Gradient estimates for the heat equation under the Ricci-harmonic map flow (Q745247)

The authors prove some gradient estimates for positive solutions to the heat equation on a manifold \(M\) evolving under the Ricci flow, coupled with the harmonic map flow between \(M\) and a second manifold \(N\). The study of the heat equation under this flow is motivated by the fact that the scalar curvature of a manifold evolving under the Ricci-harmonic flow satisfies the heat equation with a potential. Thus, in order to understand the behavior of the metric under the Ricci-harmonic flow, one needs to study the heat equation. The gradient estimates imply Li-Yau type Harnack inequalities in the cases when \(M\) is a complete manifold without boundary and when \(M\) is compact without boundary.