Ricci curvature of Markov chains on metric spaces

We define the coarse Ricci curvature of metric spaces in terms of how much small balls are closer (in Wasserstein transportation distance) than their centers are. This definition naturally extends to any Markov chain on a metric space. For a Riemannian manifold this gives back, after scaling, the value of Ricci curvature of a tangent vector. Examples of positively curved spaces for this definition include the discrete cube and discrete versions of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Moreover this generalization is consistent with the Bakry-Émery Ricci curvature for Brownian motion with a drift on a Riemannian manifold.Positive Ricci curvature is shown to imply a spectral gap, a Lévy-Gromov-like Gaussian concentration theorem and a kind of modified logarithmic Sobolev inequality. The bounds obtained are sharp in a variety of examples.     

Interpolation between Brezis–Vázquez and Poincaré inequalities on nonnegatively curved spaces: sharpness and rigidities

This paper is devoted to investigate an interpolation inequality between the Brezis–Vázquez and Poincaré inequalities (shortly, BPV inequality) on nonnegatively curved spaces. As a model case, we first prove that the BPV inequality holds on any Minkowski space, by fully characterizing the existence and shape of its extremals. We then prove that if a complete Finsler manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature supports the BPV inequality, then its flag curvature is identically zero. In particular, we deduce that a Berwald space of nonnegative Ricci curvature supports the BPV inequality if and only if it is isometric to a Minkowski space. Our arguments explore fine properties of Bessel functions, comparison principles, and anisotropic symmetrization on Minkowski spaces. As an application, we characterize the existence of nonzero solutions for a quasilinear PDE involving the Finsler–Laplace operator and a Hardy-type singularity on Minkowski spaces where the sharp BPV inequality plays a crucial role. The results are also new in the Riemannian/Euclidean setting.     

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.     

Ricci curvature in the neighborhood of rank-one symmetric spaces

We study the Ricci curvature of a Riemannian metric as a differential operator acting on the space of metrics close (in a weighted functional spaces topology) to the standard metric of a rank-one noncompact symmetric space. We prove that any symmetric bilinear field close enough to the standard may be realized as the Ricci curvature of a unique close metric if its decay rate at infinity (its weight) belongs to some precisely known interval. We also study what happens if the decay rate is too small or too large.     

Ricci curvature,radial curvature and large volume growth

In this paper, we study complete noncompact Riemannian manifolds with Ricci curvature bounded from below. When the Ricci curvature is nonnegative, we show that this kind of manifolds are diffeomorphic to a Euclidean space, by assuming an upper bound on the radial curvature and a volume growth condition of their geodesic balls. When the Ricci curvature only has a lower bound, we also prove that such a manifold is diffeomorphic to a Euclidean space if the radial curvature is bounded from below. Moreover, by assuming different conditions and applying different methods, we shall prove more results on Riemannian manifolds with large volume growth.     

A harmonic mean bound for the spectral gap of the Laplacian on Riemannian manifolds

Most known lower bounds on the spectral gap of the Laplacian using Ricci curvature are based on the infimum of the Ricci curvature, and can be really poor when the Ricci curvature is large everywhere but on a small subset on which it is small. Here we show that the harmonic mean of the Ricci curvature is a lower bound on the spectral gap of the Laplacian, which partially solves the problem (unfortunately, we have to assume that the Ricci curvature is everywhere nonnegative).     

Quasi-Invariance of the Wiener Measure on Path Spaces: Noncompact Case

For a geometrically and stochastically complete, noncompact Riemannian manifold, we show that the flows on the path space generated by the Cameron-Martin vector fields exist as a set of random variables. Furthermore, if the Ricci curvature grows at most linearly, then the Wiener measure (the law of Brownian motion on the manifold) is quasi-invariant under these flows.     

Generalized bochner theorems and the spectrum of complete manifolds

Bochner's theorem that a compact Riemannian manifold with positive Ricci curvature has vanishing first cohomology group has various extensions to complete noncompact manifolds with Ricci possibly negative. One still has a vanishing theorem for L ² harmonic one-forms if the infimum of the spectrum of the Laplacian on functions is greater than minus the infimum of the Ricci curvature. This result and its analogues for p-forms yield vanishing results for certain infinite volume hyperbolic manifolds. This spectral condition also imposes topological restrictions on the ends of the manifold. More refined results are obtained by taking a certain Brownian motion average of the Ricci curvature; if this average is positive, one has a vanishing theorem for the first cohomology group with compact supports on the universal cover of a compact manifold. There are corresponding results for L ² harmonic spinors on spin manifolds.     

Gradient estimates and entropy monotonicity formula for doubly nonlinear diffusion equations on Riemannian manifolds

In the first part of this paper, we prove the sharp global Li‐Yau type gradient estimates for positive solutions to doubly nonlinear diffusion equation(DNDE) on complete Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature. As an application, one can obtain a parabolic Harnack inequality. In the second part, we obtain a Perelman‐type entropy monotonicity formula for DNDE on compact Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature. These results generalize some works of Ni (JGA 2004), Lu–Ni–Vázquez–Villani (JMPA 2009) and Kotschwar–Ni (Annales Scientifiques de l'École Normale Supérieure 2009). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Curvatures of homogeneous Randers spaces

We study curvatures of homogeneous Randers spaces. After deducing the coordinate-free formulas of the flag curvature and Ricci scalar of homogeneous Randers spaces, we give several applications. We first present a direct proof of the fact that a homogeneous Randers space is Ricci quadratic if and only if it is a Berwald space. We then prove that any left invariant Randers metric on a non-commutative nilpotent Lie group must have three flags whose flag curvature is positive, negative and zero, respectively. This generalizes a result of J.A. Wolf on Riemannian metrics. We prove a conjecture of J. Milnor on the characterization of central elements of a real Lie algebra, in a more generalized sense. Finally, we study homogeneous Finsler spaces of positive flag curvature and particularly prove that the only compact connected simply connected Lie group admitting a left invariant Finsler metric with positive flag curvature is SU(2)$\text{SU}\left(2\right)$.     

Minimal Graphic Functions on Manifolds of Nonnegative Ricci Curvature

We study minimal graphic functions on complete Riemannian manifolds ∑ with nonnegative Ricci curvature, euclidean volume growth, and quadratic curvature decay. We derive global bounds for the gradients for minimal graphic functions of linear growth only on one side. Then we can obtain a Liouville‐type theorem with such growth via splitting for tangent cones of ∑ at infinity. When, in contrast, we do not impose any growth restrictions for minimal graphic functions, we also obtain a Liouville‐type theorem under a certain nonradial Ricci curvature decay condition on ∑. In particular, the borderline for the Ricci curvature decay is sharp by our example in the last section. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Ricci Curvature and Bochner Formulas for Martingales

We generalize the classical Bochner formula for the heat flow on M to martingales on the path space PM and develop a formalism to compute evolution equations for martingales on path space. We see that our Bochner formula on PM is related to two‐sided bounds on Ricci curvature in much the same manner that the classical Bochner formula on M is related to lower bounds on Ricci curvature. Using this formalism, we obtain new characterizations of bounded Ricci curvature, new gradient estimates for martingales on path space, new Hessian estimates for martingales on path space, and streamlined proofs of the previous characterizations of bounded Ricci curvature.© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Martingale transforms and L p -norm estimates of Riesz transforms on complete Riemannian manifolds

Under the condition that the Bakry–Emery Ricci curvature is bounded from below, we prove a probabilistic representation formula of the Riesz transforms associated with a symmetric diffusion operator on a complete Riemannian manifold. Using the Burkholder sharp L ^p -inequality for martingale transforms, we obtain an explicit and dimension-free upper bound of the L ^p -norm of the Riesz transforms on such complete Riemannian manifolds for all 1 < p < ∞. In the Euclidean and the Gaussian cases, our upper bound is asymptotically sharp when p→ 1 and when p→ ∞. Research partially supported by a Delegation in CNRS at the University of Paris-Sud during the 2005–2006 academic year.     

Lower bounds for the logarithmic Sobolev constant avoiding uniform lower bounds on the Ricci curvature

In this paper we obtain a lower bound for the logarithmic Sobolev constant of the operator on C^∞(M) given by L^U f = Δ f - (?U|?f), where U ? C^∞(M), M being a finite dimensional compact Riemannian manifold without boundary, in terms of the spectral gap of L^U and the lowest eigenvalue of the operator -L^U + V, where V is a function related to U and the Ricci curvature of M. Under suitable conditions and being U ≡ 0, this result improves a previous one by J.-D. DEUSCHEL and D.W. STROOCK (J. Funct. Anal. 92 (1990), 30–48).     

L-harmonic functions with polynomial growth of a fixed rate

Yau made the following conjecture: For a complete noncompact manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature the space of harmonic functions with polynomial growth of a fixed rate is finite dimensional. we extend the result on the Laplace operator to that on the symmetric diffusion operator, and prove the space of L-harmonic functions with polynomial growth of a fixed rate is finite-dimensional, when m-dimensional Bakery-Emery Ricci curvature of the symmetric diffusion operator on the complete noncompact Riemannian manifold is nonnegative.     

A volume comparison theorem for characteristic numbers

We show that assuming lower bounds on the Ricci curvature and the injectivity radius the absolute value of certain characteristic numbers of a Riemannian manifold, including all Pontryagin and Chern numbers, is bounded proportionally to the volume. The proof relies on Chern–Weil theory applied to a connection constructed from Euclidean connections on charts in which the metric tensor is harmonic and has bounded Hölder norm. We generalize this theorem to a Gromov–Hausdorff closed class of rough Riemannian manifolds defined in terms of Hölder regularity. Assuming an additional upper Ricci curvature bound, we show that also the Euler characteristic is bounded proportionally to the volume. Additionally, we remark on a volume comparison theorem for Betti numbers of manifolds with an additional upper bound on sectional curvature. It is a consequence of a result by Bowen.

     

On the moment-angle manifolds of positive Ricci curvature

We construct Riemannian metrics of positive Ricci curvature on some moment-angle manifolds. In particular, we construct a nonformal moment-angle Riemannian manifold of positive Ricci curvature.     

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     

Functional inequality on path space over a non-compact Riemannian manifold

We prove the existence of the O-U Dirichlet form and the damped O-U Dirichlet form on path space over a general non-compact Riemannian manifold which is complete and stochastically complete. We show a weighted log-Sobolev inequality for the O-U Dirichlet form and the (standard) log-Sobolev inequality for the damped O-U Dirichlet form. In particular, the Poincaré inequality (and the super Poincaré inequality) can be established for the O-U Dirichlet form on path space over a class of Riemannian manifolds with unbounded Ricci curvatures. Moreover, we construct a large class of quasi-regular local Dirichlet forms with unbounded random diffusion coefficients on path space over a general non-compact manifold.     

Harnack inequality and heat kernel estimates on manifolds with curvature unbounded below

Using the coupling by parallel translation, along with Girsanov's theorem, a new version of a dimension-free Harnack inequality is established for diffusion semigroups on Riemannian manifolds with Ricci curvature bounded below by , where c>0 is a constant and ρo is the Riemannian distance function to a fixed point o on the manifold. As an application, in the symmetric case, a Li-Yau type heat kernel bound is presented for such semigroups.