Gradient estimates for a weighted parabolic equation under geometric flow (Q2686972)

The author considers \(1\)-parameter families of weighted Riemannian manifolds \((M^n,g(t),e^{-\phi(t)}dv)\) evolving by the geometric flow system \[ \frac{\partial}{\partial t}g(x,t)\,=\,2\,h(x,t)\,,\quad\frac{\partial}{\partial t}\phi\,=\,\Delta\phi\,. \] where \((x,t)\in M\times[0,T]\) and \(h(x,t)\) is a symmetric \((0,2)\)-tensor on \(M\) for any fixed \(t\). For such families, the paper discusses solutions to the reaction-diffusion equation \[ \left(\Delta_\phi-\partial_t\right)u(x,t)\,=\,q(x,t)u^{a+1}(x,t)+p(x,t)A(u(x,t)), \] where \(\Delta_\phi=\Delta-\nabla\phi\cdot\nabla\) is the weighted Laplacian, \(a\geq 0\) is a constant, \(p(x,t)\) and \(q(x,t)\) are functions on \(M\times [0,T]\) that are \(C^2\) in \(x\) and \(C^1\) in \(t\), \(A\) is a \(C^2\) function. The author proves Li-Yau type gradient estimates, as well as Hamilton like and Souplet-Zhang type gradient estimates for the solution \(u\) under suitable bounds on the Ricci tensor and on \(h\). By integrating the gradient estimates, the author also provides the corresponding Harnack inequalities. The literature on gradient estimates for parabolic equations is quite vast. Among the results that are generalized by the present paper we mention the references [\textit{G. Zhao}, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 483, No. 2, Article ID 123631, 24 p. (2020; Zbl 1437.35127)], where the case \(a=0\) with \(\phi\) and \(p\) constant is considered, [\textit{J.-Y. Wu}, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 369, No. 1, 400--407 (2010; Zbl 1211.58017)], which studies the case \(a=0\), \(p\) constant and \(A(u)=u\log u\), and [\textit{F. Yang} and \textit{L. Zhang}, J. Differ. Equations 268, No. 8, 4577--4617 (2020; Zbl 1435.35093)], where the authors study the reaction-diffusion equation with \(A(u)=u\) for manifolds with fixed metric.