Gaussian heat kernel estimates: from functions to forms (Q1985537)

In this paper, the authors prove several technical results on the heat kernel of various Schrödinger-type differential operators acting on \(k\)-forms. Let \((M,g)\) be a connected, non-compact, complete Riemannian manifold. It is then equipped with the measure \(\nu\) provided by the volume form of the Riemannian metric and let \(\mu :=\mathrm e^f\nu\) be a positive measure which is absolutely continuous for \(\nu\); \(M\) is also equipped with a metric \(d\) on \(M\) provided by the Riemannian metric \(g\). Consider the resulting weighted space \((M,\mu ,d)\). Let \(V(x,r)\) denote the \(\mu\)-volume of a ball of \(d\)-radius \(r>0\) about the point \(x\in M\) and assume that there exists a constant \(C>0\) (independent of all the important parameters) such that the following three technical conditions hold over \((M,\mu ,d)\): \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] the \textit{volume doubling property} i.e. \(V(x,2r)\leqq CV(x,r)\); \item[(ii)] the \textit{volume lower bound property} i.e. for some fixed \(x_0\in M\) there exists \(\kappa >0\) such that \(CV(r,x_0)\geqq r^\kappa\) for all all \(r\geqq 1\); \item[(iii)] the \textit{Gaussian upper estimate} holds for the classical heat kernel i.e. if \(p_t(x,y)\) denotes the heat kernel of the scalar Laplacian \(\Delta\) of \((M,g)\) then \end{itemize} \[ p_t(x,y)\leqq\frac{C}{V(x,\sqrt{t})}\exp\left( -\frac{d^2(x,y)}{Ct}\right) \] for all \(t>0\) and \(\mu\)-a.e. \(x,y\in M\). In this situation the authors establish several technical results on the heat kernel of various Schrödinger-type ``vectorial'' differential operators over \((M,\mu, d)\) i.e. operators of the form \(\Delta_E +V\) acting not on functions but on sections of various vector bundles \(E\) over \(M\). These results, in the case when they act on \(1\)-forms, contain estimates on their heat kernels, on their subcriticality and on the size of the \(L^p\)-kernels of these operators (cf. Theorems 1.1, 1.11 Proposition 1.2 and Corollaries 1.7, 1.13, 1.14); moreover, when these operators act on general \(k\)-forms, decomposition results for some \(L^2\)-cohomology groups of \((M,d,\mu )\) have been obtained (cf. Theorems 1.17, 1.19 and Corollaries 1.16, 1.18).