本文建立了在具有正共形不变量的4维黎曼流形上，使四阶曲率均匀化的共形形变的存在性。具体而言，我们证明了任何具有正Yamabe不变量和总$Q$-曲率的闭紧黎曼流形，都可以共形形变为具有正标量曲率和常$Q$-曲率的度量。对于具有脐边界、正第一Yamabe不变量和总$(Q, T)$-曲率的黎曼流形，可以将其形变为两类具有全测地边界和正标量曲率的黎曼流形。第一类满足$Q\equiv \text{常数}, T \equiv 0$，而第二类满足$Q\equiv 0, T \equiv \text{常数}$。
英文摘要：
In this paper, we establish the existence of conformal deformations that uniformize fourth order curvature on 4-dimensional Riemannian manifolds with positive conformal invariants. Specifically, we prove that any closed, compact Riemannian manifold with positive Yamabe invariant and total $Q$-curvature can be conformally deformed into a metric with positive scalar curvature and constant $Q$-curvature. For a Riemannian manifold with umbilic boundary, positive first Yamabe invariant and total $(Q, T)$-curvature, it is possible to deform it into two types of Riemannian manifolds with totally geodesic boundary and positive scalar curvature. The first type satisfies $Q\equiv \text{constant}, T \equiv 0$ while the second type satisfies $Q\equiv 0, T \equiv \text{constant}$.
We give a new proof of the uniformization theorem of the leaves of a lamination by surfaces of hyperbolic conformal type. We use a laminated version of the Ricci flow to prove the existence of a laminated Riemannian metric (smooth on the leaves, transversaly continuous) with leaves of constant Gaussian curvature equal to -1, which is conformally equivalent to the original metric.
Let $S$ be a surface with a metric $d$ satisfying an upper curvature bound in the sense of Alexandrov (i.e. via triangle comparison). We show that an almost conformal harmonic map from a surface into $(S,d)$ is a branched covering. As a consequence, if $(S,d)$ is homeomorphically equivalent to the 2-sphere $\mathbb S^2$, then it is conformally equivalent to $\mathbb S^2$.
The conformal structure on minimal surfaces plays a key role in studying the properties of minimal surfaces. Here we extend the results of uniformization of surfaces with boundary to get the (weak) uniformization results for triple junction surfaces.
In this paper a new connection between the discrete conformal geometry problem of disk pattern construction and the continuous conformal geometry problem of metric uniformization is presented. In a nutshell, we discuss how to construct disk patterns by optimizing an objective function, which turns out to be intimately related to hyperbolic volume. With the use of random Delaunay triangulations we then average this objective function to construct an objective function on the metrics conformal to a fixed one. Finally using this averaged objective function we may reprove the uniformization theore…
A discrete conformality for hyperbolic polyhedral surfaces is introduced in this paper. This discrete conformality is shown to be computable. It is proved that each hyperbolic polyhedral metric on a closed surface is discrete conformal to a unique hyperbolic polyhedral metric with a given discrete curvature satisfying Gauss-Bonnet formula. Furthermore, the hyperbolic polyhedral metric with given curvature can be obtained using a discrete Yamabe flow with surgery. In particular, each hyperbolic polyhedral metric on a closed surface with negative Euler characteristic is discrete conformal to a u…
We construct flat metrics in a given conformal class with prescribed singularities of real orders at marked points of a closed real surface. The singularities can be small conical, cylindrical, and large conical with possible translation component. Along these lines we give an elementary proof of the uniformization theorem for the sphere.
A discrete conformality for polyhedral metrics on surfaces is introduced in this paper which generalizes earlier work on the subject. It is shown that each polyhedral metric on a surface is discrete conformal to a constant curvature polyhedral metric which is unique up to scaling. Furthermore, the constant curvature metric can be found using a discrete Yamabe flow with surgery.
We approach the problem of uniformization of general Riemann surfaces through consideration of the curvature equation, and in particular the problem of constructing Poincaré metrics (i.e., complete metrics of constant negative curvature) by solving the equation $Δu - e^{2u} = K_0(z)$ on general open surfaces. A few other topics are discussed, including boundary behavior of the conformal factor $e^{2u}$ giving the Poincaré metric when the Riemann surface has smoothly bounded compact closure, and also a curvature equation proof of Koebe's disk theorem.
In this note we prove that a fourth order conformal invariant on the product of a circle with an (n-1)-dimensional sphere can be arbitrarily close to that of the n-dimensional sphere, generalizing a result of Schoen about the classical Yamabe invariant.
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a geometric structure called pseudo-conformal quaternionic CR structure on a (4n+3)-dimensional mamnifold and then exhibit a quaternionic analogue of Chern-Moser's CR structure and uniformization.
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…
Given an smooth function $K <0$ we prove a result by Berger, Kazhdan and others that in every conformal class there exists a metric which attains this function as its Gaussian curvature for a compact Riemann surface of genus $g>1$. We do so by minimizing an appropriate functional using elementary analysis. In particular for $K$ a negative constant, this provides an elementary proof of the uniformization theorem for compact Riemann surfaces of genus $g >1$.
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…
In this paper we study the energy function associated to fourth order equations of critical growth on smooth compact conformally flat manifolds of dimension greater or equal than 5.
In this paper we prescribe a fourth order conformal invariant on the standard $n-$sphere, with $n\geq5$, and study the related fourth order elliptic equation. We first find some existence results in the perturbative case. After some blow up analysis we build a homotopy to pass from the perturbative case to the non-perturbative one under some flatness condition. Finally we state some existence results under the assumption of symmetry.
In this paper we study some fourth order elliptic equation involving the critical Sobolev exponent, related to the prescription of a fourth order conformal invariant on the standard sphere. We use a topological method to prove the existence of at least a solution when the function to be prescribed is close to a constant and a finite dimensional map associated to it has non-zero degree.
Thurston's circle packing approximation of the Riemann Mapping (proven to give the Riemann Mapping in the limit by Rodin-Sullivan) is largely based on the theorem that any topological disk with a circle packing metric can be deformed into a circle packing metric in the disk with boundary circles internally tangent to the circle. The main proofs of the uniformization use hyperbolic volumes (Andreev) or hyperbolic circle packings (by Beardon and Stephenson). We reformulate these problems into a Euclidean context, which allows more general discrete conformal structures and boundary conditions. Th…
In this paper we perform a fine blow-up analysis for a fourth order elliptic equation involving critical Sobolev exponent, related to the prescription of some conformal invariant on the standard sphere. We derive from this analysis some a priori estimates in dimension 5 and 6. On the five dimensionl sphere these a priori estimates combined with the perturbation result of Part I allow us to obtain some existence results. On the six dimensional sphere we prove the existence of at least one solution when an associated index is different from zero.
In this note we take some initial steps in the investigation of a fourth order analogue of the Yamabe problem in conformal geometry. The Paneitz constants and the Paneitz invariants considered are believed to be very helpful to understand the topology of the underlined manifolds. We calculate how those quantities change, analogous to how the Yamabe constants and the Yamabe invariants do, under the connected sum operations.
We define a formal Riemannian metric on a given conformal class of metrics on a closed Riemann surface. We show interesting formal properties for this metric, in particular the curvature is nonpositive and the Liouville energy is geodesically convex. The geodesic equation for this metric corresponds to a degenerate elliptic fully nonlinear PDE, and we prove that any two points are connected by a $C^{1,1}$ geodesic. Using this we can define a length space structure on the given conformal class. We present a different approach to the uniformization theorem by studying the negative gradient flow …
Conformal harmonic maps from a 4-dimensional conformal manifold to a Riemannian manifold are maps satisfying a certain conformally invariant fourth order equation. We prove a general existence result for conformal harmonic maps, analogous to the Eells-Sampson theorem for harmonic maps. The proof uses a geometric flow and relies on results of Gursky-Viaclovsky and Lamm.
We study qualitative properties for nonnegative solutions to a conformally invariant coupled system of fourth order equations involving critical exponents. For solutions defined in the punctured space, there exist essentially two cases to analyze. If the origin is a removable singularity, we prove that non-singular solutions are rotationally invariant and weakly positive. More precisely, they are the product of a fourth order spherical solution by a unit vector with nonnegative coordinates. If the origin is a non-removable singularity, we show that the solutions are radially symmetric and stro…
We investigate fourth order Paneitz equations of critical growth in the case of $n$-dimensional closed conformally flat manifolds, $n \ge 5$. Such equations arise from conformal geometry and are modelized on the Einstein case of the geometric equation describing the effects of conformal changes of metrics on the $Q$-curvature. We obtain sharp asymptotics for arbitrary bounded energy sequences of solutions of our equations from which we derive stability and compactness properties. In doing so we establish the criticality of the geometric equation with respect to the trace of its second order te…
We study the asymptotic behavior for singular solutions to a critical fourth order system generalizing the constant $Q$-curvature equation. Our main result extends to the case of strongly coupled systems, the celebrated asymptotic classification due to [L. A. Caffarelli, B. Gidas and J. Spruck, Comm. Pure Appl. Math. (1989)] and [N. Korevaar, R. Mazzeo, F. Pacard and R. Schoen, Invent. Math., (1999)]. On the technical level, we use an involved spectral analysis to study the Jacobi fields' growth properties in the kernel of the linearization of our system around a blow-up limit solution. Beside…
We give conditions on the Lee vector field of an almost Hermitian manifold such that any holomorphic map from this manifold into a (1,2)-symplectic manifold must satisfy the fourth-order condition of being biharmonic, hence generalizing the Lichnerowicz theorem on harmonic maps. These third-order non-linear conditions are shown to greatly simplify on l.c.K. manifolds and construction methods and examples are given in all dimensions.
This is the fourth in a series of papers where we prove a conjecture of Deser and Schwimmer regarding the algebraic structure of ``global conformal invariants''; these are defined to be conformally invariant integrals of geometric scalars. The conjecture asserts that the integrand of any such integral can be expressed as a linear combination of a local conformal invariant, a divergence and of the Chern-Gauss-Bonnet integrand. The present paper lays out the second half of this entire work: The second half proves certain purely algebraic statements regarding local Riemannian invariants; these we…
A 4-dimensional Riemannian manifold M, equipped with an additional tensor structure S, whose fourth power is minus identity, is considered. The structure S has a skew-circulant matrix with respect to some basis of the tangent space at a point on M. Moreover, S acts as an isometry with respect to the metric g. A fundamental tensor is defined on such a manifold (M,g,S) by g and by the covariant derivative of S. This tensor satisfies a characteristic identity which is invariant to the usual conformal transformation. Some curvature properties of (M,g,S) are obtained. A Lie group as a manifold of t…
We investigate, in some details, symplectic equivalence between several conformal classes of Lorentz metrics on the hyperboloid of one sheet $H^{1,1} \cong T \times T - Δ$ and affine coadjoint orbits of the group $Diff_+(Δ)$ of orientation preserving diffeomorphisms of $Δ\cong T$ with its natural projective structure. This will allow for generalizations, namely, to the case of arbitrary projective structures on null infinity.
Following an approach of the second author for conformally invariant variational problems in two dimensions, we show in four dimensions the existence of a conservation law for fourth order systems, which includes both intrinsic and extrinsic biharmonic maps. With the help of this conservation law we prove the continuity of weak solutions of this system. Moreover we use the conservation law to derive the existence of a unique global weak solution of the extrinsic biharmonic map flow in the energy space.
We study a class of fourth-order geometric problems modelling Willmore surfaces, conformally constrained Willmore surfaces, isoperimetrically constrained Willmore surfaces, bi-harmonic surfaces in the sense of Chen, among others. We prove several local energy estimates and derive a global gap lemma.
We study the conformal plate buckling equation (Laplace--Beltrami)^2 u =1, where the L-B operator is for the metric g = e^{2u}g_0, with $g_0$ the standard Euclidean metric on R^2. This conformal elliptic PDE of fourth order is equivalent to the nonlinear system of elliptic PDEs of second order, Delta u +K_g e^(2u)=0, Delta K_g + e^(2u)=0, with x in R^2, describing a conformally flat surface with a Gauss curvature function K_g that is generated self-consistently through the metric's conformal factor.
We study compactness for nonnegative solutions of the fourth order constant $Q$-curvature equations on smooth compact Riemannian manifolds of dimension $\ge 5$. If the $Q$-curvature equals $-1$, we prove that all solutions are universally bounded. If the $Q$-curvature is $1$, assuming that Paneitz operator's kernel is trivial and its Green function is positive, we establish universal energy bounds on manifolds which are either locally conformally flat (LCF) or of dimension $\le 9$. Moreover, assuming in addition that a positive mass type theorem holds for the Paneitz operator, we prove compact…
In this paper we prove that, given a compact four dimensional smooth Riemannian manifold (M,g) with smooth boundary there exists a metric conformal to g with constant T-curvature, zero Q-curvature and zero mean curvature under generic and conformally invariant assumptions. The problem amounts to solving a fourth order nonlinear elliptic boundary value problem (BVP) with boundary conditions given by a third-order pseudodifferential operator, and homogeneous Neumann one. It has a variational structure, but since the corresponding Euler-Lagrange functional is in general unbounded from below, we l…
Over forty years ago, Paneitz, and independently Fradkin and Tseytlin, discovered a fourth-order conformally-invariant differential operator, intrinsically defined on a conformal manifold, mapping scalars to scalars. This operator is a special case of the so-termed extrinsic Paneitz operator defined in the case when the conformal manifold is itself a conformally embedded hypersurface. In particular, this encodes the obstruction to smoothly solving the five-dimensional scalar Laplace equation, and suitable higher dimensional analogs, on conformally compact structures with constant scalar curvat…
Conformal geodesics are solutions to a system of third order of equations, which makes a Lagrangian formulation problematic. We show how enlarging the class of allowed variations leads to a variational formulation for this system with a third--order conformally invariant Lagrangian. We also discuss the conformally invariant system of fourth order ODEs arising from this Lagrangian, and show that some of its integral curves are spirals.
In this paper we prove a positive energy theorem related to fourth-order gravitational theories, which is a higher-order analogue of the classical ADM positive energy theorem of general relativity. We will also show that, in parallel to the corresponding situation in general relativity, this result intersects several important problems in geometric analysis. For instance, it underlies positive mass theorems associated to the Paneitz operator, playing a similar role in the positive $Q$-curvature conformal prescription problem as the Schoen-Yau positive energy theorem does for the Yamabe problem…
For any hypersurface $M$ of a Riemannian manifold $X$, recent works introduced the notions of extrinsic conformal Laplacians and extrinsic $Q$-curvatures. Here we derive explicit formulas for the extrinsic version ${\bf P}_4$ of the Paneitz operator and the corresponding extrinsic fourth-order $Q$-curvature ${\bf Q}_4$ in general dimensions. This result involves a series of obvious local conformal invariants of the embedding $M^4 \hookrightarrow X^5$ (defined in terms of the Weyl tensor and the trace-free second fundamental form) and a non-trivial local conformal invariant $\mathcal{C}$. In tu…
In this paper we derive a refined asymptotic expansion, near an isolated singularity, for conformally flat metrics with constant positive Q-curvature and positive scalar curvature. The condition that the metric has constant Q-curvature forces the conformal factor to satisfy a fourth order nonlinear partial differential equation with critical Sobolev growth, whose leading term is the bilaplacian. We model our results on a similar asymptotic expansion for conformally flat, constant scalar curvature metrics proven by Korevaar, Mazzeo, Pacard, and Schoen. Along the way we analyze the linearization…
We provide five examples of conformal geometries which are naturally associated with ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The first example describes a one-to-one correspondence between the Wuenschmann class of 3rd order ODEs considered modulo contact transformations of variables and (local) 3-dimensional conformal Lorentzian geometries. The second example shows that every point equivalent class of 3rd order ODEs satisfying the Wuenschmann and the Cartan conditions define a 3-dimensional Lorentzian Einstein-Weyl geometry. The third example associates to each point equivalence class of 3rd o…
We establish several nonuniqueness results for the problem of finding complete conformal metrics with constant (fourth-order) $Q$-curvature on compact and noncompact manifolds of dimension $\geq5$. Infinitely many branches of metrics with constant $Q$-curvature, but without constant scalar curvature, are found to bifurcate from Berger metrics on spheres and complex projective spaces. These provide examples of nonisometric metrics with the same constant negative $Q$-curvature in a conformal class with negative Yamabe invariant, echoing the absence of a Maximum Principle. We also discover infini…
This paper continues the work of our previous paper [8], where we generalize kth-powers of the Euclidean Dirac operator D_x to higher spin spaces in the case the target space is a degree one homogeneous polynomial space. In this paper, we reconsider the generalizations of D_x^3 and D_x^4 to higher spin spaces in the case the target space is a degree k homogeneous polynomial space. Constructions of 3rd and 4th order conformally invariant operators in higher spin spaces are given; these are the 3rd order fermionic and 4th order bosonic operators. Fundamental solutions and intertwining operators …
