Large time behavior of the heat kernel. (Q1425156)

Let \(P\) be a linear, second order, elliptic operator defined in a noncompact, connected \(C^3\)-smooth Riemannian manifold \(M\). Let \(k(x,y,t)\) be the minimal heat kernel of a time-independent parabolic operator \(Lu=u_t+P(x, \partial_x )u\). Denote by \(\lambda_0\) the generalized Dirichlet principal eigenvalue of the operator \(P\) in \(M\). It is proved that there is the limit of \(k(x,y,t)\exp(\lambda_0 t)\) as \(t\to \infty \) for all \(x,y\).