on X to a metric of positive scalar curvature which is product near the boundary. This provides a direct way to construct metrics of positive scalar curvature on compact manifolds with boundary. We also show that the set of concordance classes of all metrics with positive scalar curvature on S ⁿ is a group.     

Singular limit laminations, Morse index, and positive scalar curvature

For any 3-manifold M³ and any nonnegative integer g, we give here examples of metrics on M each of which has a sequence of embedded minimal surfaces of genus g and without Morse index bounds. On any spherical space form we construct such a metric with positive scalar curvature. More generally, we construct such a metric with Scal>0 (and such surfaces) on any 3-manifold which carries a metric with Scal>0.     

An obstruction to the positivity of relative Yamabe invariants

For a supergroup , we describe an obstruction to the existence of positive scalar curvature metrics with minimal boundary condition on a compact n-dimensional -manifold W with nonempty boundary M, , in terms of the bordism class [M] in the Stolz obstruction group associated to [St2]. In par ticular, when W is a 5-dimensional spin manifold and the -invariant of a connected component of M is nonzero, we prove that W does not admit a positive scalar curvature metric with minimal boundary condition. Received: 4 July 2001; in final form: 5 February 2002 / Published online: 8 November 2002 RID="*" ID="*" Partially supported by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, No. 11640070.     

Branched spines and Heegaard genus of 3-manifolds

We prove that an invariant of closed 3-manifolds, called the block number, which is defined via flow-spines, equals the Heegaard genus, except for S ³ and S ² × S ¹. We also show that the underlying 3-manifold is uniquely determined by a neighborhood of the singularity of a flow-spine. This allows us to encode a closed 3-manifold by a sequence of signed labeled symbols. The behavior of the encoding under the connected sum and a criterion for reducibility are studied.     

Hyperbolic spatial graphs in 3-manifolds

For any closed connected orientable 3-manifold M, we present a method for constructing infinitely many hyperbolic spatial embeddings of a given finite graph with no vertex of degree less than two from hyperbolic spatial graphs in S³ via the Heegaard splitting theory. These spatial embeddings are adjustable so as to take cycle subgraphs into specified homotopy classes of loops in M.     

Dissolving four-manifolds and positive scalar curvature

We prove that many simply connected symplectic four-manifolds dissolve after connected sum with only one copy of S ² ×S ² . For any finite group G that acts freely on the three-sphere we construct closed smooth four-manifolds with fundamental group G which do not admit metrics of positive scalar curvature, but whose universal covers do admit such metrics. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000):57R57, 53C25, 57R55.We are very grateful to R. Gompf for valuable comments. The first and the second authors are members of the European Differential Geometry Endeavour (EDGE), Research Training Network HPRN-CT-2000-00101, supported by The European Human Potential Programme.     

A note on Hempel-McMillan coverings of 3-manifolds

Motivated by the concept of A-category of a manifold introduced by Clapp and Puppe, we give a different proof of a (slightly generalized) Theorem of Hempel and McMillan: If M is a closed 3-manifold that is a union of three open punctured balls then M is a connected sum of S³ and S²-bundles over S¹.     

Taming 3-manifolds using scalar curvature

In this paper we address the issue of uniformly positive scalar curvature on noncompact 3-manifolds. In particular we show that the Whitehead manifold lacks such a metric, and in fact that \mathbbR³{\mathbb{R}^3} is the only contractible noncompact 3-manifold with a metric of uniformly positive scalar curvature. We also describe contractible noncompact manifolds of higher dimension exhibiting this curvature phenomenon. Lastly we characterize all connected oriented 3-manifolds with finitely generated fundamental group allowing such a metric.     

Ricci curvature, minimal volumes, and Seiberg-Witten theory

We derive new, sharp lower bounds for certain curvature functionals on the space of Riemannian metrics of a smooth compact 4-manifold with non-trivial Seiberg-Witten invariants. These allow one, for example, to exactly compute the infimum of the L ²-norm of Ricci curvature for any complex surface of general type. We are also able to show that the standard metric on any complex-hyperbolic 4-manifold minimizes volume among all metrics satisfying a point-wise lower bound on sectional curvature plus suitable multiples of the scalar curvature. These estimates also imply new non-existence results for Einstein metrics. Oblatum 14-III-2000 & 8-II-2001?Published online: 4 May 2001     

Positive open book decompositions of Stein fillable 3-manifolds along prescribed links

It is known by Loi and Piergallini that a closed, oriented, smooth 3-manifold is Stein fillable if and only if it has a positive open book decomposition. In the present paper we will show that for every link L in a Stein fillable 3-manifold there exists an additional knot L^′ to L such that the link L∪L^′ is the binding of a positive open book decomposition of the Stein fillable 3-manifold. To prove the assertion, we will use the divide, which is a generalization of real morsification theory of complex plane curve singularities, and 2-handle attachings along Legendrian curves.     

The topological types of hypersurface simple K3 singularities

We give a result that relates the diffeomorphism type of the link of a non-degenerate semi-quasi-homogeneous hypersurface simple K3 singularity with the singularities of the normal K  3 surface that appears as the exceptional divisor of the resolution of the singularity. As a result, we show that the links are diffeomorphic to the connected sum of copies of S²×S³$S^2\times S^3$. Moreover, we also show that the topological types of hypersurface simple K3 singularities defined by non-degenerate semi-quasi-homogeneous polynomials are all different.     

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.     

Expansive flows on Seifert manifolds and on torus bundles

We show that any expansive flow on a 3-manifold which is a Seifert fibration or a torus bundle overS ¹ is topologically equivalent to a transitive Anosov flow. This is achieved by analyzing the trace of the stable foliation (with singularities) of the flow on incompressible tori embedded in such a manifold.     

Surgery obstructions from Khovanov homology

For a 3-manifold with torus boundary admitting an appropriate involution, we show that Khovanov homology provides obstructions to certain exceptional Dehn fillings. For example, given a strongly invertible knot in S ³, we give obstructions to lens space surgeries, as well as obstructions to surgeries with finite fundamental group. These obstructions are based on homological width in Khovanov homology, and in the case of finite fundamental group depend on a calculation of the homological width for a family of Montesinos links.     

Coverings of 3-manifolds by open balls and two open solid tori

Hempel and McMillan showed that a closed 3-manifold that can be covered by three open balls is a connected sum of S³- and S²-bundles over S¹. In this paper we obtain a classification of all closed 3-manifolds that can be covered by two open balls and one open solid torus or by one open ball and two open solid tori.     

Extremal Metrics for Quadratic Functional of Scalar Curvature on Closed 3-Manifolds

In this paper, we first show the global existence of the three-dimensionalCalabi flow on any closed 3-manifold with an arbitrary background metric g ₀. Second, we show the asymptotic convergence of a subsequence ofsolutions of the Calabi flow on a closed 3-manifold with Yamabe constant Q < 0 or Q = 0 and Q > 0, up to conformal transformations. With itsapplication, we prove the existence of extremal metrics for quadraticfunctional of scalar curvature on a closed 3-manifold which is served asan extension of the Yamabe problem on closed manifolds. Moreover, theexistence of extremal metrics on complete noncompact 3-manifolds willdiscuss elsewhere.     

Counterexamples to isosystolic inequalities

We explore M. Gromov's counterexamples to systolic inequalities. Does the manifoldS ² ×S ² admit metrics of arbitrarily small volume such that every noncontractible surface inside it has at least unit area? This question is still open, but the answer is affirmative for its analogue in the case ofS ⁿ ×S ⁿ ,n ≥ 3. Our point of departure is M. Gromov's metric onS ¹ ×S ³, and more general examples, due to C. Pittet, of metrics onS ¹ ×S ⁿ with ‘voluminous’ homology. We take the metric product of these metrics with a sphereS ^n?1 of a suitable volume, and perform surgery to obtain the desired metrics onS ⁿ ×S ⁿ .     

Rigidity of Einstein 4-manifolds with positive curvature

An Einstein metric with positive scalar curvature on a 4-manifold is said to be normalized if Ric=1. A basic problem in Riemannian geometry is to classify Einstein 4-manifolds with positive sectional curvature in the category of either topology, diffeomorphism, or isometry. It is shown in this paper that if the sectional curvature K of a normalized Einstein 4-manifold M satisfies the lower bound K≥ε₀, ε₀≡(-23)/120≈0.102843, or condition (b) of Theorem 1.1, then it is isometric to either S ⁴, RP ⁴ with constant sectional curvature K=1/3, or CP ² with the normalized Fubini-Study metric. As a consequence, both the normalized moduli spaces of Einstein metrics which satisfy either one of the above two conditions on S ⁴ and CP ² contain only a single point. In particular, if M is a smooth 4-manifold which is homeomorphic to either S ⁴, RP ⁴, or CP ² but not diffeomorphic to any of the three manifolds, then it can not support any normalized Einstein metric which satisfies either one of the conditions. Oblatum 4-II-1999 & 4-V-2000?Published online: 16 August 2000     

3-manifolds which are orbit spaces of diffeomorphisms

In a very general setting, we show that a 3-manifold obtained as the orbit space of the basin of a topological attractor is either S²×S¹ or irreducible.We then study in more detail the topology of a class of 3-manifolds which are also orbit spaces and arise as invariants of gradient-like diffeomorphisms (in dimension 3). Up to a finite number of exceptions, which we explicitly describe, all these manifolds are Haken and, by changing the diffeomorphism by a finite power, all the Seifert components of the Jaco-Shalen-Johannson decomposition of these manifolds are made into product circle bundles.