Edge quantisation of elliptic operators

The ellipticity of operators on a manifold with edge is defined as the bijectivity of the components of a principal symbolic hierarchy , where the second component takes values in operators on the infinite model cone of the local wedges. In the general understanding of edge problems there are two basic aspects: Quantisation of edge-degenerate operators in weighted Sobolev spaces, and verifying the ellipticity of the principal edge symbol which includes the (in general not explicitly known) number of additional conditions of trace and potential type on the edge. We focus here on these questions and give explicit answers for a wide class of elliptic operators that are connected with the ellipticity of edge boundary value problems and reductions to the boundary. In particular, we study the edge quantisation and ellipticity for Dirichlet–Neumann operators with respect to interfaces of some codimension on a boundary. We show analogues of the Agranovich–Dynin formula for edge boundary value problems. Nicoleta Dines and Bert-Wolfgang Schulze were supported by Chinese-German Cooperation Program “Partial Differential Equations”, NNSF of China and DFG of Germany. Xiaochun Liu was supported by NNSF of China through Grant No. 10501034, and Chinese-German Cooperation Program “Partial Differential Equations”, NNSF of China and DFG of Germany.     

On the expansion of the resolvent for elliptic boundary contact problems

Let A be an elliptic operator on a compact manifold with boundary , and let be a covering map, where Y is a closed manifold. Let A _C be a realization of A subject to a coupling condition C that is elliptic with parameter in the sector Λ. By a coupling condition we mean a nonlocal boundary condition that respects the covering structure of the boundary. We prove that the resolvent trace for N sufficiently large has a complete asymptotic expansion as . In particular, the heat trace has a complete asymptotic expansion as , and the -function has a meromorphic extension to .      

Weak Riemannian manifolds from finite index subfactors

Let N ⊂ M be a finite Jones’ index inclusion of II₁ factors and denote by U _N ⊂ U _M their unitary groups. In this article, we study the homogeneous space U _M /U _N , which is a (infinite dimensional) differentiable manifold, diffeomorphic to the orbit of the Jones projection of the inclusion. We endow with a Riemannian metric, by means of the trace on each tangent space. These are pre-Hilbert spaces (the tangent spaces are not complete); therefore, is a weak Riemannian manifold. We show that enjoys certain properties similar to classic Hilbert–Riemann manifolds. Among them are metric completeness of the geodesic distance, uniqueness of geodesics of the Levi-Civita connection as minimal curves, and partial results on the existence of minimal geodesics. For instance, around each point p ₁ of , there is a ball (of uniform radius r) of the usual norm of M, such that any point p ₂ in the ball is joined to p ₁ by a unique geodesic, which is shorter than any other piecewise smooth curve lying inside this ball. We also give an intrinsic (algebraic) characterization of the directions of degeneracy of the submanifold inclusion , where the last set denotes the Grassmann manifold of the von Neumann algebra generated by M and .      

Upper Triangular Operator Matrices, SVEP and Browder, Weyl Theorems

A Banach space operator T ∈ B(χ) is polaroid if points λ ∈ iso σ(T) are poles of the resolvent of T. Let denote, respectively, the approximate point, the Weyl, the Weyl essential approximate, the upper semi–Fredholm and lower semi–Fredholm spectrum of T. For A, B and C ∈ B(χ), let M _C denote the operator matrix . If A is polaroid on , M ₀ satisfies Weyl’s theorem, and A and B satisfy either of the hypotheses (i) A has SVEP at points and B has SVEP at points , or, (ii) both A and A* have SVEP at points , or, (iii) A^* has SVEP at points and B ^* has SVEP at points , then . Here the hypothesis that λ ∈ π₀(M _C ) are poles of the resolvent of A can not be replaced by the hypothesis are poles of the resolvent of A. For an operator , let . We prove that if A* and B* have SVEP, A is polaroid on π ^a ₀(M _C) and B is polaroid on π ^a ₀(B), then .      

Curvature homogeneous Lorentzian three-manifolds

We study three-dimensional curvature homogeneous Lorentzian manifolds. We prove that for all Segre types of the Ricci operator, there exist examples of nonhomogeneous curvature homogeneous Lorentzian metrics in .      

Surfaces in $${\mathbb{S}^2\times\mathbb{R}}$$ with a canonical principal direction

We show a way to choose nice coordinates on a surface in and use this to study minimal surfaces. We show that only open parts of cylinders over a geodesic in are both minimal and flat. We also show that the condition that the projection of the direction tangent to onto the tangent space of the surface is a principal direction, is equivalent to the condition that the surface is normally flat in . We present classification theorems under the extra assumption of minimality or flatness. J. Fastenakels is a research assistant of the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO). J. Van der Veken is a postdoctoral researcher supported by the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO). This work was partially supported by project G.0432.07 of the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO).     

A regularity result for polyharmonic maps with higher integrability

We prove a regularity result for critical points of the polyharmonic energy in with and p > 1. Our proof is based on a Gagliardo–Nirenberg-type estimate and avoids the moving frame technique. In view of the monotonicity formulae for stationary harmonic and biharmonic maps, we infer partial regularity in theses cases.     

Canonical connections on paracontact manifolds

The canonical paracontact connection is defined and it is shown that its torsion is the obstruction the paracontact manifold to be paraSasakian. A -homothetic transformation is determined as a special gauge transformation. The η-Einstein manifold are defined, it is proved that their scalar curvature is a constant, and it is shown that in the paraSasakian case these spaces can be obtained from Einstein paraSasakian manifolds with -homothetic transformations. It is shown that an almost paracontact structure admits a connection with totally skew-symmetric torsion if and only if the Nijenhuis tensor of the paracontact structure is skew-symmetric and the defining vector field is Killing.      

Para-tt*-bundles on the tangent bundle of an almost para-complex manifold

In this paper we study para-tt ^*-bundles (TM, D, S) on the tangent bundle of an almost para-complex manifold (M, τ). We characterise those para-tt ^*-bundles with ${\nabla=D + S}In this paper we study para-tt ^*-bundles (TM, D, S) on the tangent bundle of an almost para-complex manifold (M, τ). We characterise those para-tt ^*-bundles with induced by the one-parameter family of connections given by and prove a uniqueness result for solutions with a para-complex connection D. Flat nearly para-K?hler manifolds and special para-complex manifolds are shown to be such solutions. We analyse which of these solutions admit metric or symplectic para-tt ^*-bundles. Moreover, we give a generalisation of the notion of a para-pluriharmonic map to maps from almost para-complex manifolds (M, τ) into pseudo-Riemannian manifolds and associate to the above metric and symplectic para-tt ^*-bundles generalised para-pluriharmonic maps into , respectively, into SO ₀(n,n)/U ^π(C ⁿ ), where U ^π(C ⁿ ) is the para-complex analogue of the unitary group.      

A local rigidity theorem for minimal surfaces in Minkowski 3-space of Randers type

Let be a Minkowski 3-space of Randers type with , where is the Euclidean metric and . We consider minimal surfaces in and prove that if a connected surface M in is minimal with respect to both the Busemann–Hausdorff volume form and the Holmes–Thompson volume form, then up to a parallel translation of , M is either a piece of plane or a piece of helicoid which is generated by lines screwing about the x ³-axis.      

Local boundedness of the number of solutions of Plateau’s problem for polygonal boundary curves

In the present article, the author proves two generalizations of his “finiteness-result” (I.H.P. Anal. Non-lineaire, 2006, accepted) which states for any extreme simple closed polygon that every immersed, stable disc-type minimal surface spanning Γ is an isolated point of the set of all disc-type minimal surfaces spanning Γ w.r.t. the C ⁰-topology. First, it is proved that this statement holds true for any simple closed polygon in , provided it bounds only minimal surfaces without boundary branch points. Also requiring that the interior angles at the vertices of such a polygon Γ have to be different from the author proves the existence of some neighborhood O of Γ in and of some integer , depending only on Γ, such that the number of immersed, stable disc-type minimal surfaces spanning any simple closed polygon contained in O, with the same number of vertices as Γ, is bounded by .      

Finiteness of the number of solutions of Plateau’s problem for polygonal boundary curves II

In this article, the author proves that a simple closed polygon can bound only finitely many immersed minimal surfaces of disc-type if it meets the following two requirements: firstly it has to bound only minimal surfaces without boundary branch points, and secondly its total curvature, i.e. the sum of the exterior angles at its N + 3 vertices, has to be smaller than 6π.      

Carleson Measures for the Bloch Space

In this paper we study the positive Borel measures μ on the unit disc in for which the Bloch space is continuously included in , 0 < p < ∞. We call such measures p-Bloch-Carleson measures. We give two conditions on a measure μ in terms of certain logarithmic integrals one of which is a necessary condition and the other a sufficient condition for μ being a p-Bloch-Carleson measure. We also give a complete characterization of the p-Bloch-Carleson measures within certain special classes of measures. It is also shown that, for p > 1, the p-Bloch-Carleson measures are exactly those for which the Toeplitz operator , defined by , maps continuously into the Bergman space A ¹, . Furthermore, we prove that if p > 1, α >-1 and ω is a weight which satisfies the Bekollé-Bonami -condition, then the measure defined by is a p-Bloch-Carleson-measure. We also consider the Banach space of those functions f which are analytic in and satisfy , as . The Bloch space is contained in . We describe the p-Carleson measures for and study weighted composition operators and a class of integration operators acting in this space. We determine which of these operators map continuously to the weighted Bergman space and show that they are automatically compact. This research is partially supported by several grants from “the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain” (MTM2005-07347, MTM2007-60854, MTM2006-26627-E, MTM2007-30904-E and Ingenio Mathematica (i-MATH) No. CSD2006-00032); from “La Junta de Andalucía” (FQM210 and P06-FQM01504); from “the Academy of Finland” (210245) and from the European Networking Programme “HCAA” of the European Science Foundation.     

An asymptotic theorem for minimal surfaces and existence results for minimal graphs in $${\mathbb H^2 \times \mathbb R}$$

In this paper we prove a general and sharp Asymptotic Theorem for minimal surfaces in . As a consequence, we prove that there is no properly immersed minimal surface whose asymptotic boundary Γ_∞ is a Jordan curve homologous to zero in such that Γ_∞ is contained in a slab between two horizontal circles of with width equal to π. We construct vertical minimal graphs in over certain unbounded admissible domains taking certain prescribed finite boundary data and certain prescribed asymptotic boundary data. Our admissible unbounded domains Ω in are non necessarily convex and non necessarily bounded by convex arcs; each component of its boundary is properly embedded with zero, one or two points on its asymptotic boundary, satisfying a further geometric condition. The first author wish to thank Laboratoire Géométrie et Dynamique de l’Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu for the kind hospitality and support. The authors would like to thank CNPq, PRONEX of Brazil and Accord Brasil-France, for partial financial support.     

Dynamically convex Finsler metrics and <Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>-holomorphic embedding of asymptotic cylinders

We explore the relationship between contact forms on defined by Finsler metrics on and the theory developed by H. Hofer, K. Wysocki and E. Zehnder (Hofer etal. Ann. Math. 148, 197–289, 1998; Ann. Math. 157, 125–255, 2003). We show that a Finsler metric on with curvature K ≥ 1 and with all geodesic loops of length > π is dynamically convex and hence it has either two or infinitely many closed geodesics. We also explain how to explicitly construct J-holomorphic embeddings of cylinders asymptotic to Reeb orbits of contact structures arising from Finsler metrics on with K = 1, thus complementing the results obtained in Harris and Wysocki (Trans. Am. Math. Soc., to appear).      

Obstruction classes of crossed modules of Lie algebroids and Lie groupoids linked to existence of principal bundles

Let K be a Lie group and P be a K-principal bundle on a manifold M. Suppose given furthermore a central extension of K. It is a classical question whether there exists a -principal bundle on M such that . Neeb (Commun. Algebra 34:991–1041, 2006) defines in this context a crossed module of topological Lie algebras whose cohomology class is an obstruction to the existence of . In the present article, we show that is up to torsion a full obstruction for this problem, and we clarify its relation to crossed modules of Lie algebroids and Lie groupoids, and finally to gerbes.      

Ranks of abelian varieties over infinite extensions of the rationals

Let S be an infinite set of rational primes and, for some p ∈ S, let be the compositum of all extensions unramified outside S of the form , for . If , let be the intersection of the fixed fields by , for i = 1, . . , n. We provide a wide family of elliptic curves such that the rank of is infinite for all n ≥ 0 and all , subject to the parity conjecture. Similarly, let be a polarized abelian variety, let K be a quadratic number field fixed by , let S be an infinite set of primes of and let be the maximal abelian p-elementary extension of K unramified outside primes of K lying over S and dihedral over . We show that, under certain hypotheses, the -corank of sel _p ∞(A/F) is unbounded over finite extensions F/K contained in . As a consequence, we prove a strengthened version of a conjecture of M. Larsen in a large number of cases.     

Geometric second derivative estimates in Carnot groups and convexity

We prove some new a priori estimates for H ₂-convex functions which are zero on the boundary of a bounded smooth domain Ω in a Carnot group . Such estimates are global and are geometric in nature as they involve the horizontal mean curvature of ∂Ω. As a consequence of our bounds we show that if has step two, then for any smooth H ₂-convex function in vanishing on ∂Ω one has

Anisotropic estimates for sub-elliptic operators

In the 1970's,Folland and Stein studied a family of subelliptic scalar operators L_λwhich arise naturally in the(?)_b-complex.They introduced weighted Sobolev spaces as the natural spaces for this complex,and then obtained sharp estimates for(?)b in these spaces using integral kernels and approximate inverses.In the 1990's,Rumin introduced a differential complex for compact contact manifolds,showed that the Folland-Stein operators are central to the analysis for the corresponding Laplace operator,and derived the necessary estimates for the Laplacian from the Folland Stein analysis. In this paper,we give a self-contained derivation of sharp estimates in the anisotropic Folland-Stein spaces for the operators studied by Rumin using integration by parts and a modified approach to bootstrapping.     

Anisotropic version of a theorem of H. Hopf

Given a positive function F on S ² which satisfies a convexity condition, we define a function for surfaces in which is a generalization of the usual mean curvature function. We prove that an immersed topological sphere in with = constant is the Wulff shape, up to translations and homotheties.