Certain 4-manifolds with non-negative sectional curvature (Q1001306)

A deep study of compact 4-manifolds with nonnegative sectional curvature \(k\) \((k\geq 0)\) is the subject of this paper. It is known that there are finitely many simply connected non homeomorphic 4-manifolds with \(k\geq 0\) and the complete classification of these manifolds is still an open problem. The author studies nonnegatively curved 4-manifolds which satisfy an extra condition involving the scalar curvature \(s\) and the self-dual (anti-self-dual) part \(W_+(W_-)\) of the Weyl tensor. In particular, the closed simply connected 4-manifolds which carry a metric such that \(k\geq 0\) and \({s\over 6}- W_+\geq 0\) are classified. As a particular case, one obtains the Hamilton classification of closed 4-manifolds admitting a metric with non-negative curvature operator. The author also contructs a 1-parameter family of twisted non Einstein metrics on \(S^2\times S^2\) with \({s\over 6}- W_+\geq 0\). This is related to the Hopf problem concerning the non-existence of metrics on \(S^2\times S^2\) with \(k> 0\). Finally, the instability of a minimal 2-sphere in a positively curved 4-manifold is discussed. A new version of the second variational formula for minimal surfaces helps in proving the following result: Theorem. Let \(S\) be a 2-sphere minimally immersed in \((S^2\times S^2,g)\), which is homotopic to the first factor of \(S^2\times S^2\). Assume the existence of an open set \(U\) such that \(S\subset U\) and \(g|_U\) satisfies \({s\over 6}- W_+\geq 0\), \(k> 0\). Then \(S\) is unstable.