Isospectral potentials and conformally equivalent isospectral metrics on spheres,balls and Lie groups

We construct pairs of conformally equivalent isospectral Riemannian metrics ?1g and ?2g on spheres Sⁿ and balls Bⁿ⁺¹ for certain dimensions n, the smallest of which is n=7, and on certain compact simple Lie groups. In the case of Lie groups, the metric g is left-invariant. In the case of spheres and balls, the metric g not the standard metric but may be chosen arbitrarily close to the standard one. For the same manifolds (M, g) we also show that the functions ?₁ and ?₂ are isospectral potentials for the Schrödinger operator ?₂\gD + \gf. To our knowledge, these are the first examples of isospectral potentials and of isospectral conformally equivalent metrics on simply connected closed manifolds.     

Einstein structures: Existence versus uniqueness

Two well-known questions in differential geometry are “Does every compact manifold of dimension greater than four admit an Einstein metric?” and “Does an Einstein metric of a negative scalar curvature exist on a sphere?” We demonstrate that these questions are related: For everyn≥5 the existence of metrics for which the deviation from being Einstein is arbitrarily small on every compact manifold of dimensionn (or even on every smooth homology sphere of dimensionn) implies the existence of metrics of negative Ricci curvature on the sphereS ⁿ for which the deviation from being Einstein is arbitrarily small. Furthermore, assuming either a version of the Palais-Smale condition or the plausible looking existence of an algorithm deciding when a given metric on a compact manifold is close to an Einstein metric, we show for anyn≥5 that: 1) If everyn-dimensional smooth homology sphere admits an Einstein metric thenS ⁿ admits infinitely many Einstein structures of volume one and of negative scalar curvature; 2) If every compactn-dimensional manifold admits an Einstein metric then every compactn-dimensional manifold admits infinitely many distinct Einstein structures of volume one and of negative scalar curvature.     

Métriques autoduales sur la boule

A conformal metric on a 4-ball induces on the boundary 3-sphere a conformal metric and a trace-free second fundamental form. Conversely, such a data on the 3-sphere is the boundary of a unique selfdual conformal metric, defined in a neighborhood of the sphere. In this paper we characterize the conformal metrics and trace-free second fundamental forms on the 3-sphere (close to the standard round metric) which are boundaries of selfdual conformal metrics on the whole 4-ball. When the data on the boundary is reduced to a conformal metric (the trace-free part of the second fundamental form vanishes), one may hope to find in the conformal class of the filling metric an Einstein metric, with a pole of order 2 on the boundary. We determine which conformal metrics on the 3-sphere are boundaries of such selfdual Einstein metrics on the 4-ball. In particular, this implies the Positive Frequency Conjecture of LeBrun. The proof uses twistor theory, which enables to translate the problem in terms of complex analysis; this leads us to prove a criterion for certain integrable CR structures of signature (1,1) to be fillable by a complex domain. Finally, we solve an analogous, higher dimensional problem: selfdual Einstein metrics are replaced by quaternionic-K?hler metrics, and conformal structures on the boundary by quaternionic contact structures (previously introduced by the author); in contrast with the 4-dimensional case, we prove that any small deformation of the standard quaternionic contact structure on the (4m−1)-sphere is the boundary of a quaternionic-K?hler metric on the (4m)-ball. Oblatum 29-XI-2000 & 7-XI-2001?Published online: 1 February 2002     

Hypersurfaces in Hn and the space of its horospheres

A classical theorem, mainly due to Aleksandrov [Al2] and Pogorelov [P], states that any Riemannian metric on S ² with curvature K > —1 is induced on a unique convex surface in H ³ . A similar result holds with the induced metric replaced by the third fundamental form. We show that the same phenomenon happens with yet another metric on immersed surfaces, which we call the horospherical metric.?This result extends in higher dimensions, the metrics obtained are then conformally flat. One can also study equivariant immersions of surfaces or the metrics obtained on the boundaries of hyperbolic 3-manifolds. Some statements which are difficult or only conjectured for the induced metric or the third fundamental form become fairly easy when one considers the horospherical metric, which thus provides a good boundary condition for the construction of hyperbolic metrics on a manifold with boundary.?The results concerning the third fundamental form are obtained using a duality between H ³ and the de Sitter space . In the same way, the results concerning the horospherical metric are proved through a duality between H ⁿ and the space of its horospheres, which is naturally endowed with a fairly rich geometrical structure. Submitted: March 2001, Revised: November 2001.     

The gradient of certain harmonic functions on manifolds of almost nonnegative Ricci curvature

In this paper we prove that when the Ricci curvature of a Riemannian manifoldM ⁿ is almost nonnegative, and a ballB _L (p)⊂M ⁿ is close in Gromov-Hausdorff distance to a Euclidean ball, then the gradient of the harmonic functionb defined in [ChCo1] does not vanish. In particular, these functions can serve as harmonic coordinates on balls sufficiently close to an Euclidean ball. The proof, is based on a monotonicity theorem that generalizes monotonicity of the frequency for harmonic functions onR ⁿ .     

On Harnack inequalities and singularities of admissible metrics in the Yamabe problem

In this paper we study the local behaviour of admissible metrics in the k-Yamabe problem on compact Riemannian manifolds (M, g ₀) of dimension n ≥ 3. For n/2 < k < n, we prove a sharp Harnack inequality for admissible metrics when (M, g ₀) is not conformally equivalent to the unit sphere S ⁿ and that the set of all such metrics is compact. When (M, g ₀) is the unit sphere we prove there is a unique admissible metric with singularity. As a consequence we prove an existence theorem for equations of Yamabe type, thereby recovering as a special case, a recent result of Gursky and Viaclovsky on the solvability of the k-Yamabe problem for k > n/2. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council.     

Randomized allocation processes

Many dynamic resource allocation and on‐line load balancing problems can be modeled by processes that sequentially allocate balls into bins. The balls arrive one by one and are to be placed into bins on‐line without using a centralized controller. If n balls are sequentially placed into n bins by placing each ball in a randomly chosen bin, then it is widely known that the maximum load in bins is ln n /ln ln n?(1+o(1)) with high probability. Azar, Broder, Karlin, and Upfal extended this scheme, so that each ball is placed sequentially into the least full of d randomly chosen bins. They showed that the maximum load of the bins reduces exponentially and is ln ln n/In d+Θ(1) with high probability, provided d<2. In this paper we investigate various extensions of these schemes that arise in applications in dynamic resource allocation and on‐line load balancing. Traditionally, the main aim of allocation processes is to place balls into bins to minimize the maximum load in bins. However, in many applications it is equally important to minimize the number of choices performed (the allocation time). We study adaptive allocation schemes that achieve optimal tradeoffs between the maximum load, the maximum allocation time, and the average allocation time. We also investigate allocation processes that may reallocate the balls. We provide a tight analysis of a natural class of processes that each time a ball is placed in one of d randomly chosen bins may move balls among these d bins arbitrarily. Finally, we provide a tight analysis of the maximum load of the off‐line process in which each ball may be placed into one of d randomly chosen bins. We apply this result to competitive analysis of on‐line load balancing processes. ©2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 18: 297–331, 2001     

Almost Isometries of Balls

Let f be a bi-Lipschitz mapping of the Euclidean ball B ^_n into ℓ₂ with both Lipschitz constants close to one. We investigate the shape of f(B ^_n). We give examples of such a mapping f, which has the Lipschitz constants arbitrarily close to one and at the same time has in the supremum norm the distance at least one from every isometry of ⁿ.     

Spectral flexibility of symplectic manifolds <Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Superscript>2</Superscript> × <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>

We consider Riemannian metrics compatible with the natural symplectic structure on T ² × M, where T ² is a symplectic 2-torus and M is a closed symplectic manifold. To each such metric we attach the corresponding Laplacian and consider its first positive eigenvalue λ₁. We show that λ₁ can be made arbitrarily large by deforming the metric structure, keeping the symplectic structure fixed. The conjecture is that the same is true for any symplectic manifold of dimension ≥ 4. We reduce the general conjecture to a purely symplectic question.     

The Hencky strain energy ‖log U‖2 measures the geodesic distance of the deformation gradient to SO(n) in the canonical left-invariant Riemannian metric on GL(n)

The well-known isotropic Hencky strain energy appears naturally as a distance measure of the deformation gradient to the set of rigid rotations in a canonical left-invariant Riemannian metric on the general linear group GL(n). Objectivity requires the Riemannian metric to be left-GL(n) invariant, isotropy requires the Riemannian metric to be right-O(n) invariant. The latter two conditions are satisfied for a three-parameter family of Riemannian metrics on the tangent space of GL(n). Surprisingly, the final result is basically independent of the chosen parameters. In deriving the result, geodesics on GL(n) have to be parametrized and a novel minimization problem, involving the matrix logarithm for non-symmetric arguments, has to be solved. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Local audibility of a hyperbolic metric

A Riemannian metric g on a compact boundaryless manifold is said to be locally audible if the following statement is true for every metric g′ sufficiently close to g: if g and g′ are isospectral then they are isometric. The local audibility is proved of a metric of constant negative sectional curvature.     

Triangulated Spheres and Colored Cliques

   Abstract. In [1] a generalization of Hall's theorem was proved for families of hypergraphs. The proof used Sperner's lemma. In [5] Meshulam proved an extension of this result, using homology and the nerve theorem. In this paper we show how the triangulations method can be used to derive Meshulam's results. As in [1], the proof is based on results on extensions of triangulations from the sphere to the full ball. A typical result of this type is that any triangulation of the (d-1) -dimensional sphere S ^d-1 can be extended to a triangulation of the ball B ^d , by adding one point at a time, having degree at most 2d to its predecessors.     

Trace of heat kernel,spectral zeta function and isospectral problem for sub-laplacians

In this article, we first study the trace for the heat kernel for the sub-Laplacian operator on the unit sphere in ℂ ⁿ⁺¹. Then we survey some results on the spectral zeta function which is induced by the trace of the heat kernel. In the second part of the paper, we discuss an isospectral problem in the CR setting.     

Metrics with nonnegative curvature on {S^2 \times \mathbb{R}^4}

We study nonnegatively curved metrics on S²×\mathbbR⁴{S^2\times\mathbb{R}^4}. First, we prove rigidity theorems for connection metrics; for example, the holonomy group of the normal bundle of the soul must lie in a maximal torus of SO(4). Next, we prove that Wilking’s almost-positively curved metric on S ² × S ³ extends to a nonnegatively curved metric on S²×\mathbbR⁴{S^2\times\mathbb{R}^4} (so that Wilking’s space becomes the distance sphere of radius 1 about the soul). We describe in detail the geometry of this extended metric.     

A C 0 Estimate for Nearly Umbilical Surfaces

Let Σ ⊂ R ³ be a smooth compact connected surface without boundary. Denote by A its second fundamental form and by Å the tensor A−(tr A/2)Id. In [4] we proved that, if ‖Å‖ _L ² (Σ) is small, then Σ is W ^2,2-close to a round sphere. In this note we show that, in addition, the metric of Σ is C ⁰–close to the standard metric of S ².The first author was supported by a grant of the Swiss National Science Foundation.     

The Problem of Prescribed Critical Functions

Let (M,g) be a compact Riemannian manifold on dimension n ≥ 4 not conformally diffeomorphic to the sphere Sⁿ. We prove that a smooth function f on M is a critical function for a metric g conformal to g if and only if there exists x ∈ M such that f(x) > 0.Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000): 53C21, 46E35, 26D10.     

A class of Riemannian manifolds that pinch when evolved by Ricci flow

The purpose of this paper is to construct a set of Riemannian metrics on a manifold X with the property that will develop a pinching singularity in finite time when evolved by Ricci flow. More specifically, let , where N ⁿ is an arbitrary closed manifold of dimension n≥ 2 which admits an Einstein metric of positive curvature. We construct a (non-empty) set of warped product metrics on the non-compact manifold X such that if , then a smooth solution , t∈[0,T) to the Ricci flow equation exists for some maximal constant T, 0<T<∞, with initial value , and

A note on the existence of singular integrals

Abstract. In this note the existence of a singular integral operator T acting on Lipo(R“) spacesis studied. Suppose     

On the volume functional of compact manifolds with boundary with constant scalar curvature

We study the volume functional on the space of constant scalar curvature metrics with a prescribed boundary metric. We derive a sufficient and necessary condition for a metric to be a critical point, and show that the only domains in space forms, on which the standard metrics are critical points, are geodesic balls. In the zero scalar curvature case, assuming the boundary can be isometrically embedded in the Euclidean space as a compact strictly convex hypersurface, we show that the volume of a critical point is always no less than the Euclidean volume bounded by the isometric embedding of the boundary, and the two volumes are equal if and only if the critical point is isometric to a standard Euclidean ball. We also derive a second variation formula and apply it to show that, on Euclidean balls and “small” hyperbolic and spherical balls in dimensions 3 ≤ n ≤ 5, the standard space form metrics are indeed saddle points for the volume functional.     

Calibrated Subbundles in Noncompact Manifolds of Special Holonomy

This paper is a continuation of Math. Res. Lett. 12 (2005), 493–512. We first construct special Lagrangian submanifolds of the Ricci-flat Stenzel metric (of holonomy SU(n)) on the cotangent bundle of Sⁿ by looking at the conormal bundle of appropriate submanifolds of Sⁿ. We find that the condition for the conormal bundle to be special Lagrangian is the same as that discovered by Harvey–Lawson for submanifolds in Rⁿ in their pioneering paper, Acta Math. 148 (1982), 47–157. We also construct calibrated submanifolds in complete metrics with special holonomy G₂ and Spin(7) discovered by Bryant and Salamon (Duke Math. J. 58 (1989), 829–850) on the total spaces of appropriate bundles over self-dual Einstein four manifolds. The submanifolds are constructed as certain subbundles over immersed surfaces. We show that this construction requires the surface to be minimal in the associative and Cayley cases, and to be (properly oriented) real isotropic in the coassociative case. We also make some remarks about using these constructions as a possible local model for the intersection of compact calibrated submanifolds in a compact manifold with special holonomy. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 53-XX, 58-XX.