Geometric, topological and differentiable rigidity of submanifolds in space forms (Q382287)

The authors study rigidity of \(n\)-dimensional submanifolds \(M\) in simply connected space forms \(F^{n+p}(c)\) with \(c+H^2>0\), where \(H\) is the mean curvature of \(M\). They generalize \textit{N. Ejiri}'s result [J. Math. Soc. Japan 31, 251--256 (1979; Zbl 0396.53026)], proving that if \(M ^n\) (\(n \geq 3\)) is an oriented compact submanifold with parallel mean curvature and its Ricci curvature satisfies \(\mathrm{Ric}_M\geq (n - 2)(c + H^2)\), then \(M\) is either a totally umbilic sphere, a Clifford hypersurface in an \((n + 1)\)-sphere with \(n\) = even, or \(\mathbb CP^2\left(\frac{4}{3}(c + H^2)\right)\) in \(S^7\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{c + H^2}}\right)\). In particular, if \(\mathrm{Ric}_M>(n-2)(c+H^2)\), then \(M\) is a totally umbilical sphere. The authors then prove that if \(M^n\) (\(n\geq 4\)) is a compact submanifold in \(F^{n+p}(c)\) with \(c \geq 0\), and if \(\mathrm{Ric}_M>(n-2)(c+H^2)\), then \(M\) is homeomorphic to a sphere, moreover, the pinching conditions above are sharp. Finally, based on a result for the Ricci flow by \textit{S. Brendle} [Duke Math. J. 145, No. 3, 585--601 (2008; Zbl 1161.53052)], they obtain a differentiable sphere theorem for submanifolds with positive Ricci curvature.