Positivity of simplicial volume for nonpositively curved manifolds with a Ricci-type curvature condition (Q2327667)

Let \(M\) be a closed, connected, oriented manifold of dimension \(m\). Let \([M]\) be the fundamental class of \(M\). The \textit{simplicial volume} is defined by \[ \|M\|=\inf\left\{\sum_i|\alpha_i|:[\sum_i\alpha_i\sigma_i]=[M]\in H_m(M,\mathbb{R})\right\}\,. \] This measures how efficiently the fundamental class of \(M\) can be represented by real singular cycles. The authors show that if \(M\) admits a nonpositively curved metric with negative \(\left([\frac{n}{4}]+1 \right)\) Ricci curvature, then \(M\) has positive simplicial volume. The authors also present additional results related to bounded cohomology and volume growth entropy in this setting. Section 1 presents a statement of the problem. Section 2 treats the straightening method. Section 3 discusses Patterson-Sullivan measures and barycenters. Section 4 discusses barycentric straightening. Section 5 estimates the Jacobian. Section 6 gives a natural map which appears in the method of Besson-Courtois-Gallot. The paper concludes with Section 7 giving various applications.