Uniqueness of compact ancient solutions to the higher-dimensional Ricci flow (Q2681764)

In this paper, the authors consider a solution to the Ricci flow on a compact manifold which exists for all times. Such a solution is named ancient solution. The main focus of this paper is the classification of ancient solutions to Ricci flow in dimensions \(n\geq 4\), under natural isotropic curvature conditions. Ancient solutions play an important role in singularity formation in geometric flows since these solutions occur as limits of sequences of rescalings in regions of high curvature. For example, Perelman's work on the Ricci flow shows that high curvature regions in a threedimensional Ricci flow are modeled on ancient solutions with nonnegative curvature. In this paper, the authors study the classification of ancient-solutions to \(n\)-dimensional Ricci flow on \(S^n\). They prove that such a solution is either isometric to a family of shrinking round spheres, or the Type II ancient solution constructed by Perelman.