Partial differential equations and scalar curvature of warped product manifolds (Q5937344)

In a previous paper [Tsukuba J. Math. 20, 239-256 (1996; Zbl 0893.53016)] the first three authors have considered and solved the following problems: Problem 1. Given a constant, scalar curvature \(c\) for a semi-Riemannian fiber \((F,g_F)\) and an arbitrary compact Riemannian manifold \((B,g_B) \) with variable scalar curvature \(S=S(p):B\to\mathbb{R}\), find a smooth warping function \(f:B\to(0,+\infty)\) such that the warped product manifold \[ \bigl(M=B \times_f F,g=\pi^*(g_B) +(f\circ\pi)^2 \sigma^*(g_F) \bigr) \] has constant scalar curvature for some constant \(k\). (Here \(\pi:M\to B\) and \(\sigma:M\to F\) denote the canonical projection maps). Problem 2. Does \(M=B\times_fF\) admit a warping function \(f=v^{2/(n+1)} >0\) such that the associated warped metric \(g\) has constant scalar curvature? In the present paper these problems are taken up again. For Problem 1 the solution of the case \(c>0\) is extended. The authors consider the following functional that has been introduced previously [op. cit.], \[ J(v)={1\over 2}\left[\int_B |\nabla v|^2 dV-{n+1\over 4n}\int_B \bigl(k-S(p) \bigr) v^2dV\right], \] on the set \(D=\{v\in H^{1,2} (B)\mid v\geq 0\), \(\int_B v^{2-4/(n+1)}dV= 1\}\), and then the following theorem is proved: Theorem 1.1. There exists a constant \(k_0\) with the following properties. Suppose \(\inf_v J(v)<0\) for \(k\) with \(k<k_0+[4n/(n+1)] \lambda_1\), where \(\lambda_1\) is the first eigenvalue of the Laplacian on \((B,g_B)\). Then for any constant \(c>0\), there exists a warping function \(f:B\to(0,+\infty)\) such that if \((F,g_F)\) is any semi-Riemannian manifold with constant scalar curvature \(c\), then the warped product \(B\times_fF\) has constant scalar curvature \(k\). For Problem 2, at first the following lemma is established: If \(f(k,v)= \int_B(-k+S (p))v^2dV\), then there exists \(k_0\) such that \(f(k,v)\geq 0\) for all \(k\leq k_0\) and for all \(v\in D\), and \(f(k,v)<0\) for some \(v\in D\) and for all \(k>k_0\). Then it is proved: Theorem 3.7. If \(k_0\) is the number from the above lemma for \(n>2\) and \(k<k_0+ [4n/(n+1)] \lambda_1\) and if \(\inf_v J(v)<0\), then Problem 2 admits a solution for such \(k\) and all \(c>0\).