Publications

We give a characterization of those Alexandrov spaces admitting a cohomogeneity one action of a compact connected Lie group G for which the action is Cohen--Macaulay. This generalizes a similar result for manifolds to the singular setting of Alexandrov spaces where, in contrast to the manifold case, we find several actions which are not Cohen--Macaulay. In fact, we present results in a slightly more general context. We extend the methods in this field by a conceptual approach on equivariant cohomology via rational homotopy theory using an explicit rational model for a double mapping cylinder.

Related project(s):
15Spaces and Moduli Spaces of Riemannian Metrics with Curvature Bounds on compact and non-compact Manifolds

Starting at a saddle tower surface, we give a new existence proof of the Lawson surfaces ξm,k of high genus by deforming the corresponding DPW potential. As a byproduct, we obtain for fixed m estimates on the area of ξm,k in terms of their genus g=mk≫1.

Related project(s):
16Minimizer of the Willmore energy with prescribed rectangular conformal class

We show that the homogeneous and the 2-lobe Delaunay tori in the 3-sphere provide the only isothermic constrained Willmore tori in 3-space with Willmore energy below 8π. In particular, every constrained Willmore torus with Willmore energy below 8π and non-rectangular conformal class is non-degenerated.

Related project(s):
16Minimizer of the Willmore energy with prescribed rectangular conformal class

We show that the of 2-lobed Delaunay tori are stable as constrained Willmore surfaces in the 3-sphere.

Related project(s):
16Minimizer of the Willmore energy with prescribed rectangular conformal class

In a previous work, a six-parameter family of highly connected 7-manifolds which admit an $\mathrm{SO}(3)$-invariant metric of non-negative sectional curvature was constructed. Each member of this family is the total space of a Seifert fibration with generic fibre $\mathbb S^3$ and, in particular, has the cohomology of an $\mathbb S^3$-bundle over $\mathbb S^4$. In the present article, the linking form of these manifolds is computed and used to demonstrate that the family contains infinitely many manifolds which are not even homotopy equivalent to an $\mathbb S^3$-bundle over $\mathbb S^4$, the first time that any such spaces have been shown to admit non-negative sectional curvature.

Related project(s):
4Secondary invariants for foliations11Topological and equivariant rigidity in the presence of lower curvature bounds

In this short note we observe the existence of free, isometric actions of finite cyclic groups on a family of 2-connected 7-manifolds with non-negative sectional curvature. This yields many new examples including fake, and possible exotic, lens spaces.

Related project(s):
4Secondary invariants for foliations11Topological and equivariant rigidity in the presence of lower curvature bounds

We explain how the construction of the real numbers using quasimorphisms can be transformed into a general method to construct the completion of a field with respect to an absolute value.

Related project(s):
18Analytic L2-invariants of non-positively curved spaces

We define a variant of Benjamini-Schramm convergence for finite simplicial complexes with the action of a fixed finite group G which leads to the notion of random rooted simplicial G-complexes. For every random rooted simplicial G-complex we define a corresponding ℓ2-homology and the ℓ2-multiplicity of an irreducible representation of G in the homology. The ℓ2-multiplicities generalize the ℓ2-Betti numbers and we show that they are continuous on the space of sofic random rooted simplicial G-complexes. In addition, we study induction of random rooted complexes and discuss the effect on ℓ2-multiplicities.

Related project(s):
18Analytic L2-invariants of non-positively curved spaces

Several formulas for computing coarse indices of twisted Dirac type operators are introduced. One type of such formulas is by composition product in \(E\)-theory. The other type is by module multiplications in \(K\)-theory, which also yields an index theoretic interpretation of the duality between Roe algebra and stable Higson corona.

Related project(s):
10Duality and the coarse assembly map

We introduce coordinates on the space of Lagrangian decorated and framed representations of the fundamental group of a surface with punctures into the symplectic group Sp(2n,R). These coordinates provide a non-commutative generalization of the parametrizations of the spaces of representations into SL(2,R) given by Thurston, Penner, and Fock-Goncharov. With these coordinates, the space of framed symplectic representations provides a geometric realization of the non-commutative cluster algebras introduced by Berenstein-Retakh. The locus of positive coordinates maps to the space of decorated maximal representations. We use this to determine the homotopy type of the space of decorated maximal representations, and its homeomorphism type when n=2

Related project(s):
28Rigidity, deformations and limits of maximal representations

We show that, for each $n\geqslant 1$, there exist infinitely many spin and non-spin diffeomorphism types of closed, smooth, simply-connected $(n+4)$-manifolds with a smooth, effective action of a torus $T^{n+2}$ and a metric of positive Ricci curvature invariant under a $T^{n}$-subgroup of $T^{n+2}$. As an application, we show that every closed, smooth, simply-connected $5$- and $6$-manifold admitting a smooth, effective torus action of cohomogeneity two supports metrics with positive Ricci curvature invariant under a circle or $T^2$-action, respectively.

Related project(s):
11Topological and equivariant rigidity in the presence of lower curvature bounds

We obtain a Central Limit Theorem for closed Riemannian manifolds, clarifying along the way the geometric meaning of some of the hypotheses in Bhattacharya and Lin's Omnibus Central Limit Theorem for Fréchet means. We obtain our CLT assuming certain stability hypothesis for the cut locus, which always holds when the manifold is compact but may not be satisfied in the non-compact case.

Related project(s):
11Topological and equivariant rigidity in the presence of lower curvature bounds15Spaces and Moduli Spaces of Riemannian Metrics with Curvature Bounds on compact and non-compact Manifolds

Abstract: For an immersed Lagrangian submanifold, let \check{A} be the Lagrangian trace-free second fundamental form. In this note we consider the equation \nabla^*T=0 on Lagrangian surfaces immersed in \mathbb{C}^2, where T=-2\nabla^*(\check{A}\lrcornerω), and we prove a gap theorem for the Whitney sphere as a solution to this equation.

Related project(s):
22Willmore functional and Lagrangian surfaces

In this paper we introduce a Guan-Li type volume preserving mean curvature flow for free boundary hypersurfaces in a ball. We give a concept of star-shaped free boundary hypersurfaces in a ball and show that the Guan-Li type mean curvature flow has long time existence and converges to a free boundary spherical cap, provided the initial data is star-shaped.

Related project(s):
22Willmore functional and Lagrangian surfaces

In this paper we prove that any immersed stable capillary hypersurfaces in a ball in space forms are totally umbilical. This solves completely a long-standing open problem. In the proof one of crucial ingredients is a new Minkowski type formula. We also prove a Heintze-Karcher-Ros type inequality for hypersurfaces in a ball, which, together with the new Minkowski formula, yields a new proof of Alexandrov's Theorem for embedded CMC hypersurfaces in a ball with free boundary.

Related project(s):
22Willmore functional and Lagrangian surfaces

In this note, we first introduce a boundary problem for Lagrangian submanifolds, analogous to the free boundary hypersurfaces and capillary hypersurfaces. Then we present some interesting minimal Lagrangian submanifolds examples satisfying this boundary condition and we prove a Lagrangian version of Nitsche (or Hopf) type theorem. Some problems are proposed at the end of this note.

Related project(s):
22Willmore functional and Lagrangian surfaces

We study immersed surfaces in R3 which are critical points of the Willmore functional under boundary constraints. The two cases considered are when the surface meets a plane orthogonally along the boundary, and when the boundary is contained in a line. In both cases we derive weak forms of the resulting free boundary conditions and prove regularity by reflection.

Related project(s):
22Willmore functional and Lagrangian surfaces

For the Willmore flow of spheres in R^n with small energy, we prove stability estimates for the barycenter, the quadratic moment, and in case n=3 also for the enclosed volume and averaged mean curvature. As applications, we give a new proof for a quasi-rigidity estimate due to De Lellis and Müller, also for an inequality by Röger and Schätzle for the isoperimetric deficit.

Related project(s):
22Willmore functional and Lagrangian surfaces

 Let M be a compact Riemannian manifold which does not admit any immersed surface which is totally geodesic. We prove that then any completely immersed surface in M has area bounded in terms of the L^2 norm of the second fundamental form.

Related project(s):
22Willmore functional and Lagrangian surfaces

A classical problem in general relativity is the Cauchy problem for the linearised Einstein equation (the initial value problem for gravitational waves) on a globally hyperbolic vacuum spacetime. A well-known result is that it is uniquely solvable up to gauge solutions, given initial data on a spacelike Cauchy hypersurface. The solution map is an isomorphism between initial data (modulo gauge producing initial data) and solutions (modulo gauge solutions). In the first part of this work, we show that the solution map is actually an isomorphism of locally convex topological vector spaces. This implies that the equivalence class of solutions depends continuously on the equivalence class of initial data. We may therefore conclude well-posedness of the Cauchy problem. In the second part, we show that the linearised constraint equations can always be solved on a closed manifold with vanishing scalar curvature. This generalises the classical notion of TT-tensors on flat space used to produce models of gravitational waves. All our results are proven for smooth and distributional initial data of arbitrary real Sobolev regularity.

Related project(s):
21Stability and instability of Einstein manifolds with prescribed asymptotic geometry