Riemannian geometry and geometric analysis (Q5919256)

The present book is the sixth edition of the author's textbook on Riemannian geometry and geometric analysis. In general, it gives a synthesis of geometric and analytic methods in the study of Riemannian manifolds. The book is divided into 10 chapters and two appendices. At the end of each chapter, some exercises are given. The first chapter is devoted to the foundations and basic concepts of Riemannian geometry. Chapter 2 introduces the notions of vector bundle, Lie group and spin structure. Chapter 3 treats basic concepts and methods from analysis. In particular, this chapter discusses the Laplace operator on functions and differential forms, the spectrum of the Laplace operator, representing cohomology classes by harmonic forms, the heat flow and harmonic forms. Chapter 4 is devoted to the notions of connection and curvature. Discussed are also the Yang-Mills functional and its properties, connections for spin structures, the Dirac operator, eigenvalue estimates by the method of Li-Yau, geometry of submanifolds and minimal submanifolds. Chapter 5 deals with geodesics and Jacobi fields. The Rauch comparison theorems for Jacobi fields are proved and these results are applied to geodesics. The global geometry of spaces with nonpositive curvature is also developed. Chapter 6 treats Kähler manifolds and symmetric spaces as important examples of Riemannian manifolds in detail. Chapter 7 is devoted to Morse theory and Floer homology. Chapter 8 deals with harmonic maps between Riemannian manifolds. Several existence theorems are proved and applied to Riemannian geometry. Chapter 9 treats harmonic maps from Riemannian surfaces. Finally, Chapter 10 is devoted to variational problems from quantum field theory. Appendix A is devoted to some facts about Sobolev spaces and linear and parabolic PDEs without giving proofs. In Appendix B, some elementary topological results about fundamental groups and covering spaces are collected. In my opinion, the book is well written. That is why I would recommend it to specialists in mathematics or physics and especially to Ph.D. students of differential geometry. For previous editions of this book see Zbl 0828.53002, Zbl 0997.53500, Zbl 1034.53001, Zbl 1083.53001 and Zbl 1143.53001.