Non-preserved curvature conditions under constrained mean curvature flows

We provide explicit examples which show that mean convexity (i.e. positivity of the mean curvature) and positivity of the scalar curvature are non-preserved curvature conditions for hypersurfaces of the Euclidean space evolving under either the volume- or the area preserving mean curvature flow. The relevance of our examples is that they disprove some statements of the previous literature, overshadow a widespread folklore conjecture about the behaviour of these flows and bring out the discouraging news that a traditional singularity analysis is not possible for constrained versions of the mean curvature flow.     

Harnack estimate for curvature flows depending on mean curvature

The maximum principle is applied to prove the Harnack estimate of curvature flows of hypersurfaces in Rn＋1,where the normal velocity is given by a smooth function f depending only on the mean curvature.By use of the estimate,some corollaries are obtained including the integral Harnack inequality.In particular,the conditions are given with which the solution to the flows is a translation soliton or an expanding soliton.     

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.     

Hypersurfaces with constant scalar curvature and constant mean curvature

Non-spherical hypersurfaces inE ⁴ with non-zero constant mean curvature and constant scalar curvature are the only hypersurfaces possessing the following property: Its position vector can be written as a sum of two non-constant maps, which are eigenmaps of the Laplacian operator with corresponding eigenvalues the zero and a non-zero constant.     

Special Lagrangian curvature

We define the notion of special Lagrangian curvature, showing how it may be interpreted as an alternative higher dimensional generalisation of two dimensional Gaussian curvature. We obtain first a local rigidity result for this curvature when the ambient manifold has negative sectional curvature. We then show how this curvature relates to the canonical special Legendrian structure of spherical subbundles of the tangent bundle of the ambient manifold. This allows us to establish a strong compactness result. In the case where the special Lagrangian angle equals (n ? 1)π/2, we obtain compactness modulo a unique mode of degeneration, where a sequence of hypersurfaces wraps ever tighter round a geodesic.     

Strongly positive curvature

We begin a systematic study of a curvature condition (strongly positive curvature) which lies strictly between positive-definiteness of the curvature operator and positivity of sectional curvature, and stems from the work of Thorpe (J Differ Geom 5:113–125, 1971; Erratum. J Differ Geom 11:315, 1976). We prove that this condition is preserved under Riemannian submersions and Cheeger deformations and that most compact homogeneous spaces with positive sectional curvature satisfy it.     

Simplicial nonpositive curvature

We introduce a family of conditions on a simplicial complex that we call local k-largeness (k≥6 is an integer). They are simply stated, combinatorial and easily checkable. One of our themes is that local 6-largeness is a good analogue of the non-positive curvature: locally 6-large spaces have many properties similar to non-positively curved ones. However, local 6-largeness neither implies nor is implied by non-positive curvature of the standard metric. One can think of these results as a higher dimensional version of small cancellation theory. On the other hand, we show that k-largeness implies non-positive curvature if k is sufficiently large. We also show that locally k-large spaces exist in every dimension. We use this to answer questions raised by D. Burago, M. Gromov and I. Leary.     

Universal curvature identities

We study scalar and symmetric 2-form valued universal curvature identities. We use this to establish the Gauss–Bonnet theorem using heat equation methods, to give a new proof of a result of Kuz?mina and Labbi concerning the Euler–Lagrange equations of the Gauss–Bonnet integral, and to give a new derivation of the Euh–Park–Sekigawa identity.     

Non-negative scalar curvature

We study topological obstructions to the existence of Riemannian metrics of non-negative scalar curvature on almost spin manifolds using the Dirac operator, the Bochner technique, C ^* algebras and von Neumann algebras. We also derive some obstructions in terms of the eta invariants of Atiyah, Patodi and Singer. Next, we prove vanishing theorems for the Atiyah-Milnor genus. Finally, we derive obstructions to the existence of metrics of non-negative scalar curvature along the leaves of a leafwise non-amenable foliation on a spin manifold.     

Symplectic curvature tensors

In the paper, one establishes the decomposition of the space of tensors which have the symmetries of the curvature of a torsionless symplectic connection into Sp (n)-irreducible components. This leads to three interesting classes of symplectic connections: flat, Ricci flat, and similar to the Levi-Civita connections of Kähler manifolds with constant holomorphic sectional curvature (we call them connections with reducible curvature). A symplectic manifold with two transversal polarizations has a canonical symplectic connection, and we study properties that are encountered if this canonical connection belongs to the classes mentioned above. For instance, in the reducible case we can compute the Pontrjagin classes, and these will be zero if the polarizations are real, etc. If the polarizations are real and there exist points where they are either singular or nontransversal, one has residues in the sense ofLehmann [L], which should be expected to play an interesting role in symplectic geometry.     

Solitons of curvature

An intristic geometry of surfaces is discussed. In geodesic coordinates the Gauss equation is reduced to the Schrödinger equation where the Gaussian curvature plays the role of a potential. The use of this fact provides an infinite set of explicit expressions for the curvature and metric of a surface. A special case is governed by the KdV equation for the Gaussian curvature. We consider the integrable dynamics of curvature via the KdV equation, higher KdV equations and (2+1)-dimensional integrable equations with breaking solitons.     

Equi-Gaussian curvature folding

In this paper we introduce a new type of folding called equi-Gaussian curvature folding of connected Riemannian 2-manifolds. We prove that the composition and the cartesian product of such foldings is again an equi-Gaussian curvature folding. In case of equi-Gaussian curvature foldings, f: M → P _n , of an orientable surface M onto a polygon P _n we prove that

Geometric realizations of curvature models by manifolds with constant scalar curvature

We show any pseudo-Riemannian curvature model can be geometrically realized by a manifold with constant scalar curvature. We also show that any pseudo-Hermitian curvature model, para-Hermitian curvature model, hyper-pseudo-Hermitian curvature model, or hyper-para-Hermitian curvature model can be realized by a manifold with constant scalar and -scalar curvature.     

Constant mean curvature tori with spherical curvature lines in noneuclidean geometry

A previous result in Euclidean geometry [7] on H-tori with plane and spherical curvature lines is extended here to the two noneuclidean geometries. There result families of H-tori with only spherical curvature lines, which are explicitly representable by elliptic and theta functions (or ordinary integrals of elementary functions). Among the geometric properties, it is shown that the midpoints of the generating spheres vary on geodesics. The hyperbolic case is more similar to the Euclidean situation than the elliptic one. In elliptic geometry the constructed surfaces depend on one additional rational parameter and, as a limiting case, there are even countably many minimal tori of this type.     

Total curvature and simple pursuit on domains of curvature bounded above

We show how circumradius and asymptotic behavior of curves in cat(0) and cat(K) spaces (K > 0) are controlled by growth rates of total curvature. We apply our results to pursuit and evasion games of capture type with simple pursuit motion, generalizing results that are known for convex Euclidean domains, and obtaining results that are new for convex Euclidean domains and hold on playing fields vastly more general than these.