Huisken and Sinestrari have recently defined a surgery process for mean curvature flow when the initial data is a two-convex hypersurface. The process depends on a parameter H. Its role is to initiate a surgery when the maximum of the mean curvature of the evolving hypersurface becomes H, and to control the scale at which each surgery is performed. We prove that as H goes to infinity the surgery process converges to level set flow.
In this article we use the mean curvature flow with surgery to derive regularity estimates for the level set flow going past Brakke regularity in certain special conditions allowing for 2-convex regions of high density. We also show a stability result for the plane under the level set flow.
We give a new proof for the existence of mean curvature flow with surgery of 2-convex hypersurfaces in $R^N$, as announced in arXiv:1304.0926. Our proof works for all $N \geq 3$, including mean convex surfaces in $R^3$. We also derive a priori estimates for a more general class of flows in a local and flexible setting.
We construct smooth mean curvature flows with surgery that approximate weak mean curvature flows with only spherical and neck-pinch singularities. This is achieved by combining the recent work of Choi-Haslhofer-Hershkovits, and Choi-Haslhofer-Hershkovits-White, establishing canonical neighbourhoods of such singularities, with suitable barriers to flows with surgery. A limiting argument is then used to control these approximating flows. We conclude by improving the entropy bound on the low-entropy Schoenflies conjecture.
We prove a monotonicity formula for mean curvature flow with surgery. This formula differs from Huisken's monotonicity formula by an extra term involving the mean curvature. As a consequence, we show that a surgically modified flow which is sufficiently close to a smooth flow in the sense of geometric measure theory is, in fact, free of surgeries. This result has applications to the longtime behavior of mean curvature flow with surgery in Riemannian three-manifolds.
We define a notion of mean curvature flow with surgery for two-dimensional surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$ with positive mean curvature. Our construction relies on the earlier work of Huisken and Sinestrari in the higher dimensional case. One of the main ingredients in the proof is a new estimate for the inscribed radius established by the first author.
We study the Ricci flow for initial metrics with positive isotropic curvature (strictly PIC for short). In the first part of this paper, we prove new curvature pinching estimates which ensure that blow-up limits are uniformly PIC in all dimensions. Moreover, in dimension $n \geq 12$, we show that blow-up limits are weakly PIC2. This can be viewed as a higher-dimensional version of the fundamental Hamilton-Ivey pinching estimate in dimension $3$. In the second part, we develop a theory of ancient solutions which have bounded curvature; are $κ$-noncollapsed; are weakly PIC2; and are uniformly PI…
We give a simple criterion for a pointwise curvature condition to be stable under surgery. Namely, a curvature condition $C$, which is understood to be an open, convex, O(n)-invariant cone in the space of algebraic curvature operators, is stable under surgeries of codimension at least $c$ provided it contains the curvature operator corresponding to $S^{c-1} \times \reals^{n-c+1}$, $c \geq 3$. This is used to generalize the well-known classification result of positive scalar curvature in the simply-connected case in the following way: Any simply-connected manifold $M^n$, $n \geq 5$, which is ei…
In this article, we use the recently developed mean curvature flow with surgery for 2 convex hypersurfaces to prove several isotopy existence and finally extrinsic finiteness results (in the spirit of Cheeger's compactness theorem) for the space of 2 convex hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$.
In this article, we extend the mean curvature flow with surgery to mean convex hypersurfaces with entropy less than $Λ_{n-2}$. In particular, 2-convexity is not assumed. Next we show the surgery flow with just the initial convexity assumption $H - \frac{\langle x, ν\rangle}{2} > 0$ is possible and as an application we use the surgery flow to show that smooth $n$-dimensional closed self shrinkers with entropy less than $Λ_{n-2}$ are isotopic to the round $n$-sphere.
We utilize a condition for algebraic curvature operators called surgery stability as suggested by the work of S. Hoelzel to investigate the space of riemannian metrics over closed manifolds satisfying these conditions. Our main result is a parametrized Gromov-Lawson construction with not necessarily trivial normal bundles and shows that the homotopy type of this space of metrics is invariant under surgeries of a suitable codimension. This is a generalization of a well-known theorem by V. Chernysh and M. Walsh for metrics of positive scalar curvature. As an application of our method, we show th…
We study mean curvature flow in $\mathbb S_K^{n+1}$, the round sphere of sectional curvature $K>0$, under the quadratic curvature pinching condition $|A|^{2} < \frac{1}{n-2} H^{2} + 4 K$ when $n\ge 4$ and $|A|^{2} < \frac{3}{5}H^{2}+\frac{8}{3}K$ when $n=3$. This condition is related to a famous theorem of Simons, which states that the only minimal hypersurfaces satisfying $\vert A\vert^2<nK$ are the totally geodesic hyperspheres. It is related to but distinct from two-convexity. Notably, in contrast to two-convexity, it allows the mean curvature to change sign. We show that the pinching condi…
We present a new curvature condition which is preserved by the Ricci flow in higher dimensions. For initial metrics satisfying this condition, we establish a higher dimensional version of Hamilton's neck-like curvature pinching estimate. Using this estimate, we are able to prove a version of Perelman's Canonical Neighborhood Theorem in higher dimensions. This makes it possible to extend the flow beyond singularities by a surgery procedure in the spirit of Hamilton and Perelman. As a corollary, we obtain a classification of all diffeomorphism types of such manifolds in terms of a connected sum …
In this paper, we introduce a parameterized discrete curvature ($α$-curvature) for piecewise linear metrics on polyhedral surfaces, which is a generalization of the classical discrete curvature. A discrete uniformization theorem is established for the parameterized discrete curvature, which generalizes the discrete uniformization theorem obtained by Gu-Luo-Sun-Wu. We also prove the global rigidity of parameterized discrete curvature with respect to the discrete conformal factors, which confirms a generalized Luo conjecture on rigidity of discrete curvatures. We further introduce a parameterize…
We study mean curvature flow of $n$-dimensional submanifolds of $S_K^{n+\ell}$, the round $(n+\ell)$-sphere of sectional curvature $K>0$, under the quadratic curvature pinching condition $|A|^{2} < \frac{1}{n-2}|H|^{2} + 4K$ when $n\geq 8$, $|A|^{2} < \frac{4}{3n}|H|^{2}+\frac{n}{2}K$ when $n=7$, and $|A|^2<\frac{3(n+1)}{2n(n+2)}|H|^2+\frac{2n(n-1)}{3(n+1)}K$ when $n=5$ or $6$. This condition is related to a theorem of Li and Li [Arch. Math., 58:582--594, 1992] which states that the only $n$-dimensional minimal submanifolds of $S_K^{n+\ell}$ satisfying $|A|^2<\frac{2n}{3}K$ are the totally geo…
This paper investigates the combinatorial $α$-curvature for vertex scaling of piecewise hyperbolic metrics on polyhedral surfaces, which is a parameterized generalization of the classical combinatorial curvature. A discrete uniformization theorem for combinatorial $α$-curvature is established, which generalizes Gu-Guo-Luo-Sun-Wu's discrete uniformization theorem for classical combinatorial curvature. We further introduce combinatorial $α$-Yamabe flow and combinatorial $α$-Calabi flow for vertex scaling to find piecewise hyperbolic metrics with prescribed combinatorial $α$-curvatures. To handle…
This is the third in a series of papers on the geometry and analysis of singular area minimizing hypersurfaces. We show how to derive obstruction and structure theories for scalar curvature constraints without imposing dimensional or topological restrictions on the underlying manifold. To this end, we use skin structures to merge minimal hypersurface methods with surgery arguments.
A family of hypersurfaces evolves by mean curvature flow if the velocity at each point is given by the mean curvature vector. Mean curvature flow is the most natural evolution equation in extrinsic geometry, and has been extensively studied ever since the pioneering work of Brakke and Huisken. In the last 15 years, White developed a far-reaching regularity and structure theory for mean convex mean curvature flow, and Huisken-Sinestrari constructed a flow with surgery for two-convex hypersurfaces. In this course, I first give a general introduction to the mean curvature flow of hypersurfaces an…
We demonstrate that the property of being Alexandrov immersed is preserved along mean curvature flow. Furthermore, we demonstrate that mean curvature flow techniques for mean convex embedded flows such as noncollapsing and gradient estimates also hold in this setting. We also indicate the necessary modifications to the work of Brendle--Huisken to allow for mean curvature flow with surgery for the Alexandrov immersed, $2$-dimensional setting.
In this paper, we first investigate the integral curvature condition to extend the mean curvature flow of submanifolds in a Riemannian manifold with codimension $d\geq1$, which generalizes the extension theorem for the mean curvature flow of hypersurfaces due to Le-Šešum \cite{LS} and the authors \cite{XYZ1,XYZ2}. Using the extension theorem, we prove two convergence theorems for the mean curvature flow of closed submanifolds in ${R}^{n+d}$ under suitable integral curvature conditions.
We explore geometric aspects of bubble convergence for harmonic maps. More precisely, we show that the formation of bubbles is characterised by the local excess of curvature on the target manifold. We give a universal estimate for curvature concentration masses at each bubble point and show that there is no curvature loss in the necks. Our principal hypothesis is that the target manifold is Kaehler.
In this paper, we give some convergence results of Lagrangian mean curvature flow under some stability conditions in a general Kähler-Einstein manifold. In particular, we prove that the flow will converge if the initial data is some small perturbation of stable minimal Lagrangian submanifold in a Kähler-Einstein manifold.
This paper presents a conditional convergence result of solutions to the Allen--Cahn equation with arbitrary potentials to a De Giorgi type $ \mathrm{BV} $-solution to multiphase mean curvature flow. Moreover we show that De Giorgi type $\mathrm{BV} $-solutions are De Giorgi type varifold solutions, and thus our solution is unique in a weak-strong sense.
We address the asymptotic behavior of the $α$-Gauss curvature flow, for $α>1/2$, with initial data a complete non-compact convex hypersurface which is contained in a cylinder of bounded cross section. We show that the flow converges, as $t \to +\infty$, locally smoothly to a translating soliton which is uniquely determined by the asymptotic cylinder of the initial hypersurface.
We prove a curvature pinching result for the Ricci flow on asymptotically flat manifolds: if an asymptotically flat manifold of dimension $n\geq 3$ has scale-invariant integral norm of curvature sufficiently pinched relative to the inverse of its Sobolev constant, then the Ricci flow starting from this manifold exists for all positive times and converges to flat Euclidean space. In particular our result implies that the initial manifold must have been diffeomorphic to $\mathbb{R}^n$.
In this paper we prove convergence and compactness results for Ricci flows with bounded scalar curvature and entropy. More specifically, we show that Ricci flows with bounded scalar curvature converge smoothly away from a singular set of codimension $\geq 4$. We also establish a general form of the Hamilton-Tian Conjecture, which is even true in the Riemannian case. These results are based on a compactness theorem for Ricci flows with bounded scalar curvature, which states that any sequence of such Ricci flows converges, after passing to a subsequence, to a metric space that is smooth away fro…
Hamilton's Ricci flow (RF) equations were recently expressed in terms of a sparsely-coupled system of autonomous first-order nonlinear differential equations for the edge lengths of a d-dimensional piecewise linear (PL) simplicial geometry. More recently, this system of discrete Ricci flow (DRF) equations was further simplified by explicitly constructing the Forman-Ricci tensor associated to each edge, thereby diagonalizing the first-order differential operator and avoiding the need to invert large sparse matrices at each time step. We recently showed analytically and numerically that these eq…
In the last 15 years, White and Huisken-Sinestrari developed a far-reaching structure theory for the mean curvature flow of mean convex hypersurfaces. Their papers provide a package of estimates and structural results that yield a precise description of singularities and of high curvature regions in a mean convex flow. In the present paper, we give a new treatment of the theory of mean convex (and k-convex) flows. This includes: (1) an estimate for derivatives of curvatures, (2) a convexity estimate, (3) a cylindrical estimate, (4) a global convergence theorem, (5) a structure theorem for anci…
In this paper we consider the Allen-Cahn equation with constraint. In 1994, Chen and Elliott studied the asymptotic behavior of the solution of the Allen-Cahn equation with constraint. They proved that the zero level set of the solution converges to the classical solution of the mean curvature flow under the suitable conditions on initial data. In 1993, Ilmanen proved the existence of the mean curvature flow via the Allen-Cahn equation without constraint in the sense of Brakke. We proved the same conclusion for the Allen-Cahn equation with constraint.
We show that an orientable 3-dimensional manifold M admits a complete riemannian metric of bounded geometry and uniformly pos- itive scalar curvature if and only if there exists a finite collection F of spherical space-forms such that M is a (possibly infinite) connected sum where each summand is diffeomorphic to S2xS1 or to some mem- ber of F. This result generalises G. Perelman's classification theorem for compact 3-manifolds of positive scalar curvature. The main tool is a variant of Perelman's surgery construction for Ricci flow.
In this work, we analyze Merriman, Bence and Osher's thresholding scheme, a time discretization for mean curvature flow. We restrict to the two-phase setting and mean convex initial conditions. In the sense of the minimizing movements interpretation of Esedoglu and Otto we show the time-integrated energy of the approximation to converge to the time-integrated energy of the limit. As a corollary, the conditional convergence results of Otto and one of the authors become unconditional in the two-phase mean convex case. Our results are general enough to handle the extension of the scheme to anisot…
Computing uniformization maps for surfaces has been a challenging problem and has many practical applications. In this paper, we provide a theoretically rigorous algorithm to compute such maps via combinatorial Calabi flow for vertex scaling of polyhedral metrics on surfaces, which is an analogue of the combinatorial Yamabe flow introduced by Luo. To handle the singularies along the combinatorial Calabi flow, we do surgery on the flow by flipping. Using the discrete conformal theory established by Gu-Guo-Luo-Sun-Wu and Gu-Luo-Sun-Wu, we prove that for any initial Euclidean or hyperbolic polyhe…
In this note we prove the following result: Let $X$ be a complete, connected 4-manifold with uniformly positive isotropic curvature, with bounded geometry and with no essential incompressible space form. Then $X$ is diffeomorphic to $\mathbb{S}^4$, or $\mathbb{RP}^4$, or $\mathbb{S}^3\times \mathbb{S}^1$, or $\mathbb{S}^3\widetilde{\times} \mathbb{S}^1$, or a possibly infinite connected sum of them. This extends work of Hamilton and Chen-Zhu to the noncompact case. The proof uses Ricci flow with surgery on complete 4-manifolds, and is inspired by recent work of Bessi$\grave{e}$res, Besson and …
We study discrete curvatures computed from nets of curvature lines on a given smooth surface, and prove their uniform convergence to smooth principal curvatures. We provide explicit error bounds, with constants depending only on properties of the smooth limit surface and the shape regularity of the discrete net.
We prove a Thomas--Yau-type conjecture for monotone Lagrangian tori satisfying a symmetry condition in the complex projective plane $\mathbb{CP}^2$. We show that such tori exist for all time under Lagrangian mean curvature flow with surgery, undergoing at most a finite number of surgeries before flowing to a minimal Clifford torus in infinite time. Furthermore, we show that we can construct a torus with any finite number of surgeries before convergence. Along the way, we prove many interesting subsidiary results and develop methods which should be useful in studying Lagrangian mean curvature f…
