Mathematical Surveys and Monographs
2 total works
The Ricci Flow: Techniques and Applications
by Bennett Chow, Sun-Chin Chu, David Glickenstein, Christine Guenther, and James Isenberg
Published 1 June 2007
Ricci flow is a powerful technique using a heat-type equation to deform Riemannian metrics on manifolds to better metrics in the search for geometric decompositions. With the fourth part of their volume on techniques and applications of the theory, the authors discuss long-time solutions of the Ricci flow and related topics.
In dimension 3, Perelman completed Hamilton's program to prove Thurston's geometrization conjecture. In higher dimensions the Ricci flow has remarkable properties, which indicates its usefulness to understand relations between the geometry and topology of manifolds. This book discusses recent developments on gradient Ricci solitons, which model the singularities developing under the Ricci flow. In the shrinking case there is a surprising rigidity which suggests the likelihood of a well-developed structure theory. A broader class of solutions is ancient solutions; the authors discuss the beautiful classification in dimension 2. In higher dimensions they consider both ancient and singular Type I solutions, which must have shrinking gradient Ricci soliton models. Next, Hamilton's theory of 3-dimensional nonsingular solutions is presented, following his original work. Historically, this theory initially connected the Ricci flow to the geometrization conjecture. From a dynamical point of view, one is interested in the stability of the Ricci flow. The authors discuss what is known about this basic problem. Finally, they consider the degenerate neckpinch singularity from both the numerical and theoretical perspectives.
This book makes advanced material accessible to researchers and graduate students who are interested in the Ricci flow and geometric evolution equations and who have a knowledge of the fundamentals of the Ricci flow.
In dimension 3, Perelman completed Hamilton's program to prove Thurston's geometrization conjecture. In higher dimensions the Ricci flow has remarkable properties, which indicates its usefulness to understand relations between the geometry and topology of manifolds. This book discusses recent developments on gradient Ricci solitons, which model the singularities developing under the Ricci flow. In the shrinking case there is a surprising rigidity which suggests the likelihood of a well-developed structure theory. A broader class of solutions is ancient solutions; the authors discuss the beautiful classification in dimension 2. In higher dimensions they consider both ancient and singular Type I solutions, which must have shrinking gradient Ricci soliton models. Next, Hamilton's theory of 3-dimensional nonsingular solutions is presented, following his original work. Historically, this theory initially connected the Ricci flow to the geometrization conjecture. From a dynamical point of view, one is interested in the stability of the Ricci flow. The authors discuss what is known about this basic problem. Finally, they consider the degenerate neckpinch singularity from both the numerical and theoretical perspectives.
This book makes advanced material accessible to researchers and graduate students who are interested in the Ricci flow and geometric evolution equations and who have a knowledge of the fundamentals of the Ricci flow.
The Ricci flow is a powerful technique that integrates geometry, topology, and analysis. Intuitively, the idea is to set up a PDE that evolves a metric according to its Ricci curvature. The resulting equation has much in common with the heat equation, which tends to 'flow' a given function to ever nicer functions. By analogy, the Ricci flow evolves an initial metric into improved metrics. Richard Hamilton began the systematic use of the Ricci flow in the early 1980s and applied it in particular to study 3-manifolds. Grisha Perelman has made recent breakthroughs aimed at completing Hamilton's program. The Ricci flow method is now central to our understanding of the geometry and topology of manifolds.This book is an introduction to that program and to its connection to Thurston's geometrization conjecture. The authors also provide a 'Guide for the hurried reader', to help readers wishing to develop, as efficiently as possible, a nontechnical appreciation of the Ricci flow program for 3-manifolds, i.e., the so-called 'fast track'. The book is suitable for geometers and others who are interested in the use of geometric analysis to study the structure of manifolds. ""The Ricci Flow"" was nominated for the 2005 Robert W. Hamilton Book Award, which is the highest honor of literary achievement given to published authors at the University of Texas at Austin.