We develop techniques for classifying the nonnegatively curved left-invariant metrics on a compact Lie group G. We prove rigidity theorems for general G and a partial classification for G=SO(4). Our approach is to reduce the general question to an infinitesimal version; namely, to classify the directions one can move away from a fixed bi-invariant metric such that curvature variation formulas predict nearby metrics are nonnnegatively curved.
We prove that the total curvature of any planar graph with nonnegative combinatorial curvature is an integral multiple of $\frac{1}{12}.$ As a corollary, this answers a question proposed by T. Réti.
We derive a curvature-variation formula for a path of left-invariant metrics on a compact Lie group, beginning at a bi-invariant metric. We prove rigidity theorems for paths which remain nonnegatively curved, and we make progress towards a classification of the left-invariant metrics with nonnegative curvature on SO(4).
Given compact Lie groups H\subset G, we study the space of G-invariant metrics on G/H with nonnegative sectional curvature. For an intermediate subgroup K between H and G, we derive conditions under which enlarging the Lie algebra of K maintains nonnegative curvature on G/H. Such an enlarging is possible if (K,H) is a symmetric pair, which yields many new examples of nonnegatively curved homogeneous metrics. We provide other examples of spaces G/H with unexpectedly large families of nonnegatively curved homogeneous metrics.
In this paper we adapt work of Z.-D. Liu to prove a ball covering property for non-branching $\mathsf{CD}$ spaces with nonnegative curvature outside a compact set. As a consequence we obtain uniform bounds on the number of ends of such spaces.
Oberwolfach Workshop Report: Analysis, Geometry and Topology of Positive Scalar Curvature Metrcs: Limits of sequences of manifolds with nonnegative scalar curvature and other hypotheses
We study closed three-dimensional Alexandrov spaces with a lower Ricci curvature bound in the $\mathsf{CD}^*(K,N)$ sense, focusing our attention on those with positive or nonnegative Ricci curvature. First, we show that a closed three-dimensional $\mathsf{CD}^*(2,3)$-Alexandrov space must be homeomorphic to a spherical space form or to the suspension of $\mathbb{R}P^2$. We then classify closed three-dimensional $\mathsf{CD}^*(0,3)$-Alexandrov spaces.
We provide techniques for studying the nonnegatively curved left-invariant metrics on a compact Lie group. For "straight" paths of left-invariant metrics starting at bi-invariant metrics and ending at nonnegatively curved metrics, we deduce a nonnegativity property of the initial derivative of curvature. We apply this result to obtain a partial classification of the nonnegatively curved left-invariant metrics on SO(4).
In this paper we prove that a complete noncompact manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature has a trivial codimension one homology unless it is a split or flat normal bundle over a compact totally geodesic submanifold. In particular, we prove the conjecture that a complete noncompact manifold with positive Ricci curvature has a trivial codimension one integer homology. We also have a corollary stating when the codimension two integer homology of such a manifold is torsion free.
We study manifolds with almost nonnegative curvature operator (ANCO) and provide first examples of closed simply connected ANCO mannifolds that do not admit nonnegative curvature operator.
In a previous paper, we constructed complete manifolds of positive Ricci curvature with quadratically asymptotically nonnegative curvature and infinite topological type but dimension $\ge 6$. The purpose of the present paper is to use a different way to exhibit a family of complete $I$-dimensinal ($I\ge5$) Riemannian manifolds of positive Ricci curvature, quadratically asymptotically nonnegative sectional curvature, and certain infinite Betti number $b_j$ ($2\le j\le I-2$).
We prove a sharp Sobolev inequality on manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature. Moreover, we prove a Michael-Simon inequality for submanifolds in manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature. Both inequalities depend on the asymptotic volume ratio of the ambient manifold.
Using a new type of Jacobi field estimate we will prove a duality theorem for singular Riemannian foliations in complete manifolds of nonnegative sectional curvature.
We prove a result on equivariant deformations of flat bundles, and as a corollary, we obtain two ``splitting in a finite cover'' theorems for isometric group actions on Riemannian manifolds with infinite fundamental groups, where the manifolds are either compact of nonnegative Ricci curvature, or complete of nonnegative sectional curvature.
We construct a compact Kähler manifold of nonnegative quadratic bisectional curvature, which does not admit any Kähler metric of nonnegative orthogonal bisectional curvature. The manifold is a 7-dimensional Kähler C-space with second Betti number equal to 1, and its canonical metric is a Kähler-Einstein metric of positive scalar curvature
There is a conjecture that a complete Riemannian 3-manifold with bounded sectional curvature, and pointwise pinched nonnegative Ricci curvature, must be flat or compact. We show that this is true when the negative part (if any) of the sectional curvature decays quadratically.
We discuss the cobordism type of spin manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature. We show that in each dimension $4k \geq 12$, there are infinitely many cobordism types of simply connected and nonnegatively curved spin manifolds. Moreover, we raise and analyze a question about possible cobordism obstructions to nonnegative curvature.
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.
In this paper, we study the topology of complete noncompact Riemannian manifolds with asymptotically nonnegative Ricci curvature and large volume growth. We prove that they have finite topological types under some curvature decay and volume growth conditions. We also generize it to the manifolds with $k$-th asymptotically nonnegative Ricci curvature by using extensions of Abresch-Gromoll's excess function estimate.
We show that a certain family of cohomogeneity one manifolds does not admit an invariant metric of nonnegative sectional curvature, unless it admits one with positive curvature. As a consequence, the classification of nonnegatively curved cohomogeneity one manifolds in dimension 7 is reduced to only one further family of candidates
We derive several vanishing theorems for genera under almost nonnegative Ricci curvature and infinite fundamental group, which includes Todd genus, $\widehat{A}$-genus, elliptic genera and Witten genus. A vanishing theorem of Euler characteristic number for almost nonnegatively curved Alexandrov spaces is also proved.
In this paper we prove a gap theorem for Kähler manifolds with nonnegative orthogonal bisectional curvature and nonnegative Ricci curvature, which generalizes an earlier result of the first author. We also prove a Liouville theorem for plurisubharmonic functions on such a manifolds, which generalizes a previous result of L.-F. Tam and the first author.
In this paper, we generalize topological results known for noncompact manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature to spaces with nonnegative $N$-Bakry Émery Ricci curvature. We study the Splitting Theorem and a property called the geodesic loops to infinity property in relation to spaces with nonnegative $N$-Bakry Émery Ricci Curvature. In addition, we show that if $M^n$ is a complete, noncompact Riemannian manifold with nonnegative $N$-Bakry Émery Ricci curvature where $N>n$, then $H_{n-1}(M,\mathbb{Z})$ is $0$.
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.
In this paper, we study the topology of complete noncompact Riemannian manifolds with asymptotically nonnegative Ricci curvature. We show that a complete noncompact manifold with asymptoticaly nonnegative Ricci curvature and sectional curvature decay at most quadratically is diffeomorphic to a Euclidean n-space R^n under some conditions on the density of rays starting from the base point p or on the volume growth of geodesic balls in M.
In this paper we prove the existence and uniqueness of the form-type Calabi-Yau equation on Kähler manifolds of nonnegative orthogonal bisectional curvature.
We show that the moduli space of Riemannian metrics of nonnegative sectional curvature on certain quotients of Brieskorn varieties in dimension 5 has infinitely many path components. The same is true for the corresponding moduli space of positive Ricci curvature.
For a noncompact 3-manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature, we prove that either it is diffeomorphic to $\mathbb{R}^3$ or the universal cover splits. As a corollary, it confirms a conjecture of Milnor in dimension 3.
Using the ABP-method as in a recent work by Brendle, we establish some sharp Sobolev and isoperimetric inequalities for compact domains and submanifolds in a complete Riemannian manifold with asymptotically nonnegative curvature. These inequalities generalize those given by Brendle in the case of complete Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative curvature.
We apply the lifting theorem of Searle and the second author to put metrics of almost nonnegative curvature on the fake RP^{6}s of Hirsch and Milnor and on the analogous fake RP^{14}s.
In this paper we provide new existence results for isoperimetric sets of large volume in Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature and Euclidean volume growth. We find sufficient conditions for their existence in terms of the geometry at infinity of the manifold. As a byproduct we show that isoperimetric sets of big volume always exist on manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature and Euclidean volume growth. Our method combines an asymptotic mass decomposition result for minimizing sequences, a sharp isoperimetric inequality on nonsmooth spaces, and the concavity property of t…
In this paper we prove classification results for gradient shrinking Ricci solitons under two invariant conditions, namely nonnegative orthogonal bisectional curvature and weakly PIC1, without any curvature bound. New results on ancient solutions for the Ricci and Kähler-Ricci flow are also obtained. The main new feature is that no curvature upper bound is assumed.
This paper addresses Cheeger and Gromoll's question of which vector bundles admit a complete metric of nonnegative curvature, and relates their question to the issue of which sphere bundles admit a metric of positive curvature. We show that any vector bundle which admits a metric of nonnegative curvature must admit a connection, a tensor, and a metric on the base space which together satisfy a certain differential inequality. On the other hand, a slight sharpening of this condition is sufficient for the associated sphere bundle to admit a metric of positive curvature. Our results sharpen and g…
We study graphs with nonnegative Bakry-Émery curvature or Ollivier curvature outside a finite subset. For such a graph, via introducing the discrete Gromov-Hausdorff convergence we prove that the space of bounded harmonic functions is finite dimensional, and as a corollary the number of non-parabolic ends is finite.
In this paper, we discuss the isometric embedding problem in hyperbolic space with nonnegative extrinsic curvature. We prove a priori bounds for the trace of the second fundamental form H and extend the result to n-dimensions. We also obtain an estimate for the gradient of the smaller principal curvature in 2 dimensions.
The goal of this article is to study the pinching problem proposed by S.-T. Yau in 1990 replacing sectional curvature by one weaker condition on biorthogonal curvature. Moreover, we classify 4-dimensional compact oriented Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative biorthogonal curvature. In particular, we obtain a partial answer to Yau Conjecture on pinching theorem for 4-dimensional compact manifolds.
B. Wilking introduced the dual foliation associated to a metric foliation in a Riemannian manifold with nonnegative sectional curvature, and proved that when the curvature is strictly positive, the dual foliation contains a single leaf, so that any two points in the ambient space can be joined by a horizontal curve. We show that the same phenomenon often occurs for nonnegatively curved Riemannian submersions even without the strict positive curvature condition, and irrespective of the particular metric.
Let $M^n$ be a complete, non-compact and $C^\infty$-smooth Riemannian manifold with nonnegative sectional curvature. Suppose $\Cal S$ is a soul of $M^n$. Then any distance non-increasing retraction $Ψ: M^n \to \Cal S$ must give rise to a $C^\infty$-smooth Riemannian submersion.
We prove that all currently known examples of manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature satisfy a stronger condition: their curvature operator can be modified with a 4-form to become positive-semidefinite.
In this paper, we give the sharp upper bound for the number of vertices with positive curvature in a planar graph with nonnegative combinatorial curvature. Based on this, we show that the automorphism group of a planar---possibly infinite---graph with nonnegative combinatorial curvature and positive total curvature is a finite group, and give an upper bound estimate for the order of the group.
