Motivated by problems on apparent horizons in general relativity, we prove the following theorem on minimal surfaces: Let $g$ be a metric on the three-sphere $S^3$ satisfying $Ric(g) \geq 2 g$. If the volume of $(S^3, g)$ is no less than one half of the volume of the standard unit sphere, then there are no closed minimal surfaces in the asymptotically flat manifold $(S^3 \setminus \{P \}, G^4 g)$. Here $G$ is the Green's function of the conformal Laplacian of $(S^3, g)$ at an arbitrary point $P$. We also give an example of $(S^3, g)$ with $Ric(g) > 0$ where $(S^3 \setminus \{P \}, G^4 g)$ does have closed minimal surfaces.
In this note we study constant mean curvature surfaces in asymptotically flat 3-manifolds. We prove that, in an asymptotically flat 3-manifold with positive mass, stable spheres of given constant mean curvature outside a fixed compact subset are unique. Therefore we are able to conclude that there is a unique foliation of stable spheres of constant mean curvature in an asymptotically flat 3-manifold with positive mass.
We consider an asymptotically flat Riemannian spin manifold of positive scalar curvature. An inequality is derived which bounds the Riemann tensor in terms of the total mass and quantifies in which sense curvature must become small when the total mass tends to zero.
We consider an asymptotically flat Lorentzian manifold of dimension (1,3). An inequality is derived which bounds the Riemannian curvature tensor in terms of the ADM energy in the general case with second fundamental form. The inequality quantifies in which sense the Lorentzian manifold becomes flat in the limit when the ADM energy tends to zero.
In this paper, we investigate the behavior of ADM mass and Einstein-Hilbert functional under the Yamabe flow. Through studying the Yamabe flow by weighted spaces, we show that ADM mass and Einstein-Hilbert functional are well-defined and monotone non-increasing under the Yamabe flow on $n$-dimensional, $n\geq 3$, asymptotically flat manifolds. In the case of dimension $n=3$ or 4, we obtain that the ADM mass is invariant under the Yamabe flow and the Yamabe flow is the gradient flow of Einstein-Hilbert functional on asymptotically flat manifolds
We study Ricci flows on $R^n$, $n\ge 3$, that evolve from asymptotically flat initial data. Under mild conditions on the initial data, we show that the flow exists and remains asymptotically flat for an interval of time. The mass is constant in time along the flow. We then specialize to the case of rotationally symmetric, asymptotically flat initial data containing no embedded minimal hyperspheres. We show that in this case the flow is immortal, remains asymptotically flat, never develops a minimal hypersphere, and converges to flat Euclidean space as the time diverges to infinity. We discuss …
We show that an asymptotically flat Riemannian three-manifold with non-negative scalar curvature is isometric to flat $\mathbb{R}^3$ if it admits an unbounded area-minimizing surface. This answers a question of R. Schoen.
In this paper I study the constant mean curvature surface in asymptotically flat 3-manifolds with general asymptotics. Under some weak condition, I prove that outside some compact set in the asymptotically flat 3-manifold with positive mass, the foliation of stable spheres of constant mean curvature is unique.
Asymptotically flat manifolds with Euclidean volume growth are known to be ALE. In this paper, we consider a class of asymptotically flat manifolds with slower volume growth and prove that their asymptotic geometry is that of a fibration over an ALE manifold. In particular, we show that gravitational instantons with cubic volume growth are ALF.
We show that at the level of formal expansions, any compact Riemannian manifold is the sphere at infinity of an asymptotically conical gradient expanding Ricci soliton.
In this note, we consider the isoperimetric inequality on an asymptotically flat manifold with nonnegative scalar curvature, and improve it by using Hawking mass. We also obtain a rigidity result when equality holds for the classical isoperimetric inequality on an asymptotically flat manifold with nonnegative scalar curvature.
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 consider two cases of the asymptotically flat scalar-flat Yamabe problem on a non-compact manifold with boundary, in dimension $n\geq3$. First, following arguments of Cantor and Brill in the compact case, we show that given an asymptotically flat metric $g$, there is a conformally equivalent asymptotically flat scalar-flat metric that agrees with $g$ on the boundary. We then replace the metric boundary condition with a condition on the mean curvature: Given a function $f$ on the boundary that is not too large, we show that there is an asymptotically flat scalar-flat metric, conformally equi…
Let $(M,g)$ be an asymptotically flat $3$-manifold containing no closed embedded minimal surfaces. We prove that for every point $p\in M$ there exists a complete properly embedded minimal plane in $M$ containing $p$.
We study a class of asymptotically cylindrical Ricci-flat Kähler metrics arising on quasiprojective manifolds. Using the Calabi--Yau geometry and analysis and the Kodaira--Kuranishi--Spencer theory and building up on results of N.Koiso for the case of compact manifolds, we show that under rather general hypotheses any `small' asymptotically cylindrical Ricci-flat deformations of asymptotically cylindrical Ricci-flat Kähler metrics are again Kähler, possibly with respect to a perturbed complex structure. We also find the dimension of the moduli space for these small deformations. In the class o…
We prove in a simple and coordinate-free way the equivalence bteween the classical definitions of the mass or the center of mass of an asymptotically flat manifold and their alternative definitions depending on the Ricci tensor and conformal Killing fields. This enables us to prove an analogous statement in the asymptotically hyperbolic case.
We study the Yamabe flow starting from an asymptotically flat manifold $(M^n,g_0)$. We show that the flow converges to an asymptotically flat, scalar flat metric in a weighted global sense if $Y(M,[g_0])>0$, and show that the flow does not converge otherwise. If the scalar curvature is nonnegative and integrable, then the ADM mass at time infinity drops by the limit of the total scalar curvature along the flow.
Let $(M, g)$ be an asymptotically flat Riemannian $3$-manifold with non-negative scalar curvature and positive mass. We show that each leaf of the canonical foliation through stable constant mean curvature surfaces of the end of $(M, g)$ is uniquely isoperimetric for the volume it encloses.
We prove uniqueness and existence theorems for four-dimensional asymptotically flat, Ricci-flat, gravitational instantons with a torus symmetry. In particular, we prove that such instantons are uniquely characterised by their rod structure, which is data that encodes the fixed point sets of the torus action. Furthermore, we establish that for every admissible rod structure there exists an instanton that is smooth up to possible conical singularities at the axes of symmetry. The proofs involve adapting the methods that are used to establish black hole uniqueness theorems, to a harmonic map form…
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}.
In this paper, we investigate the geometry of asymptotically flat manifolds with controlled holonomy. We show that any end of such manifold admits a torus fibration over an ALE end. In addition, we prove a Hitchin-Thorpe inequality for oriented Ricci-flat $4$-manifolds with curvature decay and controlled holonomy. As an application, we show that any complete asymptotically flat Ricci-flat metric on a $4$-manifold which is homeomorphic to $\mathbb R^4$ must be isometric to the Euclidean or the Taub-NUT metric, provided that the tangent cone at infinity is not $\mathbb R \times \mathbb R_+$.
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 $\mathbb{R}^n$.
Adapting Israel's proof of static black hole uniqueness, we show that the Schwarzschild spacetime is the only static vacuum asymptotically flat spacetime that possesses a suitably defined photon sphere.
We consider the question whether a static potential on an asymptotically flat 3-manifold can have nonempty zero set which extends to the infinity. We prove that this does not occur if the metric is asymptotically Schwarzschild with nonzero mass. If the asymptotic assumption is relaxed to the usual assumption under which the total mass is defined, we prove that the static potential is unique up to scaling unless the manifold is flat. We also provide some discussion concerning the rigidity of complete asymptotically flat 3-manifolds without boundary that admit a static potential.
We show that asymptotically Schwarzschildean 3-manifolds cannot contain minimal surfaces obtained by perturbative deformations of a Euclidean catenoid, no matter how small the ADM mass of the ambient space and how large the neck of the catenoid itself. Such an obstruction is sharply three-dimensional and ceases to hold for more general classes of asymptotically flat data.
We show that any asymptotically locally Euclidean (ALE) metric which is obstruction-flat or extended obstruction-flat must be ALE of a certain optimal order. Moreover, our proof applies to very general elliptic systems and in any dimension $n \geq 3$. The proof is based on the technique of Cheeger-Tian for Ricci-flat metrics. We also apply this method to obtain a singularity removal theorem for (extended) obstruction-flat metrics with isolated $C^0$-orbifold singular points.
We prove an existence theorem for Asymptotically Conical Ricci Flat Kahler metrics in $\mathbb{C}^2$ with cone singularities along a smooth complex curve. These metrics are expected to arise as blow up limits of non collapsed sequences of Kahler Einstein metrics with cone singularities.
We describe explicitly the large volume isoperimetric regions of a natural class of asymptotically flat manifolds, in any dimension. These isoperimetric regions detect the mass and the center of mass of such manifolds when viewed as initial data sets for the Einstein equations in general relativity. Using the positivity of the isoperimetric mass established by G. Huisken we prove an existence result for large isoperimetric regions in general asymptotically flat three manifolds with non-negative scalar curvature.
In this paper we introduce a mass for asymptotically flat manifolds by using the Gauss-Bonnet curvature. We first prove that the mass is well-defined and is a geometric invariant, if the Gauss-Bonnet curvature is integrable and the decay order $τ$ satisfies $τ> \frac {n-4}{3}.$ Then we show a positive mass theorem for asymptotically flat graphs over ${\mathbb R}^n$. Moreover we obtain also Penrose type inequalities in this case.
The goal of this paper is to establish the existence of a foliation of the asymptotic region of an asymptotically flat manifold with nonzero mass by surfaces which are critical points of the Willmore functional subject to an area constraint. Equivalently these surfaces are critical points of the Geroch-Hawking mass. Thus our result has applications in the theory of General Relativity.
In this paper, we improve a result by Chodosh and Ketover. We prove that, in an asymptotically flat $3$-manifold $M$ that contains no closed minimal surfaces, fixing $q\in M$ and a $2$-plane $V$ in $T_qM$ there is a properly embedded minimal plane $Σ$ in $M$ such that $q\inΣ$ and $T_qΣ=V$. We also prove that fixing three points in $M$ there is a properly embedded minimal plane passing through these three points.
Asymptotically cylindrical Ricci-flat manifolds play a key role in constructing Topological Quantum Field Theories. It is particularly important to understand their behavior at the cylindrical ends and the natural restrictions on the geometry. In this paper we show that an orientable, connected, asymptotically cylindrical manifold (M,g) with Ricci-flat metric g can have at most two cylindrical ends. In the case where there are two such cylindrical ends then there is reduction in the holonomy group Hol(g) and (M,g) is a cylinder.
In this article, we prove the Riemannian Penrose inequality for asymptotically flat manifolds with non-compact boundary whose asymptotic region is modelled on a half-space. Such spaces were initially considered by Almaraz, Barbosa and de Lima in 2014. In order to prove the inequality, we develop a new approximation scheme for the weak free boundary inverse mean curvature flow, introduced by Marquardt in 2012, and establish the monotonicity of a free boundary version of the Hawking mass. Our result also implies a non-optimal Penrose inequality for asymptotically flat support surfaces in $\mathb…
We prove the equality case of the Penrose inequality in all dimensions for asymptotically flat hypersurfaces. It was recently proven by G. Lam that the Penrose inequality holds for asymptotically flat graphical hypersurfaces in Euclidean space with non-negative scalar curvature and with a minimal boundary. Our main theorem states that if the equality holds, then the hypersurface is a Schwarzschild solution. As part of our proof, we show that asymptotically flat graphical hypersurfaces with a minimal boundary and non-negative scalar curvature must be mean convex, using the argument that we deve…
In this paper we introduce a family of center of masses that complement the definition of the family of Gauss-Bonnet-Chern masses by Ge-Wang-Wu and Li-Nguyen. In order to prove the existence and the well-definedness of the center of mass, we use the formalism of double forms of Kulkarni and Labbi. This allows for transparent conceptual proofs, which apply to all known cases of asymptotic invariants of asymptotically flat manifolds.
We study the mass of asymptotically flat $3$-manifolds with boundary using the method of Bray-Kazaras-Khuri-Stern. More precisely, we derive a mass formula on the union of an asymptotically flat manifold and fill-ins of its boundary, and give new sufficient conditions guaranteeing the positivity of the mass. Motivation to such consideration comes from studying the quasi-local mass of the boundary surface. If the boundary isometrically embeds in the Euclidean space, we apply the formula to obtain convergence of the Brown-York mass along large surfaces tending to $\infty$ which include the scali…
We prove a positive mass theorem for $n$-dimensional asymptotically flat manifolds with a non-compact boundary if either $3\leq n\leq 7$ or if $n\geq 3$ and the manifold is spin. This settles, for this class of manifolds, a question posed in a recent paper by the first author in connection with the long-term behavior of a certain Yamabe-type flow on scalar-flat compact manifolds with boundary.
In 1993, Bartnik introduced a quasi-spherical construction of metrics of prescribed scalar curvature on 3-manifolds. Under quasi-spherical ansatz, the problem is converted into the initial value problem for a semi-linear parabolic equation of the lapse function. The original ansatz of Bartnik started with a background foliation with round metrics on the 2-sphere leaves. This has been generalized by several authors under various assumptions on the background foliation. In this article, we consider background foliations given by conformal round metrics, and by the Ricci flow on 2-spheres. We dis…
Using methods of A. Grigor'yan and L. Saloff-Coste we prove that on a manifold with a conical end the heat kernel has a Gaussian bound. This result is applied to asymptotically conical Kähler manifolds. It is a result of the author and R. Goto that a crepant resolution of a Ricci-flat Kähler cone admits a Ricci-flat Kähler metric asymptotic to the cone metric in every Kähler class. We prove the sharp rate of convergence of the metric to the cone metric. For compact Kähler classes this is the same as for the Ricci-flat ALE metrics of P. Kronheimer and D. Joyce.
We investigate asymptotically flat manifolds with cone structure at infinity. We show that any such manifold M has a finite number of ends. For simply connected ends we classify all possible cones at infinity, except for the 4-dimensional case where it remains open if one of the theoretically possible cones can actually arise. This result yields in particular a complete classification of asymptotically flat manifolds with nonnegative curvature: The universal covering of an asymptotically flat manifold with nonnegative sectional curvature is isometric to a product of Euclidean space and an asym…
We extend the Lyapunov-Schmidt analysis of outlying stable CMC spheres in the work of S. Brendle and the second-named author to the "far-off-center" regime and to include general Schwarzschild asymptotics. We obtain sharp existence and non-existence results for large stable CMC spheres that depend very delicately on the behavior of scalar curvature at infinity.
We show an improvement of Bray sharp mass-capacity inequality and Bray-Miao sharp upper bound of the capacity of the boundary in terms of its area, for three-dimensional, complete, one-ended asymptotically flat manifolds with compact, connected boundary and with nonnegative scalar curvature, under appropriate assumptions on the topology and on the mean curvature of the boundary. Our arguments relies on two monotonicity formulas holding along level sets of a suitable harmonic potential, associated to the boundary of the manifold. This work is an expansion of the results contained in the PhD the…
We prove that if an asymptotically Schwarzschildean 3-manifold (M,g) contains a properly embedded stable minimal surface, then it is isometric to the Euclidean space. This implies, for instance, that in presence of a positive ADM mass any sequence of solutions to the Plateau problem with diverging boundaries can never have uniform height bounds, even at a single point. An analogous result holds true up to ambient dimension seven provided polynomial volume growth on the hypersurface is assumed.
Let $(M, g)$ be a complete Riemannian $3$-manifold that is asymptotic to Schwarzschild with positive mass and whose scalar curvature vanishes. We \textsl{unconditionally} characterize the large, embedded stable constant mean curvature spheres in $(M, g)$.
In this paper, we study the existence of global Yamabe flow on asymptotically flat (in short, AF or ALE) manifolds. Note that the ADM mass is preserved in dimensions 3,4 and 5. We present a new general local existence of Yamabe flow on a complete Riemannian manifold with the initial metric quasi-isometric to a background metric of bounded scalar curvature. Asymptotic behaviour of the Yamabe flow on ALE manifolds is also addressed provided the initial scalar curvature is non-negative and there is a bounded subsolution to the corresponding Poisson equation. We also present a maximum principle fo…
In this paper, the existence and uniqueness of foliations by constant mean curvature spheres on asymptotically flat manifolds of nonzero ADM mass in all dimensions were established. (A similar result in the case of positive mass was obtained independently by G. Huisken and S. T. Yau, see the introduction of this paper and their paper in Inv. Math.)
