We consider the Laplacian "co-flow" of $G_2$-structures: $\frac{d}{dt} ψ= - Δ_d ψ$ where $ψ$ is the dual 4-form of a $G_2$-structure $ϕ$ and $Δ_d$ is the Hodge Laplacian on forms. This flow preserves the condition of the $G_2$-structure being coclosed ($dψ=0$). We study this flow for two explicit examples of coclosed $G_2$-structures with symmetry. These are given by warped products of an interval or a circle with a compact 6-manifold $N$ which is taken to be either a nearly Kähler manifold or a Calabi-Yau manifold. In both cases, we derive the flow equations and also the equations for soliton solutions. In the Calabi-Yau case, we find all the soliton solutions explicitly. In the nearly Kähler case, we find several special soliton solutions, and reduce the general problem to a single \emph{third order} highly nonlinear ordinary differential equation.
We find explicit solutions of the Laplacian coflow of $G_2-$structures on seven-dimensional almost-abelian Lie groups. Moreover, we construct new examples of solitons for the Laplacian coflow which are not eigenforms of the Laplacian and we exhibit a solution, which is not a soliton, having a bounded interval of existence.
We study the Laplacian coflow and the modified Laplacian coflow of $G_2$-structures on the $7$-dimensional Heisenberg group. For the Laplacian coflow we show that the solution is always ancient, that is it is defined in some interval $(-\infty,T)$, with $0<T<+\infty$. However, for the modified Laplacian coflow, we prove that in some cases the solution is defined only on a finite interval while in other cases the solution is ancient or eternal, that is it is defined on $(-\infty, \infty)$.
We study the Laplacian flow of a $\mathrm{G}_2$-structure where this latter structure is claimed to be Locally Conformal Parallel. The first examples of long time solutions of this flow with the Locally Conformal Parallel condition are given. All of the solutions are ancient and Laplacian soliton of shrinking type. These examples are one-parameter families of Locally Conformal Parallel $\mathrm{G}_2$-structures on rank-one solvable extensions of six-dimensional nilpotent Lie groups. The found solutions are used to construct long time solutions to the Laplacian coflow starting from a Locally Co…
We consider the Laplacian coflow of a $\mathrm{G}_2$-structure on warped products of the form $M^7= M^6 \times_f S^1$ with $M^6$ a compact 6-manifold endowed with an $\mathrm{SU}(3)$-structure. We give an explicit reinterpretation of this flow as a set of evolution equations of the differential forms defining the $\mathrm{SU}(3)$-structure on $M^6$ and the warping function $f$. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of solution for this flow are given. Finally we describe new long time solutions for this flow where the $\mathrm{SU}(3)$-structure on $M^6$ is nearly Kähler, symple…
We consider $G_{2}$-structures on $7$-manifolds that are warped products of an interval and a six-manifold, which is either a Calabi-Yau manifold, or a nearly Kähler manifold. We show that in these cases the $G_{2}$-structures are determined by their torsion components up to a phase factor. We then study the modified Laplacian coflow $\frac{dψ}{dt}=Δ_{ψ}ψ+2d\left( \left( C-Tr T\right) φ\right) $ of these $G_{2}$-structures, where $φ$ and $ψ$ are the fundamental $3$-form and $4 $-form which define the $G_{2}$-structure and $Δ_{ψ}$ is the Hodge Laplacian associated with the $G_{2}$-structure. Th…
Shanghai Institute for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences (SIMIS)（上海数学与交叉学科研究院）；Research Institute of Intelligent Complex Systems, Fudan University（复旦大学智能复杂系统研究所）；Center for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Fudan University（复旦大学数学与交叉科学中心）
We modify the Laplacian coflow of co-closed G2-structures - $\frac{d}{dt}ψ=Δψ$ where $ψ$ is the closed dual 4-form of a $G_{2}$-structure $φ$. The modified flow is now parabolic in the direction of closed forms upto diffeomorphisms. We then prove short time existence and uniqueness of solutions to the modified flow.
We survey recent progress in the study of $G_{2}$-structure Laplacian coflows, that is, heat flows of co-closed $G_{2}$-structures. We introduce the properties of the original Laplacian coflow of $G_{2}$-structures as well as the modified coflow, reviewing short-time existence and uniqueness results for the modified coflow and well as recent Shi-type estimates that apply to a more general class of $G_{2}$-structure flows.
We study the Laplacian flow and coflow on contact Calabi-Yau $7$-manifolds. We show that the natural initial condition leads to an ancient solution of the Laplacian flow with a finite time Type I singularity which is not a soliton, whereas it produces an immortal (though not eternal and not self-similar) solution of the Laplacian coflow which has an infinite time singularity, that is Type IIb unless the transverse Calabi--Yau geometry is flat. The flows in each case collapse (after normalising the volume) to a lower-dimensional limit, which is either $\mathbb{R}$ for the Laplacian flow or stan…
We provide the second known example of an extremally Ricci pinched closed G2-structure on a compact 7-manifold, by finding a lattice in the only unimodular solvable Lie group admitting a left-invariant G2-structure. Furthermore, the Laplacian coflow and its solitons are studied on a 6-parameter family of left-invariant coclosed G2-structures on this Lie group. In this way, we obtain a 4-parameter subfamily of expanding solitons. The family is locally pairwise non-equivalent.
We investigate the existence of closed $G_2$-structures which are solitons for the Laplacian flow on nilpotent Lie groups. We obtain that seven of the twelve Lie algebras admitting a closed $G_2$-structure do admit a Laplacian soliton. Moreover, one of them admits a continuous family of Laplacian solitons which are pairwise non-homothetic and the Laplacian flow evolution of four of them is not diagonal.
We give the first examples of closed Laplacian solitons which are shrinking, and in particular produce closed Laplacian flow solutions with a finite-time singularity. Extremally Ricci pinched G2-structures (introduced by Bryant) which are steady Laplacian solitons have also been found. All the examples are left-invariant G2-structures on solvable Lie groups.
We prove a general result about the stability of geometric flows of "closed" sections of vector bundles on compact manifolds. Our theorem allows to prove a stability result for the modified Laplacian coflow in G2-geometry introduced by Grigorian and for the balanced flow introduced by the authors in a previous paper.
We prove a structure theorem for homogeneous closed gradient Laplacian solitons and use it to show some examples of closed Laplacian solitons cannot be made gradient. More specifically, we show that the Laplacian solitons on nilpotent Lie groups found by Nicolini are not gradient up to homothetic $G_2$-structures except for $N_1$, where $f$ must be a Gaussian. We also show that the closed $G_2$-structure $φ_{12}$ on $N_{12}$ constructed by Fernández-Fino-Manero cannot be a gradient soliton. We further show that closed non-torsion-free gradient Laplacian solitons on almost abelian solvmanifolds…
We show the existence of expanding solitons of the G$_2$-Laplacian flow on non-solvable Lie groups, and we give the first example of a steady soliton that is not an extremally Ricci pinched G$_2$-structure.
We use the bracket flow/algebraic soliton approach to study the Laplacian flow of $G_2$-structures and its solitons in the homogeneous case. We prove that any homogeneous Laplacian soliton is equivalent to a semi-algebraic soliton (i.e.\ a $G$-invariant $G_2$-structure on a homogeneous space $G/K$ that flows by pull-back of automorphisms of $G$ up to scaling). Algebraic solitons are geometrically characterized among Laplacian solitons as those with a `diagonal' evolution. Unlike the Ricci flow case, where any homogeneous Ricci soliton is isometric to an algebraic soliton, we have found, as an …
We give a one-parameter family of examples of shrinking Laplacian solitons, which are the second known solutions to the closed $G_2$-Laplacian flow with a finite-time singularity. The torsion forms and the Laplacian and Ricci operators of a large family of $G_2$-structures on different Lie groups are also studied. We apply these formulas to prove that, under a suitable extra condition, there is no closed eigenform for the Laplacian on such family.
We apply the general Ansatz in geometric flows on homogeneous spaces proposed by Jorge Lauret for the Laplacian co-flow of invariant $G_2$-structures on a Lie group, finding an explicit soliton on a particular almost Abelian $7$-manifold.
We prove a lower bound estimate for the first non-zero eigenvalue of the Witten-Laplacian on compact Riemannian manifolds. As an application, we derive a lower bound estimate for the diameter of compact gradient shrinking Ricci solitons. Our results improve some previous estimates which were obtained by the first author and Y. Sano in [12], and by B. Andrews and L. Ni in [1]. Moreover, we extend the diameter estimate to compact self-similar shrinkers of mean curvature flow.
It is shown that the diameter of a compact shrinking Ricci soliton has a universal lower bound. This is proved by extending universal estimates for the first non-zero eigenvalue of Laplacian on compact Riemannian manifolds with lower Ricci curvature bound to a twisted Laplacian on compact shrinking Ricci solitons.
A 3-Sasakian structure on a 7-manifold may be used to define two distinct Einstein metrics: the 3-Sasakian metric and the squashed Einstein metric. Both metrics are induced by nearly parallel $G_2$-structures which may also be expressed in terms of the 3-Sasakian structure. Just as Einstein metrics are critical points for the Ricci flow up to rescaling, nearly parallel $G_2$-structures provide natural critical points of the (rescaled) geometric flows of $G_2$-structures known as the Laplacian flow and Laplacian coflow. We study each of these flows in the 3-Sasakian setting and see that their b…
We prove a uniqueness result for asymptotically conical (AC) gradient shrinking solitons for the Laplacian flow of closed G_2-structures: If two gradient shrinking solitons to Laplacian flow are asymptotic to the same closed G_2-cone, then their G_2-structures are equivalent, and in particular, the two solitons are isometric. The proof extends Kotschwar and Wang's argument for uniqueness of AC gradient shrinking Ricci solitons. We additionally show that the symmetries of the G_2-structure of an AC shrinker end are inherited from its asymptotic cone; under a mild assumption on the fundamental g…
In this paper, we prove the characterization of the $(K, \infty)$-super Perelman Ricci flows by various functional inequalities and gradient estimate for the heat semigroup generated by the Witten Laplacian on manifolds equipped with time dependent metrics and potentials. As a byproduct, we derive the Hamilton type dimension free Harnack inequality on manifolds with $(K, \infty)$-super Perelman Ricci flows. Based on a new second order differential inequality on the Boltzmann-Shannon entropy for the heat equation of the Witten Laplacian, we introduce a new $W$-entropy quantity and prove its mon…
In this survey article, we discuss some topics on self-similar solutions to the Ricci flow and the mean curvature flow. Self-similar solutions to the Ricci flow are known as Ricci solitons. In the first part of this paper we discuss a lower diameter bound for compact manifolds with shrinking Ricci solitons. Such a bound can be obtained from an eigenvalue estimate for a twisted Laplacian, called the Witten-Laplacian. In the second part we discuss self-similar solutions to the mean curvature flow on cone manifolds. Many results have been obtained for solutions in $\bfR^n$ or $\bfC^n$. We see tha…
In this paper we prove some spectral properties of the drifted Laplacian of self-shrinkers properly immersed in gradient shrinking Ricci solitons. Then we use these results to prove some geometric properties of self-shrinkers. For example, we describe a collection of domains in the ambient space that cannot contain self-shrinkers.
In this paper, it is shown that (with no additional assumptions) on a compact 7-dimensional manifold which admits a $G_2$-structure soliton solutions to the Laplacian flow of R. Bryant can only be shrinking or steady. We also show that the space of symmetries (vector fields that annihilate via the Lie derivative) of a torsion-free $G_2$-structure on a compact 7-manifold is canonically isomorphic to $H^1(M,\mathbb{R})$. Some comparisons with Ricci solitons are also discussed, along with some future directions of exploration.
We study both function theoretic and spectral properties of the weighted Laplacian $Δ_f$ on complete smooth metric measure space $(M,g,e^{-f}dv)$ with its Bakry-Émery curvature $Ric_f$ bounded from below by a constant. In particular, we establish a gradient estimate for positive $f-$harmonic functions and a sharp upper bound of the bottom spectrum of $Δ_f$ in terms of the lower bound of $Ric_{f}$ and the linear growth rate of $f.$ We also address the rigidity issue when the bottom spectrum achieves its optimal upper bound under a slightly stronger assumption that the gradient of $f$ is bounded…
In this paper, we firstly consider Dirichlet eigenvalue problem which is related to Xin-Laplacian on the bounded domain of complete Riemannian manifolds. By establishing the general formulas, combining with some results of Chen and Cheng type, we prove some eigenvalue inequalities. As some applications, we consider the eigenvalues on some Riemannian manifolds admitting with special functions, the translating solitons, minimal submanifolds on the Euclidean spaces, submanifolds on the unit spheres, projective spaces and so on. In particular, for the case of translating solitons, some eigenvalue …
In this paper, by slightly modifying Li-Yau's technique so that we can handle drifting Laplacians, we were able to find three different gradient estimates for the warping function, one for each sign of the Einstein constant of the fiber manifold. As an application, we exhibit a nonexistence theorem for gradient almost Ricci solitons possessing certain metric properties on the base of the warped product.
We study invariant solutions to the Positive Hermitian Curvature Flow, introduced by Ustinovskiy, on complex Lie groups. We show in particular that the canonical scale-static metrics on the special linear groups, arising from the Killing form, are dynamically unstable. This disproves a conjecture of Ustinovskiy. We also construct certain perfect Lie groups that admit at least two distinct invariant solitons for the flow, only one of which is algebraic. This is the second known example of a geometric flow with non-algebraic, homogeneous solitons. The first being the G2-Laplacian flow.
In this article, we consider an orthogonal decomposition of the traceless part of the Ricci tensor of a compact Riemannian manifold and study its application to the geometry of compact almost Ricci solitons. In addition, we consider an orthogonal expansion of the traceless part of the second fundamental form of a compact spacelike hypersurface in a Lorentzian manifold and study its application to the problem of constructing solutions of general relativistic constraint equations in vacuum. In these two cases, we use the well-known Ahlfors Laplacian.
I In this paper, first we study a complete smooth metric measure space $(M^n,g, e^{-f}dv)$ with the ($\infty$)-Bakry-Émery Ricci curvature $\textrm{Ric}_f\ge \frac a2g$ for some positive constant $a$. It is known that the spectrum of the drifted Laplacian $Δ_f$ for $M$ is discrete and the first nonzero eigenvalue of $Δ_f$ has lower bound $\frac a2$. We prove that if the lower bound $\frac a2$ is achieved with multiplicity $k\geq 1$, then $k\leq n$, $M$ is isometric to $Σ^{n-k}\times \mathbb{R}^k$ for some complete $(n-k)$-dimensional manifold $Σ$ and by passing an isometry, $(M^n,g, e^{-f}dv)$…
In this paper, we look for properties of gradient Yamabe solitons on top of warped product manifolds. Utilizing the maximum principle, we find lower bound estimates for both the potential function of the soliton and the scalar curvature of the warped product. By slightly modifying Li-Yau's technique so that we can handle drifting Laplacians, we were able to find three different gradient estimates for the warping function, one for each sign of the scalar curvature of the fiber manifold. As an application, we exhibit a nonexistence theorem for gradient Yamabe solitons possessing certain metric p…
In this research article, we establish the geometrical bearing on Riemannian submersions in terms of $η$-Ricci-Yamabe Soliton with the potential field and giving the classification of any fiber of Riemannian submersion is an $η$-Ricci-Yamabe soliton, $η$-Ricci soliton and $η$-Yamabe soliton. We also discuss the various conditions for which the target manifold of Riemannian submersion is an $η$-Ricci-Yamabe soliton, $η$-Ricci soliton, $η$-Yamabe soliton and quasi-Yamabe soliton. In a particular case when the potential filed $V$ of the $η$-Ricci-Yamabe soliton is of gradient type, we derive a La…
We study the existence of left invariant closed $G_2$-structures defining a Ricci soliton metric on simply connected nonabelian nilpotent Lie groups. For each one of these $G_2$-structures, we show long time existence and uniqueness of solution for the Laplacian flow on the noncompact manifold. Moreover, considering the Laplacian flow on the associated Lie algebra as a bracket flow on $\R^7$ in a similar way as in [23] we prove that the underlying metrics $g(t)$ of the solution converge smoothly, up to pull-back by time-dependent diffeomorphisms, to a flat metric, uniformly on compact sets in …
In this paper we show how techniques coming from stochastic analysis, such as stochastic completeness (in the form of the weak maximum principle at infinity), parabolicity and $L^p$-Liouville type results for the weighted Laplacian associated to the potential may be used to obtain triviality, rigidity results, and scalar curvature estimates for gradient Ricci solitons under $L^p$ conditions on the relevant quantities.
In this paper, we prove the concavity of the Shannon entropy power for the heat equation associated with the Laplacian or the Witten Laplacian on complete Riemannian manifolds with suitable curvature-dimension condition and on compact super Ricci flows. Under suitable curvature-dimension condition, we prove that the rigidity models of the Shannon entropy power are Einstein or quasi Einstein manifolds with Hessian solitons. Moreover, we prove the convexity of the Shannon entropy power for the conjugate heat equation introduced by G. Perelman on Ricci flow and that the corresponding rigidity mod…
Given a compact Fano Kähler manifold (M,J) with a Kähler Ricci soliton g, we consider smooth families {J_t} of complex deformations of (M,J) which are invariant under the action of a maximal torus T in the full isometry group of (M,g). We prove that, under a certain condition on the spectrum of the Laplacian of g, there exists a smooth family of T-invariant Kähler Ricci solitons g_t on every complex manifold (M, J_t) with J_t sufficiently close to J. The result extends a theorem by Koiso on complex deformations of Kähler Einstein manifolds.
We study the behaviour of the Laplacian flow evolving closed G$_2$-structures on warped products of the form $M^6\times{\mathbb S}^1$, where the base $M^6$ is a compact 6-manifold endowed with an SU(3)-structure. In the general case, we reinterpret the flow as a set of evolution equations on $M^6$ for the differential forms defining the SU(3)-structure and the warping function. When the latter is constant, we find sufficient conditions for the existence of solutions of the corresponding coupled flow. This provides a method to construct immortal solutions of the Laplacian flow on the product ma…
We develop a general approach to study geometric flows on homogeneous spaces. Our main tool will be a dynamical system defined on the variety of Lie algebras called the bracket flow, which coincides with the original geometric flow after a natural change of variables. The advantage of using this method relies on the fact that the possible pointed (or Cheeger-Gromov) limits of solutions, as well as self-similar solutions or soliton structures, can be much better visualized. The approach has already been worked out in the Ricci flow case and for general curvature flows of almost-hermitian struct…
In this paper, we investigate eigenvalues of the Dirichlet problem and the closed eigenvalue problem of drifting Laplacian on the complete metric measure spaces and establish the corresponding general formulas. By using those general formulas, we give some upper bounds of consecutive gap of the eigenvalues of the eigenvalue problems, which is sharp in the sense of the order of the eigenvalues. As some interesting applications, we study the eigenvalue of drifting Laplacian on Ricci solitons, self-shrinkers and product Riemannian manifolds. We give the explicit upper bounds of the gap of the con…
Let $φ(t), t\in [0,T]$ be a smooth solution to the Laplacian flow for closed G_2 structures on a compact 7-manifold $M$. We show that for each fixed positive time $t\in (0,T]$, $(M,φ(t),g(t))$ is real analytic, where $g(t)$ is the metric induced by $φ(t)$. Consequently, any Laplacian soliton is real analytic and we obtain unique continuation results for the flow.
The aim of this paper is to prove some classification results for generic shrinking Ricci solitons. In particular, we show that every three dimensional generic shrinking Ricci soliton is given by quotients of either $\mathds{S}^3$, $\erre\times\mathds{S}^2$ or $\erre^3$, under some very weak conditions on the vector field $X$ generating the soliton structure. In doing so we introduce analytical tools that could be useful in other settings; for instance we prove that the Omori-Yau maximum principle holds for the $X$-Laplacian on every generic Ricci soliton, without any assumption on $X$.
We review results about $G_2$-structures in relation to the existence of special metrics, such as Einstein metrics and Ricci solitons, and the evolution under the Laplacian flow on non-compact homogeneous spaces. We also discuss some examples in detail.
