arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Peter Petersen.
We prove a Tachibana-type result for K\"ahler-Einstein manifolds isolating complex projective space based on its Calabi curvature operator. The proof uses a new Bochner formula expressing the Lichnerowicz curvature term via the Calabi curvature operator. This resolves one of the problems posed at the AIM workshop "The Bochner Technique'' (May 2026).
We compute explicit formulas for the curvature operators and Poincar\'e polynomials of all compact irreducible symmetric spaces. We can easily derive the Poincar\'e polynomials using quantum numbers, giving a formula that mirrors the known formula for the Euler characteristic. For the curvature operators, we show that their maximum eigenvalue is always bounded above by the Einstein constant, with equality attained precisely by the Hermitian symmetric spaces.
It is shown that a compact $n$-dimensional K\"ahler manifold with $\frac{n}{2}$-positive Calabi curvature operator has the rational cohomology of complex projective space. For even $n,$ this is sharp in the sense that the complex quadric with its symmetric metric has $\frac{n}{2}$-nonnegative Calabi curvature operator, yet $b_n =2.$ Furthermore, the compact K\"ahler manifolds with an $\frac{n}{2}$-nonnegative Calabi curvature operator are classified. In addition, the previously known results for the K\"ahler curvature operator are improved when the metric is K\"ahler--Einstein.
We show that an $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifold with $n$-nonnegative or $n$-nonpositive curvature operator of the second kind has restricted holonomy $SO(n)$ or is flat. The result does not depend on completeness and can be improved provided the space is Einstein or K\"ahler. In particular, if a locally symmetric space has $n$-nonnegative or $n$-nonpositive curvature operator of the second kind, then it has constant curvature. When the locally symmetric space is irreducible this can be improved to $\frac{3n}{2}\frac{n+2}{n+4}$-nonnegative or $\frac{3n}{2}\frac{n+2}{n+4}$-nonpositive curvature operator of the second kind.
We show that compact, $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifolds with $\frac{n+2}{2}$-nonnegative curvature operators of the second kind are either rational homology spheres or flat. More generally, we obtain vanishing of the $p$-th Betti number provided that the curvature operator of the second kind is $C(p,n)$-positive. Our curvature conditions become weaker as $p$ increases. For $p=\frac{n}{2}$ we have $C(p,n)= \frac{3n}{2} \frac{n+2}{n+4} $, and for $5 \leq p \leq \frac{n}{2}$ we exhibit a $C(p,n)$-positive algebraic curvature operator of the second kind with negative Ricci curvatures.
We prove structure results for homogeneous spaces that support a non-constant solution to two general classes of equations involving the Hessian of a function and an invariant 2-tensor. We also consider trace-free versions of these systems. Our results generalize earlier rigidity results for gradient Ricci solitons and warped product Einstein metrics. In particular, our results apply to homogeneous gradient solitons of any invariant curvature flow and give a new structure result for homogeneous conformally Einstein metrics.
We prove rigidity results for compact Riemannian manifolds in the spirit of Tachibana. For example, we observe that manifolds with divergence free Weyl tensors and $\lfloor \frac{n-1}{2} \rfloor$-nonnegative curvature operators are locally symmetric or conformally equivalent to a quotient of the sphere. The main focus of the paper is to prove similar results for manifolds with special holonomy. In particular, we consider K\"ahler manifolds with divergence free Bochner tensor. For quaternion K\"ahler manifolds we obtain a partial result towards the LeBrun-Salamon conjecture.
We show that compact K\"ahler manifolds have the rational cohomology ring of complex projective space provided a weighted sum of the lowest three eigenvalues of the K\"ahler curvature operator is positive. This follows from a more general vanishing and estimation theorem for the individual Hodge numbers. We also prove an analogue of Tachibana's theorem for K\"ahler manifolds.
In this note we study the Bochner formula on smooth metric measure spaces. We introduce weighted curvature conditions that imply vanishing of all Betti numbers.
Abstract. In this paper we prove several rigidity theorems related to and including Lytchak's problem. The focus is on Alexandrov spaces with \curv\geq1, nonempty boundary, and maximal radius \fracπ{2}. We exhibit many such spaces that indicate that this class is remarkably flexible. Nevertheless, we also show that when the boundary is either geometrically or topologically spherical, then it is possible to obtain strong rigidity results. In contrast to this one can show that with general lower curvature bounds and strictly convex boundary only cones can have maximal radius. We also mention some connections between our problems and the positive mass conjectures. This paper is an expanded version and replacement of the two previous versions
We prove a vanishing and estimation theorem for the $p^{\text{th}}$-Betti number of closed $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifolds with a lower bound on the average of the lowest $n-p$ eigenvalues of the curvature operator. This generalizes results due to D. Meyer, Gallot-Meyer, and Gallot. For example, in dimensions $n=5,6$ we obtain vanishing of the Betti numbers provided that the curvature operator is $3$-positive. As B\"ohm-Wilking observed, $3$-positivity of the curvature operator is not preserved by the Ricci flow.
We prove that the boundary of an orbit space or more generally a leaf space of a singular Riemannian foliation is an Alexandrov space in its intrinsic metric, and that its lower curvature bound is that of the leaf space. A rigidity theorem for positively curved leaf spaces with maximal boundary volume is also established and plays a key role in the proof of the boundary problem.
We provide a reduction in the classification problem for non-compact, homogeneous, Einstein manifolds. Using this work, we verify the (Generalized) Alekseevskii Conjecture for a large class of homogeneous spaces.
In previous work, the authors studied the linear stability of algebraic Ricci solitons on simply connected solvable Lie groups (solvsolitons), which are stationary solutions of a certain normalization of Ricci flow. Many examples were shown to be linearly stable, leading to the conjecture that all solvsolitons are linearly stable. This paper makes progress towards that conjecture, showing that expanding Ricci solitons with bounded curvature (including solvsolitons) are linearly stable after extension by a Gaussian soliton. As in the previous work, the dynamical stability follows from a generalization of the techniques of Guenther, Isenberg, and Knopf.
We consider a modified Ricci flow equation whose stationary solutions include Einstein and Ricci soliton metrics, and we study the linear stability of those solutions relative to the flow. After deriving various criteria that imply linear stability, we turn our attention to left-invariant soliton metrics on (non-compact) simply connected solvable Lie groups and prove linear stability of many such metrics. These include an open set of two-step solvsolitons, all two-step nilsolitons, two infinite families of three-step solvable Einstein metrics, all nilsolitons of dimensions six or less, and all solvable Einstein metrics of dimension seven or less with codimension-one nilradical. For each linearly stable metric, dynamical stability follows a generalization of the techniques of Guenther, Isenberg, and Knopf.
In this paper we study the space of solutions to an overdetermined linear system involving the Hessian of functions. We show that if the solution space has dimension greater than one, then the underlying manifold has a very rigid warped product structure. We obtain a uniqueness result for prescribing the Ricci curvature of a warped product manifold over a fixed base. As an application, this warped product structure will be used to study warped product Einstein structures in "Uniqueness of warped product Einstein metrics and applications".
We prove that complete warped product Einstein metrics with isometric bases, simply connected space form fibers, and the same Ricci curvature and dimension are isometric. In the compact case we also prove that the warping functions must be the same up to scaling, while in the non-compact case there are simple examples showing that the warping function is not unique. These results follow from a structure theorem for warped product Einstein spaces which is proven by applying the results in our earlier paper "Warped product rigidity" to a vector space of virtual Einstein warping functions. We also use the structure theorem to study gap phenomena for the dimension of the space of warping functions and the isometry group of a warped product Einstein metric.
In this paper we consider connections between Ricci solitons and Einstein metrics on homogeneous spaces. We show that a semi-algebraic Ricci soliton admits an Einstein one-dimensional extension if the soliton derivation can be chosen to be normal. Using our previous work on warped product Einstein metrics, we show that every normal semi-algebraic Ricci soliton also admits a $k$-dimensional Einstein extension for any $k\geq 2$. We also prove converse theorems for these constructions and some geometric and topological structure results for homogeneous warped product Einstein metrics. In the appendix we give an alternative approach to semi-algebraic Ricci solitons which naturally leads to a definition of semi-algebraic Ricci solitons in the non-homogeneous setting.