Stability of Llarull's theorem in all dimensions (Q6639720)

In scalar curvature geometry, the classical theorem of Llarull characterizes the round sphere among all spin manifolds whose scalar curvature is bounded from below by \(n(n-1)\). Gromov recently proposed to study the compactness theory related to scalar curvature in comparison with far-reaching developments in Ricci geometry. As part of the program, Gromov proposed to consider the spherical stability problem concerning the stability of Llarull's theorem. Motivated by the recent breakthrough of \textit{C. Dong} and \textit{A. Song} [Invent. Math. 239, No. 1, 287--319 (2025; Zbl 07963948)] on stability in the positive mass theorem, the authors establish a qualitative decomposition of manifolds under almost rigid conditions using also spin geometry. This completely solves Gromov's spherical stability problem in all dimensions without any additional geometrical or topological assumptions.