On curvature homogeneous three-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds

The aim of this paper is the study of three-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds whose Ricci tensor has three equal constant eigenvalues, whose associated eigenspace is two-dimensional. A complete local classification of this class of curvature homogeneous manifolds is presented. It turns out that, if the eigenvalue is zero, these are exactly the curvature homogeneous manifolds modelled on an indecomposable, non-irreducible Lorentzian symmetric space, which were first studied in Cahen etaal. (1990), and the techniques presented in this paper can therefore be applied to obtain a complete (local) classification of these manifolds, and to construct a number of new examples of such manifolds.     

Gravity and the Noncommutative Residue for Manifolds with Boundary

We prove a Kastler–Kalau–Walze type theorem for the Dirac operator and the signature operator for 3,4-dimensional manifolds with boundary. As a corollary, we give two kinds of operator-theoretic explanations of the gravitational action in the case of 4-dimensional manifolds with flat boundary.      

Homogeneous Finsler spaces of negative curvature

We prove that a homogeneous Finsler space with non-positive flag curvature and strictly negative Ricci scalar is a simply connected manifold.     

The Spectral Action for Dirac Operators with Skew-Symmetric Torsion

We derive a formula for the gravitational part of the spectral action for Dirac operators on 4-dimensional manifolds with totally anti-symmetric torsion. We find that the torsion becomes dynamical and couples to the traceless part of the Riemann curvature tensor. Finally we deduce the Lagrangian for the Standard Model of particle physics in the presence of torsion from the Chamseddine-Connes Dirac operator.     

Three-dimensional space-times

A real version of the Newman-Penrose formalism is developed for (2+1)-dimensional space-times. The complete algebraic classification of the (Ricci) curvature is given. The field equations of Deser, Jackiw, and Templeton, expressing balance between the Einstein and Bach tensors, are reformulated in triad terms. Two exact solutions are obtained, one characterized by a null geodesic eigencongruence of the Ricci tensor, and a second for which all the polynomial curvature invariants are constant.     

Unique continuation results for Ricci curvature and applications

Unique continuation results are proved for metrics with prescribed Ricci curvature in the setting of bounded metrics on compact manifolds with boundary, and in the setting of complete conformally compact metrics on such manifolds. Related to this issue, an isometry extension property is proved: continuous groups of isometries at conformal infinity extend into the bulk of any complete conformally compact Einstein metric. Relations of this property with the invariance of the Gauss–Codazzi constraint equations under deformations are also discussed.     

Conformal Vector Fields and Eigenvectors of Laplacian Operator

In this paper, we consider an n-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold (M,g) of constant scalar curvature and show that the presence of a non-Killing conformal vector field ξ on M that is also an eigenvector of the Laplacian operator acting on smooth vector fields with eigenvalue λ together with a condition on Ricci curvature of M, that the Ricci curvature in the direction of a certain vector field is greater than or equal to (n − 1)λ, forces M to be isometric to the n-sphere S ⁿ (λ).     

Über Volumendefekte und Krümmung in Riemannschen Mannigfaltigkeiten mit Anwendungen in der Relativitätstheorie

On Defects of the Volume and Curvature in Riemannian Manifolds with Applications to General Theory of Relativity Due to J. Bertrand and V. Puiseux the Gaussian curvature K of a surface can be determined by geodesic measurements: construct the geodesic circle of radius r to some point P, measure the circumference L, then K can be calculated from the defect 2πr - L. There are similar relations for n-dimensional Riemannian manifolds with positive definite metric, H. Vermeil has proved that the curvature invariant can be determined from defects of the volume. In this paper we study 4-dimensional Riemannian manifolds with signature (? + + +). There are connections between defects of the volume, curvature invariant R and physical quantities of the general theory of relativity.     

Lower-Dimensional Volumes and Kastler-Kalau-Walze Type Theorem for Manifolds with Boundary

In this paper, we define lower-dimensional volumes of spin manifolds with boundary. We compute the lower-dimensional volume Vol^(2,2) for 5-dimensional and 6-dimensional spin manifolds with boundary and we also get the Kastler-Kalau-Walze type theorem in this case.     

Canonical Cartan connection and holomorphic invariants on Engel CR manifolds

We describe a complete system of invariants for 4-dimensional CR manifolds of CR dimension 1 and codimension 2 with Engel CR distribution by constructing an explicit canonical Cartan connection. The four essential invariants arising from the Cartan curvature are geometrically interpreted. We also investigate the relationship between the Cartan connection and the normal form of the defining equation of an embedded Engel CR manifold. This work was carried out in the framework of Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP0450725.     

Classification of Cylindrically Symmetric Static Spacetimes According to Their Ricci Collineations

A complete classification of cylindrically symmetric static Lorentzian manifolds according to their Ricci collineations (RCs) is provided. The Lie algebras of RCs for the non-degenerate Ricci tensor have dimensions 3 to 10, excluding 8 and 9. For the degenerate tensor the algebra is mostly but not always infinite dimensional; there are cases of 10-, 5-, 4- and 3-dimensional algebras. The RCs are compared with the Killing vectors (KVs) and homothetic motions (HMs). The (non-linear) constraints corresponding to the Lie algebras are solved to construct examples which include some exact solutions admitting proper RCs. Their physical interpretation is given. The classification of plane symmetric static spacetimes emerges as a special case of this classification when the cylinder is unfolded.     

Ricci flow for homogeneous compact models of the universe

Using quaternions, we give a concise derivation of the Ricci tensor for homogeneous spaces with topology of the 3-dimensional sphere. We derive explicit and numerical solutions for the Ricci flow PDE and discuss their properties. In the collapse (or expansion) of these models, the interplay of the various components of the Ricci tensor are studied.     

Gradient estimate for Schrödinger operators on manifolds

In this paper, we prove a new localized version of a gradient estimate for Schrödinger operators on the complete manifolds without boundary and with Ricci curvature bounded below by a negative constant. As its application, we derive the Liouville type theorem, the Harnack inequality and the Gaussian lower bound of the heat kernel of Schrödinger operators.     

The Ricci flow approach to homogeneous Einstein metrics on flag manifolds

We give a global picture of the normalized Ricci flow on generalized flag manifolds with two or three isotropy summands. The normalized Ricci flow for these spaces reduces to a parameter-dependent system of two or three ordinary differential equations, respectively. Here, we present a qualitative study of these systems’ global phase portrait, which uses techniques of dynamical systems theory. This study allows us to draw conclusions about the existence and the analytical form of invariant Einstein metrics on such manifolds and seems to offer a better insight to the classification problem of invariant Einstein metrics on compact homogeneous spaces.     

The Effective Dynamics of the Volume Preserving Mean Curvature Flow

We consider the dynamics of small closed submanifolds (‘bubbles’) under the volume preserving mean curvature flow. We construct a map from (\(\text {n}+1\))-dimensional Euclidean space into a given (\(\text {n}+1\))-dimensional Riemannian manifold which characterizes the existence, stability and dynamics of constant mean curvature submanifolds. This is done in terms of a reduced area function on the Euclidean space, which is given constructively and can be computed perturbatively. This allows us to derive adiabatic and effective dynamics of the bubbles. The results can be mapped by rescaling to the dynamics of fixed size bubbles in almost Euclidean Riemannian manifolds.     

PP-waves with torsion: a metric-affine model for the massless neutrino

In this paper we deal with quadratic metric-affine gravity, which we briefly introduce, explain and give historical and physical reasons for using this particular theory of gravity. We then introduce a generalisation of well known spacetimes, namely pp-waves. A classical pp-wave is a 4-dimensional Lorentzian spacetime which admits a nonvanishing parallel spinor field; here the connection is assumed to be Levi-Civita. This definition was generalised in our previous work to metric compatible spacetimes with torsion and used to construct new explicit vacuum solutions of quadratic metric-affine gravity, namely generalised pp-waves of parallel Ricci curvature. The physical interpretation of these solutions we propose in this article is that they represent a conformally invariant metric-affine model for a massless elementary particle. We give a comparison with the classical model describing the interaction of gravitational and massless neutrino fields, namely Einstein–Weyl theory and construct pp-wave type solutions of this theory. We point out that generalised pp-waves of parallel Ricci curvature are very similar to pp-wave type solutions of the Einstein–Weyl model and therefore propose that our generalised pp-waves of parallel Ricci curvature represent a metric-affine model for the massless neutrino.     

Perturbative modes and black hole entropy in f(Ricci) gravity

f(Ricci) gravity is a special kind of higher curvature gravity whose bulk Lagrangian density is the trace of a matrix-valued function of the Ricci tensor. It is shown that under some mild constraints, f(Ricci) gravity admits Einstein manifolds as exact vacuum solutions, and can be ghost-free and tachyon-free around maximally symmetric Einstein vacua. It is also shown that the entropy for spherically symmetric black holes in f(Ricci) gravity calculated via the Wald method and the boundary Noether charge approach are in good agreement.     

Einstein metrics: homogeneous solvmanifolds,generalised Heisenberg groups and black holes

In this paper we construct Einstein spaces with negative Ricci curvature in various dimensions. These spaces—which can be thought of as generalised AdS spacetimes—can be classified in terms of the geometry of the horospheres in Poincaré-like coordinates, and can be both homogeneous and static. By using simple building blocks, which in general are homogeneous Einstein solvmanifolds, we give a general algorithm for constructing Einstein metrics where the horospheres are products of generalised Heisenberg geometries, nilgeometries, solvegeometries, or Ricci-flat manifolds. Furthermore, we show that all of these spaces can give rise to black holes with the horizon geometry corresponding to the geometry of the horospheres, by explicitly deriving their metrics.     

Flows on Quaternionic-Kähler and Very Special Real Manifolds

BPS solutions of 5-dimensional supergravity correspond to certain gradient flows on the product M×N of a quaternionic-Kähler manifold M of negative scalar curvature and a very special real manifold N of dimension n0. Such gradient flows are generated by the ``energy function' f=P<sup>2</sup>, where P is a (bundle-valued) moment map associated to n+1 Killing vector fields on M. We calculate the Hessian of f at critical points and derive some properties of its spectrum for general quaternionic-Kähler manifolds. For the homogeneous quaternionic-Kähler manifolds we prove more specific results depending on the structure of the isotropy group. For example, we show that there always exists a Killing vector field vanishing at a point pM such that the Hessian of f at p has split signature. This generalizes results obtained recently for the complex hyperbolic plane (universal hypermultiplet) in the context of 5-dimensional supergravity. For symmetric quaternionic-Kähler manifolds we show the existence of non-degenerate local extrema of f, for appropriate Killing vector fields. On the other hand, for the non-symmetric homogeneous quaternionic-Kähler manifolds we find degenerate local minima. This work was supported by the priority programme ``String Theory'of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.