Extinction profile of complete non-compact solutions to the Yamabe flow

Abstract

This work addresses the {\em singularity formation} of complete non-compact solutions to the conformally flat Yamabe flow whose conformal factors have {\em cylindrical behavior at infinity}. Their singularity profiles happen to be {\em Yamabe solitons}, which are {\em self-similar solutions} to the fast diffusion equation satisfied by the conformal factor of the evolving metric. The self-similar profile is determined by the second order asymptotics at infinity of the initial data which is matched with that of the corresponding self-similar solution. Solutions may become extinct at the extinction time $T$ of the cylindrical tail or may live longer than $T$. In the first case the singularity profile is described by a {\em Yamabe shrinker} that becomes extinct at time $T$. In the second case, the singularity profile is described by a {\em singular} Yamabe shrinker slightly before $T$ and by a matching {\em Yamabe expander} slightly after $T$ .