A Ricci flow proof of a result by Gromov on lower bounds for scalar curvature (Q736707): Difference between revisions

In the introduction, the author exposes his main strategies using the Ricci flow to reprove \textit{M. Gromov}'s theorem proved in [Cent. Eur. J. Math. 12, No. 8, 1109--1156 (2014; Zbl 1315.53027)]. Gromov's methods are based on the theory of singular spaces with positive scalar curvature. Theorem. Let \(M\) be a (possibly open) smooth manifold and \(\kappa:X\rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) a \(C^{0}\) function. Associated to \(\kappa\), consider the set \(\mathcal{U}_{\kappa}\) of \(C^{2}\)-smooth Riemannian metrics \(g\) on \(M\) such that the scalar curvature \(R_{g}\) of \(g\) satisfies \(R_{g}(x)\geq \kappa(x)\), for all \(x\in M\). So, \(\mathcal{U}_{\kappa}\) is closed under \(C^{0}\)-limits of Riemannian metrics on \(M\). If \(\{g_{n}\}_{n\in\mathbb{N}}\subset \mathcal{U}_{\kappa}\) and \(\lim g_{n}=g\) in the \(C^{0}\)-topology, then \(g\in\mathcal{U}_{\kappa}\). At the introduction, the author's sketch of his proof restricts the problem to the simplest case where \(M\) is closed, \(\kappa\) is constant on \(M\) and he assumes that the sequence \(\{g_{n}\}_{n\in\mathbb{Z}}\) is contained in \(C^{\infty}\). Starting with \(g_{0}=g\), he solves the Ricci flow equation \[ \partial_{t}g_{t}=-2\mathrm{ Ric}(g_{t}), \] for some short time and obtain a smooth solution \((g_{t})_{t\in[-,\tau^{\ast})}\), \(\tau^{\ast}>0\). In [\textit{M. Simon}, Commun. Anal. Geom. 10, No. 5, 1033--1074 (2002; Zbl 1034.58008); \textit{H. Koch} and \textit{T. Lamm}, Asian J. Math. 16, No. 2, 209--235 (2012; Zbl 1252.35159)] it was proved there are constants \(\epsilon=\epsilon(g)>0\) and \(\tau^{\ast}>\tau=\tau(g)>0\) such that any smooth metric \(g'\) on \(M\) that is \((1+\epsilon)\)-bilipchitz to \(g\) can be evolved into a smooth Ricci flow \((g')_{t\in[0,\tau)}\) on the uniform time-interval \([0,\tau)\). So the metrics \(g_{i}\), for sufficiently large \(i\), can be evolved into a Ricci flow \((g_{i,t})_{t\in[0,\tau)}\) on \([0,\tau)\). By the weak maximum principle applied to the evolution equation for the scalar curvature \[ \partial_{t}R(g_{i,t})=\triangle R(g_{i,t})+2\mid \mathrm{Ric}(g_{i,t})\mid^{2}, \] it follows that \(R(g_{i,t})\geq \kappa\) for all \(t\in[0,\tau)\), for sufficiently large \(i\). Again, from the work done in [Simon, loc. cit.; Koch and Lamm, loc. cit.], the Ricci flows \((g_{i,t})_{t\in[0,\tau)}\) converge locally smoothly to \((g_{t})_{t\in[0,\tau)}\) on \(M\times(0,\tau)\), modulo diffeomorphisms. So, it follows that \(R(g_{t})\geq \kappa\), for all \(t\in[0,\tau)\). Taking the limit \(t\to 0\) yields \(R(g)=R(g_{0})\geq \kappa\). The main theorem considers the more broader case where (i) \(M\) is open, (ii) \(\kappa\) need not be constant and (iii) the sequence \(\{g_{n}\}_{n\in\mathbb{Z}}\subset C^{2}\). The conditions (i) and (ii) are overcome by localizing the previous argument by proving a key estimate (Lemma 4 in the article). The \(C^{2}\) regularity of the sequence \(\{g_{n}\}_{n\in\mathbb{Z}}\) is handled by considering the Ricci DeTurck flow [\textit{D. M. DeTurck}, J. Differ. Geom. 18, 157--162 (1983; Zbl 0517.53044)] instead of the Ricci flow.