Remarks on spectral gaps on the Riemannian path space (Q516100)

Let \(\mathcal{M}=(M,g)\) be a complete \(C^\infty\) Riemannian manifold of dimension \(d\). Let \(Z\) be a \(C^1\) vector field on \(M\) and let \(L:=\frac12(\Delta_M-Z)\) be the diffusion Laplacian. Let \(\rho_Z:=\rho+\nabla Z\) where \(\rho\) is the Ricci curvature of \(M\). Let \(\rho_Z^s\) be the associated symmetrization. Assume given estimates of the form \(\kappa_2\text{id}\leq\rho_Z^s\) and \(|||\rho_Z|||\leq\kappa_1\). The authors present results relating the spectral gap of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operator on the Riemannian path space and the constants \(\{\kappa_1,\kappa_2\}\), i.e. estimates on the Ricci curvature. The logarithmic Sobolev inequality plays a central role in the analysis.