Schouten curvature functions on locally conformally flat Riemannian manifolds (Q2482327)

Let \((M,g)\) be a compact Riemannian manifold of dimension \(n\geq 3\). The Schouten tensor \(A_g\) associated with \(g\) is a symmetric \((0,2)\)-tensor field which describes the non-conformally invariant part of the curvature tensor of \(g\). Let \(\sigma_k(A_g)\) denote the \(k\)-th Schouten curvature function, that is, the \(k\)-th elementary symmetric function of the eigenvalues of \(A_g\). \(\sigma_1(A_g)\) is constant if and only if \((M,g)\) has constant scalar curvature. A natural problem to investigate is to classify compact Riemannian manifolds for which \(\sigma_k(A_g)\) is constant for some \(k\geq 2\). Here it is proved that if \(A_g\) is semi-positive definite on such a manifold, then it is a space of positive sectional curvature. A stronger result is proved for \(\sigma_2(A_g)\): if it is constant on a manifold whose Ricci tensor is semi-positive definite, then the manifold is a space form if \(n=3\) and either a space form or a product \(\mathbb S^1\times N^{n-1}\) with \(N\) a space form for \(n\geq 4\). Several interesting applications and results are then deduced in the framework of hypersurface theory.