\(Q\)-curvature flow on \(S^n\) (Q641526)

The author studies the \(Q\)-curvature flow on the standard sphere \(S^n\) \[ \frac{\partial}{\partial t}g(t) = -(Q_{g(t)} - \overline{Q}_{g(t)})g(t), \] where \(\overline{Q}_{g(t)}\) denotes the mean value of \(Q_{g(t)}\). The \(Q\)-curvature of a manifold with Riemannian metric \(g\) is defined by \[ Q_g = -\frac{1}{6}(\Delta_gR_g - R^2_g + 3|\text{Ric}_g|^2_g), \] where \(\Delta_g\) is the Laplace-Beltrami operator, \(R_g\) and \(\text{Ric}_g\) denote the scalar curvature and the Ricci tensor of \(g\). The main result of the paper reads: Suppose that the initial metric is conformally equivalent to the standard metric on \(S^n\), then the \(Q\)-curvature flow exists for all time, and converges exponentially to a limiting metric. The limiting metric has constant sectional curvature and is obtained from the standard metric by pull-back along a conformal diffeomorphism. The convergence is proven in the frame of the norm of the space \(W^{n,2}\).