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Ben Andrews

Publications and source records attributed to Ben Andrews.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

The relationship between spacetime singularities and regions at infinity

Ideal attached points are a core concept in general relativity for pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, and whether the spacetime can be extended with certain properties is a central consideration in their choice. This paper establishes a sufficient condition for the separability between singularities and points at infinity for any maximally extended pseudo-Riemannian manifold. We focus on the incomplete geodesics of $(\mathcal{M},g)$, and produce an envelopment $(\mathcal{M},g,\hat{\mathcal{M}})$ of the spacetime such that an incomplete geodesic $\gamma:[0,1) \rightarrow \mathcal{M}$ has an endpoint $q$ in $\hat{\mathcal{M}}$. If there is no pair of geodesics approaching $q$ which is intertwined, then $q$ is a singularity. Additionally, $q$ will not be approached by any geodesic with infinite affine parameter, and therefore cannot cover a point at infinity, thereby rendering it a {\it pure singularity} in the abstract boundary framework. We apply the Endpoint Theorem to the maximal g-boundary introduced by Graf and Beld-Serrano in arXiv:2307.11034, and also provide a result on the separability between directional singularities and pure singularities. This analysis is then applied to the Schwarzschild spacetime.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2026

High codimension mean curvature flow of spacelike-convex submanifolds with one spacelike codimension

In the pseudo-Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^{n+1,k}$, we consider the mean curvature flow of $n$-dimensional spacelike submanifolds with spacelike codimension one and arbitrary timelike codimension $k$. We show that if the initial submanifold is compact and spacelike-convex (the acceleration along every geodesic is strictly spacelike), then natural quantities measuring curvature pinching and noncollapsing are preserved under the flow. Moreover, we prove an analogue of the Huisken and Gage-Hamilton theorems in this setting, which states that the mean curvature flow deforms any such submanifold to a point in finite time, and that the solution is asymptotic to a shrinking sphere in a maximally spacelike affine subspace $\mathbb{R}^{n+1,0}\subset \mathbb{R}^{n+1,k}$.

math.DG↗
arXiv2026

Jellyfish exist

We show the existence of infinitely many geometrically distinct homothetic expanders (jellyfish) for the elastic flow, epicyclic shrinkers for the curve diffusion flow, and epicyclic expanders for the ideal flow.

math.DG↗
arXiv2025

On the planar free elastic flow with small oscillation of curvature

The free elastic flow that begins at any closed curve exists for all time. If the initial curve is an $\omega$-fold covered circle (``$\omega$-circle'') the solution expands self-similarly. Very recently, Miura and the second author showed that (topological) $\omega$-circles that are close to multiply-covered round circles are asymptotically stable under the planar free elastic flow, which means that upon rescaling the rescaled flow converges smoothly to the stationary (in the rescaled setting) $\omega$-circle. Closeness in that work was measured via the derivative of the curvature scalar. In the present paper, we improve this by requiring closeness in terms of the curvature scalar itself. The convergence rate we obtain is sharp.

math.DG↗
arXiv2025

A multi-point maximum principle to prove global Harnack inequalities for Schr\"odinger operators

In this article, we introduce a new methodology to prove global parabolic Harnack inequalities on Riemannian manifolds. We focus on presenting a new proof of the global pointwise Harnack inequality satisfied by positive solutions of the linear Schr\"odinger equation on a Riemannian manifold $M$ with nonnegative Ricci curvature, where the potential term $V$ is bounded from below. Our approach is based on a multi-point maximum principle argument. Standard proofs of this result (see, for instance, Li-Yau [Acta Math, 1986]) rely on first establishing a gradient estimate. This requires the solution to be at least $C^4$ on $M$. We instead prove the Harnack inequality directly, which has the advantage of avoiding higher-order derivatives of the solution in the proof, enabling us to assume it is only $C^2$ on $M$. In the particular case that $V$ is the quadratic potential $V(x)=|x|^2$ and $M$ is the Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^d$, we prove a new Harnack inequality with sharper constants. Finally, we treat positive solutions of the Schr\"odinger equation with a gradient drift term, including applications to the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operator $\Delta - x\cdot \nabla$ with quadratic potential in $\mathbb{R}^d$.

math.AP↗
arXiv2025

Counterexample to the second eigenfunction having one zero for a non-local Schrodinger operator

We demonstrate that the second eigenfunction of a perturbed fractional Laplace operator on a bounded interval can exhibit two sign changes, in stark contrast with the classical expectation that it should have exactly one zero. Our construction employs the analytic perturbation theory of Kato and Rellich for degenerate eigenvalues to analyse an infinite potential well eigenvalue problem, and then uses a compactness and energy-minimisation argument to extend this counterexample to finite potential wells. Although our detailed analysis focuses on the case s = 1/2 (the Cauchy process), our approach indicates that similar phenomena occur for other rational values of s in (0, 1). At the time of writing, this result provides one of the first rigorous insights into the qualitative behaviour of eigenfunctions for perturbed nonlocal Schr\"odinger operators.

math.AP↗
arXiv2025

Modulus of continuity for solutions of non-local heat equations

We extend the method of modulus of continuity for solutions of parabolic equations--as used, for instance, to prove the Fundamental Gap Conjecture--to solutions of non-local heat equations on R^n and in dimension one with a non-local Neumann boundary condition. Specifically, we show that if a solution of a non-local heat equation has an initial modulus of continuity satisfying simple criteria, then this modulus of continuity is preserved at all subsequent times. In the process of trying to generalise our result in one dimension, we found a counterexample suggesting that a non-local analogue of the Payne-Weinberger inequality would depend on more than the diameter of a bounded (convex) domain.

math.AP↗
arXiv2025

The curve-lengthening flow in inversive geometry

We consider an invariant gradient flow for the invariant length functional for co-compact curves in inversive geometry, and prove that solutions exist for all time and converge to loxodromic curves, provided the initial curve is admissible (so that the invariant length element is well defined).

math.DG↗
arXiv2024

Strategies in a mis\`ere two-player tree searching game

In this paper, we analyse a misere tree searching game, where players take turns to guess vertices in a tree with a secret `poisoned' vertex. After each turn, the guessed vertex is removed from the tree and the game continues on the component containing the poisoned vertex, and as soon as a player guesses the poisoned vertex, they lose. We describe and prove the solution when the game is played on a path graph, both between two optimal players and between a player who makes their decisions uniformly at random and an opponent who plays to exploit this. We show that, with two perfect players, the solution involves different guessing strategies depending on the value of n modulo 4. We then show that, with a random and an exploitative player, the probability that the exploitative player wins approaches a constant (approximately 0.599) as n increases, and that the vertices one away from the leaves of the path are always optimal guesses for them. We also solve the game played on a star graph, and briefly discuss the possibility for extending the analysis to more general trees.

math.PR↗
arXiv2021

Anisotropic curvature measures and volume preserving flows

In the first part of this paper, we develop the theory of anisotropic curvature measures for convex bodies in the Euclidean space. It is proved that any convex body whose boundary anisotropic curvature measure equals a linear combination of other lower order anisotropic curvature measures with nonnegative coefficients is a scaled Wulff shape. This generalizes the classical results by Schneider [Comment. Math. Helv. \textbf{54} (1979), 42--60] and by Kohlmann [Arch. Math. (Basel) \textbf{70} (1998), 250--256] to the anisotropic setting. The main ingredients in the proof are the generalized anisotropic Minkowski formulas and an inequality of Heintze--Karcher type for convex bodies. In the second part, we consider the volume preserving flow of smooth closed convex hypersurfaces in the Euclidean space with speed given by a positive power $α$ of the $k$th anisotropic mean curvature plus a global term chosen to preserve the enclosed volume of the evolving hypersurfaces. We prove that if the initial hypersurface is strictly convex, then the solution of the flow exists for all time and converges to the Wulff shape in the Hausdorff sense. The characterization theorem for Wulff shapes via the anisotropic curvature measures will be used crucially in the proof of the convergence result. Moreover, in the cases $k=1$, $n$ or $α\geq k$, we can further improve the Hausdorff convergence to the smooth and exponential convergence.

math.DG↗
arXiv2021

Fragility of non-convergence in preferential attachment graphs with three types

Preferential attachment networks are a type of random network where new nodes are connected to existing ones at random, and are more likely to connect to those that already have many connections. We investigate further a family of models introduced by Antunović, Mossel and Rácz where each vertex in a preferential attachment graph is assigned a type, based on the types of its neighbours. Instances of this type of process where the proportions of each type present do not converge over time seem to be rare. Previous work found that a "rock-paper-scissors" setup where each new node's type was determined by a rock-paper-scissors contest between its two neighbours does not converge. Here, two cases similar to that are considered, one which is like the above but with an arbitrarily small chance of picking a random type and one where there are four neighbours which perform a knockout tournament to determine the new type. These two new setups, despite seeming very similar to the rock-paper-scissors model, do in fact converge, perhaps surprisingly.

math.PR↗
arXiv2019

Harmonic mean curvature flow and geometric inequalities

In this article, we will use the harmonic mean curvature flow to prove a new class of Alexandrov-Fenchel type inequalities for strictly convex hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space in terms of total curvature, which is the integral of Gaussian curvature on the hypersurface. We will also use the harmonic mean curvature flow to prove a new class of geometric inequalities for horospherically convex hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space. Using these new Alexandrov-Fenchel type inequalities and the inverse mean curvature flow, we obtain an Alexandrov-Fenchel inequality for strictly convex hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space, which was previously proved for horospherically convex hypersurfaces by Wang and Xia [44]. Finally, we use the mean curvature flow to prove a new Heintze-Karcher type inequality for hypersurfaces with positive Ricci curvature in hyperbolic space.

math.DG↗
arXiv2018

Closed ideal planar curves

In this paper we use a gradient flow to deform closed planar curves to curves with least variation of geodesic curvature in the $L^2$ sense. Given a smooth initial curve we show that the solution to the flow exists for all time and, provided the length of the evolving curve remains bounded, smoothly converges to a multiply-covered circle. Moreover, we show that curves in any homotopy class with initially small $L^3\lVert k_s\rVert_2^2$ enjoy a uniform length bound under the flow, yielding the convergence result in these cases.

math.DG↗
arXiv2018

Gradient estimates via two-point functions for elliptic equations on manifolds

We derive estimates relating the values of a solution at any two points to the distance between the points, for quasilinear isotropic elliptic equations on compact Riemannian manifolds, depending only on dimension and a lower bound for the Ricci curvature. These estimates imply sharp gradient bounds relating the gradient of an arbitrary solution at given height to that of a symmetric solution on a warped product model space. We also discuss the problem on Finsler manifolds with nonnegative weighted Ricci curvature, and on complete manifolds with bounded geometry, including solutions on manifolds with boundary with Dirichlet boundary condition. Particular cases of our results include gradient estimates of Modica type.

math.DG↗
arXiv2018

Volume preserving flow and Alexandrov-Fenchel type inequalities in hyperbolic space

In this paper, we study flows of hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space, and apply them to prove geometric inequalities. In the first part of the paper, we consider volume preserving flows by a family of curvature functions including positive powers of $k$-th mean curvatures with $k=1,\cdots,n$, and positive powers of $p$-th power sums $S_p$ with $p>0$. We prove that if the initial hypersurface $M_0$ is smooth and closed and has positive sectional curvatures, then the solution $M_t$ of the flow has positive sectional curvature for any time $t>0$, exists for all time and converges to a geodesic sphere exponentially in the smooth topology. The convergence result can be used to show that certain Alexandrov-Fenchel quermassintegral inequalities, known previously for horospherically convex hypersurfaces, also hold under the weaker condition of positive sectional curvature. In the second part of this paper, we study curvature flows for strictly horospherically convex hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space with speed given by a smooth, symmetric, increasing and homogeneous degree one function $f$ of the shifted principal curvatures $\lambda_i=\kappa_i-1$, plus a global term chosen to impose a constraint on the quermassintegrals of the enclosed domain, where $f$ is assumed to satisfy a certain condition on the second derivatives. We prove that if the initial hypersurface is smooth, closed and strictly horospherically convex, then the solution of the flow exists for all time and converges to a geodesic sphere exponentially in the smooth topology. As applications of the convergence result, we prove a new rigidity theorem on smooth closed Weingarten hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space, and a new class of Alexandrov-Fenchel type inequalities for smooth horospherically convex hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space.

math.DG↗
arXiv2018

Quermassintegral preserving curvature flow in Hyperbolic space

We consider the quermassintegral preserving flow of closed \emph{h-convex} hypersurfaces in hyperbolic space with the speed given by any positive power of a smooth symmetric, strictly increasing, and homogeneous of degree one function $f$ of the principal curvatures which is inverse concave and has dual $f_*$ approaching zero on the boundary of the positive cone. We prove that if the initial hypersurface is \emph{h-convex}, then the solution of the flow becomes strictly \emph{h-convex} for $t>0$, the flow exists for all time and converges to a geodesic sphere exponentially in the smooth topology.

math.DG↗
arXiv2018

Non-concavity of Robin eigenfunctions

On a convex bounded Euclidean domain, the ground state for the Laplacian with Neumann boundary conditions is a constant, while the Dirichlet ground state is log-concave. The Robin eigenvalue problem can be considered as interpolating between the Dirichlet and Neumann cases, so it seems natural that the Robin ground state should have similar concavity properties. In this paper we show that this is false, by analysing the perturbation problem from the Neumann case. In particular we prove that on polyhedral convex domains, except in very special cases (which we completely classify) the variation of the ground state with respect to the Robin parameter is not a concave function. We conclude from this that the Robin ground stat is not log-concave (and indeed even has some superlevel sets which are non-convex) for small Robin parameter on polyhedral convex domains outside a special class, and hence also on arbitrary convex domains which approximate these in Hausdorff distance.

math.AP↗