Long-time behavior of 3-dimensional Ricci flow. B: Evolution of the minimal area of simplicial complexes under Ricci flow (Q680297)

Most results introduced in Part A [Zbl 1388.53058] are phrased in this paper in terms of Ricci flows with surgery. These results will be applied in Part D [Zbl 1388.53061]. In Part B of this series of papers on the long-time behavior of Ricci flow with surgery, the author establishes a bound on the evolution of the infimal area of simplicial complexes inside a 3-manifold under the Ricci flow. First are obtained Hamilton's area estimates for spheres and disks (slightly different from those of Hamilton). Then the author defines simplicial complexes and discusses the existence and regularity for maps from simplicial complexes that minimize the perturbed area functional. The results obtained are then used to derive the infimal-area evolution estimate for simplicial complexes under the Ricci flow. In this paper the author deals with non-singular Ricci flows and the existence of surgeries do not play an important role. For Part C, see [Zbl 1388.53060].