Lower Bounds for the Degree of a Branched Covering of a Manifold

The problem of finding new lower bounds for the degree of a branched covering of a manifold in terms of the cohomology rings of this manifold is considered. This problem is close to M. Gromov’s problem on the domination of manifolds, but it is more delicate. Any branched (finite-sheeted) covering of manifolds is a domination, but not vice versa (even up to homotopy). The theory and applications of the classical notion of the group transfer and of the notion of transfer for branched coverings are developed on the basis of the theory of n-homomorphisms of graded algebras.The main result is a lemma imposing conditions on a relationship between the multiplicative cohomology structures of the total space and the base of n-sheeted branched coverings of manifolds and, more generally, of Smith–Dold n-fold branched coverings. As a corollary, it is shown that the least degree n of a branched covering of the N-torus T ^N over the product of k 2-spheres and one (N ? 2k)-sphere for N ≥ 4k + 2 satisfies the inequality n ≥ N ? 2k, while the Berstein–Edmonds well-known 1978 estimate gives only n ≥ N/(k + 1).     

On the Strong <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-partite Tournaments with Exactly Two Cycles of Length <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> − 1

Gutin and Rafiey (Australas J. Combin. 34 (2006), 17-21) provided an example of an n-partite tournament with exactly n ? m + 1 cycles of length of m for any given m with 4 ≤ m ≤ n, and posed the following question. Let 3 ≤ m ≤ n and n ≥ 4. Are there strong n-partite tournaments, which are not themselves tournaments, with exactly n ? m + 1 cycles of length m for two values of m? In the same paper, they showed that this question has a negative answer for two values n ? 1 and n. In this paper, we prove that a strong n-partite tournament with exactly two cycles of length n ? 1 must contain some given multipartite tournament as subdigraph. As a corollary, we also show that the above question has a negative answer for two values n ? 1 and any l with 3 ≤ l ≤ n and l ≠ n ? 1.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">W</Emphasis>-entropy formulas on super Ricci flows and Langevin deformation on Wasserstein space over Riemannian manifolds

In this survey paper, we give an overview of our recent works on the study of the W-entropy for the heat equation associated with the Witten Laplacian on super-Ricci flows and the Langevin deformation on the Wasserstein space over Riemannian manifolds. Inspired by Perelman’s seminal work on the entropy formula for the Ricci flow, we prove the W-entropy formula for the heat equation associated with the Witten Laplacian on n-dimensional complete Riemannian manifolds with the CD(K,m)-condition, and the W-entropy formula for the heat equation associated with the time-dependent Witten Laplacian on n-dimensional compact manifolds equipped with a (K,m)-super Ricci flow, where K ∈ R and m ∈ [n,∞]. Furthermore, we prove an analogue of the W-entropy formula for the geodesic flow on the Wasserstein space over Riemannian manifolds. Our result improves an important result due to Lott and Villani (2009) on the displacement convexity of the Boltzmann-Shannon entropy on Riemannian manifolds with non-negative Ricci curvature. To better understand the similarity between above two W-entropy formulas, we introduce the Langevin deformation of geometric flows on the tangent bundle over the Wasserstein space and prove an extension of the W-entropy formula for the Langevin deformation. We also make a discussion on the W-entropy for the Ricci flow from the point of view of statistical mechanics and probability theory. Finally, to make this survey more helpful for the further development of the study of the W-entropy, we give a list of problems and comments on possible progresses for future study on the topic discussed in this survey.     

Simplexes in a normed space

Is it true that any set of n + 1 points in Rⁿ can be isometrically embedded into any n-dimensional real normed apace? For n ≥ 3, the answer to this question is unknown to the author of this paper. For n = 2, it is clear that the answer is positive. For n = 3, the problem is reduced to the case where four points lie in a plane. A certain reduction is assigned for arbitrary n.     

Coincidences and secondary Nielsen numbers

Let \({f_1, f_2 : X^m \to Y^n}\) be maps between smooth connected manifolds of dimensions m and n. Can f ₁, f ₂ be deformed by homotopies until they are coincidence free (i.e., \({f_1(x) \neq f_2(x)}\) for all \({x \in X)}\)? The main tool for addressing such a problem is traditionally the (primary) Nielsen number N(f ₁, f ₂). For example, when m < 2n ? 2, the question above has a positive answer precisely if N(f ₁, f ₂) = 0. However, when m = 2n ? 2, this can be dramatically wrong, e.g. in the fixed point case when m = n = 2. Also, in a very specific setting the Kervaire invariant appears as a (full) additional obstruction. In this paper we start exploring a fairly general new approach. This leads to secondary Nielsen numbers SecN(f ₁, f ₂) which allow us to answer our question, e.g., when \({m = 2n - 2, n \neq 2}\), is even and Y is simply connected.     

Complex vector measure and integral over manifolds with locally finite variations

It is well known that any compactly supported continuous complex differential n-form can be integrated over real n-dimensional C¹ manifolds in C^m (m ≥ n). For n = 1, the integral along any locally rectifiable curve is defined. Another generalization is the theory of currents (linear functionals on the space of compactly supported C^∞ differential forms). The topic of the article is the integration of measurable complex differential (n, 0)-forms (containing no \(d{\bar z_j}\)) over real n-dimensional C⁰ manifolds in C^m with locally finite n-dimensional variations (a generalization of locally rectifiable curves to dimensions n > 1). The last result is that a real n-dimensional manifold C¹ embedded in C^m has locally finite variations, and the integral of a measurable complex differential (n, 0)-form defined in the article can be calculated by a well-known formula.     

Realizability of Two-dimensional Linear Groups over Rings of Integers of Algebraic Number Fields

Given the ring of integers O _K of an algebraic number field K, for which natural numbers n there exists a finite group G???GL(n, O _K ) such that O _K G, the O _K -span of G, coincides with M(n, O _K ), the ring of (n?×?n)-matrices over O _K ? The answer is known if n is an odd prime. In this paper we study the case n?=?2; in the cases when the answer is positive for n?=?2, for n?=?2m there is also a finite group G???GL(2m, O _K ) such that O _K G?=?M(2m, O _K ).     

The manifold of isospectral symmetric tridiagonal matrices and realization of cycles by aspherical manifolds

We consider the classical N. Steenrod’s problem of realization of cycles by continuous images of manifolds. Our goal is to find a class \(\mathcal{M}_n \) of oriented n-dimensional closed smooth manifolds such that each integral homology class can be realized with some multiplicity by an image of a manifold from the class \(\mathcal{M}_n \). We prove that as the class \(\mathcal{M}_n \) one can take a set of finite-fold coverings of the manifold M ⁿ of isospectral symmetric tridiagonal real (n + 1) × (n + 1) matrices. It is well known that the manifold M ⁿ is aspherical, its fundamental group is torsion-free, and its universal covering is diffeomorphic to ? ⁿ . Thus, every integral homology class of an arcwise connected space can be realized with some multiplicity by an image of an aspherical manifold with a torsion-free fundamental group. In particular, for any closed oriented manifold Q ⁿ , there exists an aspherical manifold that has torsion-free fundamental group and can be mapped onto Q ⁿ with nonzero degree.     

Volume Comparison of Conformally Compact Manifolds with Scalar Curvature <Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis> ≥ −<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> − 1)

In this paper, we use the normalized Ricci–DeTurk flow to prove a stability result for strictly stable conformally compact Einstein manifolds. As an application, we show a local volume comparison of conformally compact manifolds with scalar curvature R ≥ ?n (n ? 1) and also the rigidity result when certain relative volume is zero.     

The $$\bar \partial $$ -problem with support conditions on some weakly pseudoconvex domainswith support conditions on some weakly pseudoconvex domains

We consider a domain Ω with Lipschitz boundary, which is relatively compact in ann-dimensional Kähler manifold and satisfies some “logδ-pseudoconvexity” condition. We show that the\(\bar \partial \)-equation with exact support in ω admits a solution in bidegrees (p, q), 1≤q≤n?1. Moreover, the range of\(\bar \partial \) acting on smooth (p, n?1)-forms with support in\(\bar \Omega \) is closed. Applications are given to the solvability of the tangential Cauchy-Riemann equations for smooth forms and currents for all intermediate bidegrees on boundaries of weakly pseudoconvex domains in Stein manifolds and to the solvability of the tangential Cauchy-Riemann equations for currents on Levi flatCR manifolds of arbitrary codimension.     

Thom-Sebastiani properties of Kohn-Rossi cohomology of compact connected strongly pseudoconvex CR manifolds

Let X_1 and X_2 be two compact connected strongly pseudoconvex embeddable Cauchy-Riemann(CR) manifolds of dimensions 2m-1 and 2n-1 in C~(m+1)and C~(n+1), respectively. We introduce the ThomSebastiani sum X = X_1 ⊕X_2which is a new compact connected strongly pseudoconvex embeddable CR manifold of dimension 2m+2n+1 in C~(m+n+2). Thus the set of all codimension 3 strongly pseudoconvex compact connected CR manifolds in Cn+1for all n 2 forms a semigroup. X is said to be an irreducible element in this semigroup if X cannot be written in the form X_1 ⊕ X_2. It is a natural question to determine when X is an irreducible CR manifold. We use Kohn-Rossi cohomology groups to give a necessary condition of the above question. Explicitly,we show that if X = X_1 ⊕ X_2, then the Kohn-Rossi cohomology of the X is the product of those Kohn-Rossi cohomology coming from X_1 and X_2 provided that X_2 admits a transversal holomorphic S~1-action.     

A characterization of a certain real hypersurface of type (A<Subscript>2</Subscript>) in a complex projective space

In the class of real hypersurfaces M ^2n?1 isometrically immersed into a nonflat complex space form \(\widetilde {{M_n}}\left( c \right)\) of constant holomorphic sectional curvature c (≠ 0) which is either a complex projective space ?P ⁿ (c) or a complex hyperbolic space ?H ⁿ (c) according as c > 0 or c < 0, there are two typical examples. One is the class of all real hypersurfaces of type (A) and the other is the class of all ruled real hypersurfaces. Note that the former example are Hopf manifolds and the latter are non-Hopf manifolds. In this paper, inspired by a simple characterization of all ruled real hypersurfaces in \(\widetilde {{M_n}}\left( c \right)\), we consider a certain real hypersurface of type (A₂) in ?P ⁿ (c) and give a geometric characterization of this Hopf manifold.     

Classification of smooth structures on a homotopy complex projective space

We classify, up to diffeomorphism, all closed smooth manifolds homeomorphic to the complex projective n-space \(\mathbb {C}\textbf {P}^{n}\), where n=3 and 4. Let M²ⁿ be a closed smooth 2n-manifold homotopy equivalent to \(\mathbb {C}\textbf {P}^{n}\). We show that, up to diffeomorphism, M⁶ has a unique differentiable structure and M⁸ has at most two distinct differentiable structures. We also show that, up to concordance, there exist at least two distinct differentiable structures on a finite sheeted cover N²ⁿ of \(\mathbb {C}\textbf {P}^{n}\) for n=4,7 or 8 and six distinct differentiable structures on N¹⁰.     

Über das Schwarzsche Lemma und Verwandte Sätze

Upper bounds for the Jacobian determinant by holomorphic mappings of bounded domainsD into itself were given first more then thirty years ago by Stefan Bergman by means of his theory of the kernel function ofD. In this paper a different method shall be developed and distortion theorems for holomorphic mappings of bounded domains of a Kähler manifoldM ⁿ into a Kähler manifoldM ₀ ⁿ shall be proved. The special casesM ⁿ =C _n (unit sphere of C ⁿ ) andM ⁿ =M ₀ ⁿ =|C _n shall also be considered. The proof depends essentially on the two Hermitian quadratic forms corresponding to the metric and to the Ricci tensor. The manifolds must be of negative Ricci curvature and fulfil two conditions given in section 4.     

Properties of element orders in covers for L<Subscript>n</Subscript>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>) and U<Subscript>n</Subscript>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>)

We show that if a finite simple group G, isomorphic to PSL_n(q) or PSU_n(q) where either n ≠ 4 or q is prime or even, acts on a vector space over a field of the defining characteristic of G; then the corresponding semidirect product contains an element whose order is distinct from every element order of G. We infer that the group PSL_n(q), n ≠ 4 or q prime or even, is recognizable by spectrum from its covers thus giving a partial positive answer to Problem 14.60 from the Kourovka Notebook.     

Mappings of preserving <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-distance one in <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-normed spaces

We give a positive answer to the Aleksandrov problem in n-normed spaces under the surjectivity assumption. Namely, we show that every surjective mapping preserving n-distance one is affine, and thus is an n-isometry. This is the first time the Aleksandrov problem is solved in n-normed spaces with only the surjectivity assumption even in the usual case \(n=2\). Finally, when the target space is n-strictly convex, we prove that every mapping preserving two n-distances with an integer ratio is an affine n-isometry.     

The normalizers of free subgroups in free burnside groups of odd period <Emphasis Type="Italic">n ≥</Emphasis> 1003

Let B(m, n) be a free periodic group of arbitrary rank m with period n. In this paper, we prove that for all odd numbers n ≥ 1003 the normalizer of any nontrivial subgroup N of the group B(m, n) coincides with N if the subgroup N is free in the variety of all n-periodic groups. From this, there follows a positive answer for all prime numbers n > 997 to the following problem set by S. I. Adian in the Kourovka Notebook: is it true that none of the proper normal subgroups of the group B(m, n) of prime period n > 665 is a free periodic group? The obtained result also strengthens a similar result of A. Yu. Ol’shanskii by reducing the boundary of exponent n from n > 10⁷⁸ to n ≥ 1003. For primes 665 < n ≤ 997, the mentioned question is still open.     

The knaster problem: More counterexamples

Given a continuous function\(f:\mathbb{S}^{n - 1} \to \mathbb{R}^m \) andn ?m + 1 pointsp ₁, …,p _{n?m + 1} ε\(p_1 ,...,p_{n - m + 1} \in \mathbb{S}^{n - 1} \), does there exist a rotation ? εSO(n) such thatf(?(p ₁)) = … =f(?(p _n?m+1))? We give a negative answer to this question form = 1 ifn ε {61, 63, 65} orn≥67 and form=2 ifn≥5.     

Upper bounds on the length of a shortest closed geodesic and quantitative Hurewicz theorem

In this paper we present two upper bounds on the length of a shortest closed geodesic on compact Riemannian manifolds. The first upper bound depends on an upper bound on sectional curvature and an upper bound on the volume of the manifold. The second upper bound will be given in terms of a lower bound on sectional curvature, an upper bound on the diameter and a lower bound on the volume.The related questions that will also be studied are the following: given a contractible k-dimensional sphere in M ⁿ , how “fast” can this sphere be contracted to a point, if π _i (M ⁿ )={0} for 1≤i<k. That is, what is the maximal length of the trajectory described by a point of a sphere under an “optimal” homotopy? Also, what is the “size” of the smallest non-contractible k-dimensional sphere in a (k-1)-connected manifold M ⁿ providing that M ⁿ is not k-connected?     

Linear natural operators lifting p-vectors to tensors of type (q, 0) on Weil bundles

We give a classification of all linear natural operators transforming p-vectors (i.e., skew-symmetric tensor fields of type (p, 0)) on n-dimensional manifolds M to tensor fields of type (q, 0) on T^AM, where T^A is a Weil bundle, under the condition that p ≥ 1, n ≥ p and n ≥ q. The main result of the paper states that, roughly speaking, each linear natural operator lifting p-vectors to tensor fields of type (q, 0) on T^A is a sum of operators obtained by permuting the indices of the tensor products of linear natural operators lifting p-vectors to tensor fields of type (p, 0) on T^A and canonical tensor fields of type (q ? p, 0) on T^A.