191 pages; 3 figures. When possible, we generalized our statements to the context of fundamental groups of graphs of groups. We also added new results for special classes of higher dimensional graph manifolds
We define the class of high dimensional graph manifolds. These are compact smooth manifolds supporting a decomposition into finitely many pieces, each of which is diffeomorphic to the product of a torus with a finite volume hyperbolic manifold with toric cusps. The various pieces are attached together via affine maps of the boundary tori. We require all the hyperbolic factors in the pieces to have dimension at least 3. Our main goal is to study this class of graph manifolds from the viewpoint of rigidity theory.
We show that, in high dimensions, the Borel conjecture holds for our graph manifolds. We also show that smooth rigidity holds within the class: two graph manifolds are homotopy equivalent if and only if they are diffeomorphic. We introduce the notion of irreducible graph manifolds, which form a subclass which has better coarse geometric properties. We establish some structure theory for finitely generated groups which are quasi-isometric to the fundamental group of an irreducible graph manifold: any such group has a graph of groups splitting with strong constraints on the edge and vertex groups. Finally, we prove that in every dimension >3 there exist examples of irreducible graph manifolds which do not support any locally CAT(0) metric.
In this survey paper, we outline the proofs of the rigidity results for simple, thick, hyperbolic P-manifolds found in our three earlier papers math.GR/0506518, math.GT/0410476, and math.GR/0409586. We discuss how the arguments change in the two, three, and higher dimensional settings. This paper was written for the 22nd Annual Workshop in Geometric Topology (Colorado Springs, June 2005).
In this paper we study the rigidity of infinite volume 3-manifolds with sectional curvature $-b^2\le K\le -1$ and finitely generated fundamental group. In-particular, we generalize the Sullivan's quasi-conformal rigidity for finitely generated fundamental group with empty dissipative set to negative variable curvature 3-manifolds. We also generalize the rigidity of Hamenstädt or more recently Besson-Courtois-Gallot, to 3-manifolds with infinite volume and geometrically infinite fundamental group.
In this paper, we prove the global rigidity of sphere packings on 3-dimensional manifolds. This is a 3-dimensional analogue of the rigidity theorem of Andreev-Thurston and was conjectured by Cooper and Rivin. We also prove a global rigidity result using a combinatorial scalar curvature introduced by Ge and the author.
The goal of this paper is to investigate the rigidity of 4-dimensional manifolds involving some pinching curvature conditions. To this end, we make use of the approach of biorthogonal curvature which is weaker than the sectional curvature. Here, we prove a rigidity result for 4-dimensional compact manifolds under a suitable lower bound condition on the minimum of the biorthogonal curvature. From this, we improve the pinching constants considered by some preceding works on a rigidity result for 4-dimensional manifolds.
Let W be a compact hyperbolic n-manifold with totally geodesic boundary. We prove that if n>3 then the holonomy representation of pi_1 (W) into the isometry group of hyperbolic n-space is infinitesimally rigid.
We prove global rigidity for compact hyperbolic and spherical cone-3-manifolds with cone-angles $\leq π$ (which are not Seifert fibered in the spherical case), furthermore for a class of hyperbolic cone-3-manifolds of finite volume with cone-angles $\leq π$, possibly with boundary consisting of totally geodesic hyperbolic turnovers. To that end we first generalize our local rigidity result to the setting of hyperbolic cone-3-manifolds of finite volume as above. We then use the geometric techniques developed by Boileau, Leeb and Porti to deform the cone-manifold structure to a complete non-sing…
We prove entropy rigidity for finite volume strictly convex projective manifolds in dimensions $\geq 3$, generalizing the work of arXiv:1708.03983 to the finite volume setting. The rigidity theorem uses the techniques of Besson, Courtois, and Gallot's entropy rigidity theorem. It implies uniform lower bounds on the volume of any finite volume strictly convex projective manifold in dimensions $\geq 3$.
We show a rigidity theorem for the Seiberg-Witten invariants mod 2 for families of spin 4-manifolds. A mechanism of this rigidity theorem also gives a family version of 10/8-type inequality. As an application, we prove the existence of non-smoothable topological families of 4-manifolds whose fiber, base space, and total space are smoothable as manifolds. These non-smoothable topological families provide new examples of 4-manifolds $M$ for which the inclusion maps $\operatorname{Diff}(M) \hookrightarrow \operatorname{Homeo}(M)$ are not weak homotopy equivalences. We shall also give a new series…
We define \emph{piecewise rank 1} manifolds, which are aspherical manifolds that generally do not admit a nonpositively curved metric but can be decomposed into pieces that are diffeomorphic to finite volume, irreducible, locally symmetric, nonpositively curved manifolds with $π_1$-injective cusps. We prove smooth (self) rigidity for this class of manifolds in the case where the gluing preserves the cusps' homogeneous structure. We compute the group of self homotopy equivalences of such a manifold and show that it can contain a normal free abelian subgroup and thus, can be infinite. Elements o…
We define cusp-decomposable manifolds and prove smooth rigidity within this class of manifolds. These manifolds generally do not admit a nonpositively curved metric but can be decomposed into pieces that are diffeomorphic to finite volume, locally symmetric, negatively curved manifolds with cusps. We prove that the group of outer automorphisms of the fundamental group of such a manifold is an extension of an abelian group by a finite group. Elements of the abelian group are induced by diffeomorphisms that are analogous to Dehn twists in surface topology. We also prove that the outer automophis…
In this article, we prove a rigidity theorem for isometric embeddings into the Schwarzschild manifold, by using the variational formula of quasi-local mass.
In this paper, we prove a rigidity theorem of asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds only under the assumptions on curvature. Its proof is based on analyzing asymptotic structures of such manifolds at infinity and a volume comparison theorem.
We prove two rigidity results for complete Riemannian three-manifolds of higher rank. Complete three-manifolds have higher spherical rank if an only if they are spherical space forms. Complete finite volume three-manifolds have higher hyperbolic rank if and only if they are hyperbolic space forms.
We establish conditions for a continuous map of nonzero degree between a smooth closed manifold and a negatively curved manifold of dimension greater than four to be homotopic to a smooth cover, and in particular a diffeomorphism when the degree is one. The conditions hold when the volumes or entropy-volumes of the two manifolds differ by less than a uniform constant after an appropriate normalization of the metrics. The results are qualitatively sharp in the sense that the dependencies are necessary. We give a number of corollaries.
For the Bach-flat closed manifold with positive scalar curvature, we prove a rigidity result under a given inequality involving the Weyl curvature and the traceless Ricci curvature. Moveover, under an inequality involving $L^{\frac{n}{2}}$-norm of the Weyl curvature, the traceless Ricci curvature and the Yamabe invariant, we also provide a similar rigidity result. As an application, we obtain some rigidity results on 4-dimensional manifolds.
A compact Fuchsian manifold with boundary is a hyperbolic 3-manifold homeomorphic to $S_g \times [0; 1]$ such that the boundary component $S_g \times \{ 0\}$ is geodesic. We prove that a compact Fuchsian manifold with convex boundary is uniquely determined by the induced path metric on $S_g \times \{1\}$. We do not put further restrictions on the boundary except convexity.
We study Riemannian manifolds with boundary under a lower Bakry-E'mery Ricci curvature bound. In our weighted setting, we prove several rigidity theorems for such manifolds with boundary. We conclude a rigidity theorem for the inscribed radii, a volume growth rigidity theorem for the metric neighborhoods of the boundaries, and various splitting theorems. We also obtain rigidity results for the smallest Dirichlet eigenvalues for the weighted p-Laplacians.
We prove the rigidity and vanishing of several indices of "geometrically natural" twisted Dirac operators on almost even-Clifford Hermitian manifolds admitting circle actions by automorphisms.
For complete Riemannian manifolds with vanishing Bach tensor and positive constant scalar curvature, we provide a rigidity theorem characterized by some pointwise inequalities. Furthermore, we prove some rigidity results under an inequality involving $L^{\frac{n}{2}}$-norm of the Weyl curvature, the traceless Ricci curvature and the Sobolev constant.
We establish several Witten type rigidity and vanishing theorems for twisted Toeplitz operators on odd dimensional manifolds. We obtain our results by combining the modular method, modular transgression and some careful analysis of odd Chern classes for cocycles in odd $K$-theory. Moreover we discover that in odd dimensions, the fundamental group of manifolds plays an important role in the rigidity.
A rigidity result for weakly asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds with lower bounds on Ricci curvature is proved without assuming that the manifolds are spin. The argument makes use of a quasi-local mass characterization of Euclidean balls from \cite{Miao} \cite{S_T} and eigenfunction compactification ideas from \cite{Qing}.
We prove that a Kahler manifold with positive bisectional curvature and maximal diameter is isometric to the complex projective space with the Fubini-Study metric.
We prove the rigidity of positive mass theorem for asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds. Namely, if the mass equality holds, then the manifold is isometric to hyperbolic space. The result was previously proven for spin manifolds or under special asymptotics.
In this work we determine bifurcation instants for 1-parameter families of solutions to the Yamabe problem defined on maximal flag manifolds. We also study the local rigidity points, namely, a isolated solution of the Yamabe problem.
We study Riemannian manifolds with boundary under a lower $N$-weighted Ricci curvature bound for $N$ at most $1$, and under a lower weighted mean curvature bound for the boundary. We examine rigidity phenomena in such manifolds with boundary. We conclude a volume growth rigidity theorem for the metric neighborhoods of the boundaries, and various splitting theorems. We also obtain rigidity theorems for the smallest Dirichlet eigenvalues for the weighted $p$-Laplacians.
Let $M$ be an open Riemannian $n$-manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature. We prove that if the first Betti number of $M$ equals $n-1$, then $M$ is flat.
Here, an extension of the Obata-Tanno's theorem to Finsler geometry is established and the following rigidity result is obtained; Every complete connected Finsler manifold of positive constant flag curvature is isometrically homeomorphic to an $n$-sphere equipped with a certain Finsler metric, and vise versa.
In this paper, we consider some rigidity results for the Einstein metrics as the critical points of some known quadratic curvature functionals on complete manifolds, characterized by some point-wise inequalities. Moreover, we also provide rigidity results by the integral inequalities involving the Weyl curvature, the trace-less Ricci curvature and the Sobolev constant, accordingly.
We prove some boundary rigidity results for the hemisphere under a lower bound for Ricci curvature. The main result can be viewed as the Ricci version of a conjecture of Min-Oo.
We prove that an n($\geq$ 4)-dimensional compact Bach-flat manifold with positive constant $σ_2$ is an Einstein manifold, provided that its Weyl curvature satisfies a suitable pinching condition.
In this paper, we prove some rigidity results for the Einstein metrics as the critical points of a family of known quadratic curvature functionals on closed manifolds, characterized by some point-wise inequalities. Moreover, we also provide a few rigidity results that involve the Weyl curvature, the trace-less Ricci curvature and the Yamabe invariant, accordingly.
An Einstein manifold is called scalar curvature rigid if there are no compactly supported volume-preserving deformation of the metric which increase the scalar curvature. We give various characterizations of scalar curvature rigidity for open Einstein manifolds as well as for closed Einstein manifolds. As an application, we construct mass-decreasing perturbations of the Riemannian Schwarzschild metric and the Taub-Bolt metric.
We revisit and generalize a recent result of Cederbaum [C2, C3] concerning the rigidity of the Schwarzschild manifold for spin manifolds. This includes the classical black hole uniqueness theorems [BM, GIS, Hw] as well as the more recent uniqueness theorems for pho-ton spheres [C1, CG1, CG2].
In this paper, we are going to show some rigidity results for complete open Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative scalar curvature. Without using the famous Cheeger-Gromoll splitting theorem we give a new proof to a rigidity result for complete manifolds with nonnegative scalar curvature admitting a proper smooth map to $T^{n-1}\times \mathbf R$ with nonzero degree. Here we introduce a trick to obtain the compactness of limit hypersurface from locally graphical convergence. Based on the same idea we also establish an optimal $2$-systole inequality for several classes of complete Riemannian man…
This note is concerned with some essential properties (optimal isoperimetry, first variation, and monotonicity formula) of the so-called $[0,1)\niγ$-torsional rigidity $\mathcal{T}_{γ,\mathsf{g}}$ on a complete Riemannian two-manifold $(\mathbb M^2,\mathsf{g})$. Even in the special case of $\mathbb R^2$, major results are new.
In this paper we prove a rigidity result for the equality case of the Penrose inequality on $3$-dimensional asymptotically flat manifolds with nonnegative scalar curvature and corners. Our result also has deep connections with the equality cases of Theorem 1 in \cite{Miao2} and Theorem 1.1 in \cite{LM}.
When $X=Γ\backslash \H^n$ is a real hyperbolic manifold, it is already known that if the critical exponent is small enough then some cohomology spaces and some spaces of $L^2$ harmonic forms vanish. In this paper, we show rigidity results in the borderline case of these vanishing results.
In this paper, we give an optimal inequality relating the relative Yamabe invariant of a certain compactification of a conformally compact Poin-car{é}-Einstein manifold with the Yamabe invariant of its boundary at infinity. As an application, we obtain an elementary proof of the rigidity of the hyper-bolic space as the only conformally compact Poincar{é}-Einstein manifold with the round sphere as its conformal infinity.
In this paper, we show that every harmonic map from a compact Kähler manifold with uniformly RC-positive curvature to a Riemannian manifold with non-positive complex sectional curvature is constant. In particular, there is no non-constant harmonic map from a compact Kähler manifold with positive holomorphic sectional curvature to a Riemannian manifold with non-positive complex sectional curvature.
We investigate the rigidity problem for the sharp spectral gap on Finsler manifolds of weighted Ricci curvature bound $\text{Ric}_{\infty} \geq K > 0$. Our main results show that if the equality holds, the manifold necessarily admits a diffeomorphic splitting (or isometric splitting in the particular class of Berwald spaces). This splitting phenomenon is comparable to the Cheeger-Gromoll type splitting theorem by Ohta. We also obtain the rigidity results of logarithmic Sobolev and Bakry-Ledoux isoperimetric inequalities via needle decomposition as corollaries.
Let M be a compact manifold with boundary. In this paper, we discuss some rigidity theorems of metrics in a same conformal class that fixes the boundary and satisfy certain integral conditions on the the scalar curvatures and the mean curvatures on the boundary. No condition on the first eigenvalues of operators is need.
We study compact complex 3-manifolds admitting holomorphic Riemannian metrics. We prove a uniformization result: up to a finite unramified cover, such a manifold admits a holomorphic Riemannian metric of constant sectionnal curvature.
We study Riemannian manifolds with boundary under a lower Ricci curvature bound, and a lower mean curvature bound for the boundary. We prove a volume comparison theorem of Bishop-Gromov type concerning the volumes of the metric neighborhoods of the boundaries. We conclude several rigidity theorems. As one of them, we obtain a volume growth rigidity theorem. We also show a splitting theorem of Cheeger-Gromoll type under the assumption of the existence of a single ray.
In this paper we show how the existence of a certain stable cylinder determines (locally) the ambient manifold where it is immersed. This cylinder has to verify a {\it bifurcation phenomena}, we make this explicit in the introduction. In particular, the existence of such a stable cylinder implies that the ambient manifold has infinite volume.
In this article we prove a reverse Hölder inequality for the fundamental eigenfunction of the Dirichlet problem on domains of a compact Riemannian manifold with lower Ricci curvature bounds. We also prove an isoperimetric inequality for the torsional ridigity of such domains.
In this paper, we study geometric rigidity of Riemannian manifolds admitting stable solutions of certain elliptic problems (stability in a variational sense), that is, under suitable hypotheses, we are able to characterize the Riemannian manifold which admits a stable solution. Furthermore, under the non-negativity of the weighted Ricci curvature, we deduce several data about the stable solution and a splitting result for the manifold.
The orthogonal decomposition of the Webster curvature provides us a way to characterize some canonical metrics on a pseudo-Hermitian manifold. We derive some subelliptic differential inequalities from the Weitzenböck formulas for the traceless pseudo-Hermitian Ricci tensor and the Chern-Moser tensor of Sasakian manifolds with constant pseudo-Hermitian scalar curvature and Sasakian pseudo-Einstein manifolds respectively. By means of either subelliptic estimates or maximum principle, some rigidity theorems are established to characterize Sasakian pseudo-Einstein manifolds among Sasakian manifold…
Inspired by the work of F. Hang and X. Wang and partial results by S. Raulot, we prove a scalar curvature rigitidy result for locally conformally flat manifolds with boundary in the spirit of the well-known Min-Oo conjecture.
We show that the metric of nonpositively curved graph manifolds is determined by its geodesic flow. More precisely we show that if the geodesic flows of two nonpositively curved graph manifolds are $C^0$ conjugate then the spaces are isometric.
We characterize the standard $\mathbb{S}^3$ as the closed Ricci-positive 3-manifold with scalar curvature at least 6 having isoperimetric surfaces of largest area: $4π$. As a corollary we answer in the affirmative an interesting special case of a conjecture of Min-Oo's on the scalar curvature rigidity of the upper hemisphere..
