On the Ricci and Einstein equations on the pseudo-Euclidean and hyperbolic spaces (Q2489743): Difference between revisions

Let \(T=fg\) be an assigned symmetric tensor on a Riemannian manifold \((M,g)\), where \(f\) is a differentiable function. The authors study the following two problems: 1) find a Riemannian metric \(\tilde{g}\) conformal to \(g\) such that \(\text{ Ric}(\tilde{g})=T\); 2) find a Riemannian metric \(\tilde{g}\) conformal to \(g\) such that \(\text{ Ric}(\tilde g)-{1\over 2}\,K\, \tilde g=T\), where \(K\) is the scalar curvature of \(\tilde g\). These problems are of course difficult to be treated in full generality, so that the authors restrict to the cases of Euclidean space \((\mathbb R^n,g)\), the hyperbolic case \((\mathbb H^n,g)\), and, more generally, pseudo-Euclidean space \((\mathbb R^n,g)\), with \(g=\epsilon_i\delta_ij\) with \(\epsilon_i = \pm1\). They find the restrictions on the Ricci candidate for solvability and construct the solutions when they exist. For instance, the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a solution to the first problem for the Euclidean space, endowed with a conformal metric \(\tilde g=g/\varphi^2\) to the standard one, is that \(\varphi={\sum_{i=1}^n (ax_i^2+b_ix)}+c\) and \(f=-(n-1)\lambda /\varphi\), where \(a, b_i, c \in \mathbb R\) and \(\lambda=\sum_i b_i^2 - 4ac\). The metric \(\tilde g\) is unique up to homothety. Moreover, if \(\lambda<0\), \(\tilde g\) is defined globally, but if \(\lambda \geq 0\) the singular set is either a point, a hyperplane or an \((n-1)\)-dimensional sphere depending on \(\lambda\) and \(a\). Similar results hold on hyperbolic space and pseudo-Euclidean space and for the the second problem. None of the non-homothetic metrics \(\tilde g\), defined on \(\mathbb R^n\) or \(\mathbb H^n\), are complete. As a consequence of these results, the authors get positive solutions for the Yamabe problem on the pseudo-Euclidean space \((\mathbb R^n,g)\).