In the first part of this paper, we prove the extensibility of an arbitrary boundary metric to a positive scalar curvature (PSC) metric inside for a compact manifold with boundary, which completely solves an open problem due to Gromov (see Question \ref{extension1}). Then we introduce a fill-in invariant (see Definition \ref{fillininvariant}) and discuss its relationship with the positive mass theorems for asymptotically flat (AF) and asymptotically hyperbolic (AH) manifolds. Moreover, we prove that the positive mass theorem for AH manifolds implies that for AF manifolds. In the end, we give some estimates for the fill-in invariant, which provide some partially affirmative answers to Gromov's conjectures formulated in \cite{Gro19} (see Conjecture \ref{conj0} and Conjecture \ref{conj1} below)
In the first part of this paper, we consider the problem of fill-in of nonnegative scalar curvature (NNSC) metrics for a triple of Bartnik data $(Σ,γ,H)$. We prove that given a metric $γ$ on $\mathbf{S}^{n-1}$ ($3\leq n\leq 7$), $(\mathbf{S}^{n-1},γ,H)$ admits no fill-in of NNSC metrics provided the prescribed mean curvature $H$ is large enough (Theorem \ref{Thm: no fillin nonnegative scalar 2}). Moreover, we prove that if $γ$ is a positive scalar curvature (PSC) metric isotopic to the standard metric on $\mathbf{S}^{n-1}$, then the much weaker condition that the total mean curvature $\int_{\m…
Motivated by the quasi-local mass problem in general relativity, we apply the asymptotically flat extensions, constructed by Shi and Tam in the proof of the positivity of the Brown--York mass, to study a fill-in problem of realizing geometric data on a 2-sphere as the boundary of a compact 3-manifold of nonnegative scalar curvature. We characterize the relationship between two borderline cases: one in which the Shi--Tam extension has zero total mass, and another in which fill-ins of nonnegative scalar curvature fail to exist. Additionally, we prove a type of positive mass theorem in the latter…
Consider a triple of "Bartnik data" $(Σ, γ,H)$, where $Σ$ is a topological 2-sphere with Riemannian metric $γ$ and positive function $H$. We view Bartnik data as a boundary condition for the problem of finding a compact Riemannian 3-manifold $(Ω,g)$ of nonnegative scalar curvature whose boundary is isometric to $(Σ,γ)$ with mean curvature $H$. Considering the perturbed data $(Σ, γ, λH)$ for a positive real parameter $λ$, we find that such a "fill-in" $(Ω,g)$ must exist for $λ$ small and cannot exist for $λ$ large; moreover, we prove there exists an intermediate threshold value. The main applic…
We derive new inequalities between the boundary capacity of an asymptotically flat 3-manifold with nonnegative scalar curvature and boundary quantities that relate to quasi-local mass; one relates to Brown--York mass and the other is new. We argue by recasting the setup to the study of mean-convex fill-ins with nonnegative scalar curvature and, in the process, we consider fill-ins with singular metrics, which may have independent interest. Among other things, our work yields new variational characterizations of Riemannian Schwarzschild manifolds and new comparison results for surfaces in them.
In this note we show that a closed Riemannian manifold does not admit a fill-in with nonnegative scalar curvature if the mean curvature is point-wise large. Similar result also holds for fill-ins with a negative scalar curvature lower bound.
We generalize Y. Shi and L.-F.\ Tam's \cite{ShiTam} nonnegativity result for the Brown-York mass, by considering nonnegative scalar curvature (NNSC) fill-ins that need only be complete rather than compact. Moreover, the NNSC fill-ins need not even be complete as long the incompleteness is ``shielded'' by a region with positive scalar curvature and occurs occurs sufficiently far away. We accomplish this by generalizing P.~Miao's~\cite{Miao02} positive mass theorem with corners to asymptotically flat manifolds that may have other complete ends, or possibly incomplete ends that are appropriately …
Let $(M^3, g)$ be an asymptotically flat 3-manifold with positive ADM mass. In this paper, we show that each leaf of the canonical foliation is the unique isoperimetric surface for the volume it encloses. Our proof is based on the "fill-in" argument and sharp isoperimetric inequality on asymptotically flat 3-manifold with nonnegative scalar curvature.
We point out that a 4-dimensional topological manifold with an Alexandrov metric (of curvature bounded below) and with an effective, isometric action of the circle or the 2-torus is locally smooth. This observation implies that the topological and equivariant classifications of compact, simply connected Riemannian 4-manifolds with positive or nonnegative sectional curvature and an effective isometric action of a circle or a 2-torus also hold if we consider Alexandrov manifolds instead of Riemannian manifolds.
Given a metric $γ$ of nonnegative Gauss curvature and a positive function $H$ on a $2$-sphere $Σ$, we estimate the Bartnik quasi-local mass of $(Σ, γ, H)$ in terms of the area, the total mean curvature, and a quantity depending only on $γ$, measuring the roundness of the metric. If $γ$ has positive Gauss curvature, the roundness of $γ$ in the estimate is controlled by the ratio $κ$ between the maximum and the minimum of the Gauss curvature. As $κ\to 1$, the estimate approaches a sharp estimate for round spheres with arbitrary, positive mean curvature functions. Enroute we observe an estimate o…
In this article, we investigate deformation problems of $Q$-curvature on closed Riemannian manifolds. One of the most crucial notions we use is the $Q$-singular space, which was introduced by Chang-Gursky-Yang during 1990's. Inspired by the early work of Fischer-Marsden, we derived several results about geometry related to $Q$-curvature. It includes classifications for nonnegative Einstein $Q$-singular spaces, linearized stability of non-$Q$-singular spaces and a local rigidity result for flat manifolds with nonnegative $Q$-curvature. As for global results, we showed that any smooth function c…
In this paper, we prove for $n\leq 7$ that if a differentiable $n$-manifold contains a relatively incompressible essential hypersurface in some class $\mathcal C_{deg}$, then it admits no complete metric with positive scalar curvature. Based on this result, we show for $n\leq 7$ that surgeries between orientable $n$-manifolds and $n$-torus along incompressible sub-torus with codimension no less than $2$ still preserve the obstruction for complete metrics with positive scalar curvature. As an application, we establish positive mass theorem with incompressible conditions for asymptotically flat/…
We apply the Riemannian Penrose inequality and the Riemannian positive mass theorem to derive inequalities on the boundary of a class of compact Riemannian $3$-manifolds with nonnegative scalar curvature. The boundary of such a manifold has a CMC component, i.e. a $2$-sphere with positive constant mean curvature; and the rest of the boundary, if nonempty, consists of closed minimal surfaces. A key step in our proof is the construction of a collar extension that is inspired by the method of Mantoulidis-Schoen \cite{M-S}.
In this short note, we formulate three problems relating to nonnegative scalar curvature (NNSC) fill-ins. Loosely speaking, the first two problems focus on: When are $(n-1)$-dimensional Bartnik data $\big(Σ_i ^{n-1}, γ_i, H_i\big)$, $i=1,2$, NNSC-cobordant? (i.e., there is an $n$-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold $\big(Ω^n, g\big)$ with scalar curvature $R(g)\geq 0$ and the boundary $\partial Ω=Σ_{1} \cup Σ_{2}$ such that $γ_i$ is the metric on $Σ_i ^{n-1}$ induced by $g$, and $H_i$ is the mean curvature of $Σ_i$ in $\big(Ω^n, g\big)$). If $\big(\mathbb{S}^{n-1},γ_{\rm std},0\big)$ is po…
We construct a black hole initial data for the Einstein equations with prescribed scalar curvature, or more precisely a piece of initial data contained inside the black hole. The constraints translate into a parabolic equation, with radius as "time" variable, on a metric component u that undergoes blow up. The metric itself is regular up to and including the surface at blow up radius, which is a minimal surface. By applying equivariant bifurcation theory on a self similarly rescaled equation, we show the existence of blow up profiles that are not O(3) symmetric - or anisotropic - although the …
In this note, we show that a closed spin Riemannian manifold does not admit a spin fill-in satisfying the dominant energy condition (DEC) if a certain generalized mean curvature function is point-wise large.
