Papers

We consider the motion of a charged test particle confined to the round unit sphere in a uniform ambient magnetic field. We use an extension of Noether's theorem for systems with magnetic forces to reduce the problem to a quadrature. The rotation number of a trajectory, the azimuth it gains over one oscillation in latitude, is a complete elliptic integral of the third kind in Legendre form. A trajectory closes if and only if that advance is a rational multiple of a full turn. The criterion holds on every level set of the two first integrals. Then, we differentiate the rotation number with respect to the half-cyclotron frequency and sign that derivative on each of the two branches into which a level set divides. The rotation number sees the charge, the mass, the field and the speed through a single dimensionless ratio, that of the half-cyclotron frequency to the speed. A closed trajectory therefore fixes a value of that ratio. We say how many values carry a given rational winding. The poles are attainable on a single level set, where the motion reduces to a pendulum. The field has no flux through the sphere, so it is globally exact. We compute the Mañé strict critical value of the resulting exact magnetic flow. Above that value the closed trajectories are closed Reeb orbits of an explicit contact form.

We provide an elementary proof of the key aspect of Hopf's curvatura integra theorem. Namely, we show that the total curvature, i.e. the surface integral of the Gauss-Kronecker curvature B, is independent of the shape of the hypersurface. We accomplish this task by using the Calculus of Moving Surfaces to show that the rate of change of the total curvature vanishes under smooth changes in shape.

The ${\cal M}$-theory dual of thermal QCD-like theories constructed in arXiv:1306.4339, 2004.07259 involves, as shown in arXiv:2211.13186, a closed $G_2$-structure seven-fold $\mathcal{M}_7$ supporting Contact 3-Structures (C3S) that induce a “transverse” $SU(3)$-structure. We prove that this induced structure belongs to the symplectic nearly half-flat (S(nearly)HF) class: $d\omega_\Phi=0$ exactly, while $d\Omega_+$ is suppressed as $\mathcal{O}(e^{-N^{1/3}/\mathcal{O}(1)})$ in the infrared "MQGP limit", leaving $W_\Phi^{SU(3)}=W_2^-$ as the sole non-vanishing Chiossi–Salamon torsion class and completing the $G$-structure classification of the MQGP dual initiated in arXiv:1507.02692,2004.07259, 2211.13186. As a physical application, Kaluza–Klein reduction of the eleven-dimensional Hodge dual of the differential of the $G_2$-structure positive three-form on $\mathcal{M}_7$, organised through the $G_2$/S(nearly)HF torsion data, yields a radial “magnetic field” $\mathcal{B}_{\rm KK}(r)$ whose squared norm factorises exactly into external and internal factors. $\mathcal{B}_{\rm KK}(r)$ satisfies a Bessel-type ODE with a regular singular point at the horizon; normalisability and infrared regularity select $J_2$, with harmonicity of the aforementioned internal factor recovered from the large-$N$ suppression. $\mathcal{B}_{\rm KK}$ is related to the magnetic field of the type~IIA flavour $D6$-branes via a non-linear power law, furnishing a top-down holographic mechanism for generating weak magnetic fields in finite-temperature string theory.

This paper proves the short-time existence of $G_2$-Laplacian flow for closed, asymptotically conical $G_2$-structures on a complete manifold, shows that this solution is unique among closed solutions, and gives a lower bound for the existence time depending on the initial geometry.

The purpose of the paper is to place Whiting's classical growing mode stability argument, extended to real frequencies by Shlapentokh-Rothman for the scalar wave equation and by Andersson, Ma, Paganini and Whiting in general, in the framework of classical PDE theory. The key steps are: a description of the dual or adjoint modes, a singular phase space pairing argument which is technically executed via the Fourier transform, followed by a standard unique continuation result. One part of our description of the dual modes connects them directly to the standard mode solutions which are smooth over the event horizon. In the zero spin case, there is a geometric interpretation of this: quasinormal modes (for non-zero real frequencies) which are smooth across the future event horizon can be extended as distributional QNM solutions by 0 through the past event horizon. We also describe the behavior of mode solutions at the bifurcate sphere.

Let $n\geq3$ and $0\leq\tau\leq2$. We prove that every smooth closed connected immersed hypersurface in hyperbolic space whose induced metric has positive $\tau$-bi-Ricci curvature admits a mean curvature flow with surgery which has only finitely many surgery times and terminates. In the range compatible with cylindrical necks, the key ingredients are a preserved quantitative spectral pinching condition, which converts the intrinsic hypothesis into uniform two-convexity, and cylindrical and derivative estimates that remain valid across the hyperbolic standard neck replacement. At the endpoint $n=3$, $\tau=2$, positive $\tau$-bi-Ricci curvature is positive Ricci curvature and forces strict convexity, so the ordinary mean curvature flow converges to a round point. Consequently, the underlying manifold is diffeomorphic to a sphere or to a finite connected sum of copies of $\mathbb{S}^{n-1}\times\mathbb{S}^1$. If the initial hypersurface is embedded and bounds a compact domain, that domain is a one-handlebody, namely a ball with finitely many one-handles attached.

We show that a Kähler surface with opposite Hermitian conformally Kähler structure defined by a foliation of complex curves is a QCH Kähler surface of Calabi type.

Böhm metrics on $S^{k+1}\times S^l$ and $S^{k+l+1}$ ($k,l\geqslant 2$, $k+l\leqslant 8$) occur in sequences of Einstein metrics that converge to a cone. We prove that, along such a sequence, the number of negative eigenvalues of the Lichnerowicz Laplacian acting on transverse-traceless tensors tends to infinity: these metrics become increasingly unstable. This result gives a partial answer to a conjecture of Gibbons, Hartnoll and Pope concerning the instability of the generalised black hole spacetimes built from Böhm metrics.

Adapting ideas of \cite{akutagawa2007perelman}, we show that compact generalized Ricci solitons (GRS) have positive Yamabe invariant. We observe a Cheeger-Gromoll-type splitting theorem for GRS as a corollary of the splitting theorem for Bakry-Émery Ricci curvature in \cite{wei2009comparison}. Using this we show that low dimensional GRS are diffeomorphic to $S^3 / \Gamma$ or $S^3 \times S^1 / \Gamma$. We determine various topological constraints on string backgrounds (Bismut-Hermitian-Einstein (BHE), strong torsion $G_2$, strong torsion $\mathrm{Spin}(7)$-manifolds) and show in most cases that they cannot exist on the same manifolds as their classical special holonomy counterparts. Finally we determine the topology of BHE threefolds under natural constraints, relying on an extension of parts of Kollar's characterization of Seifert fibered $5$-manifolds over complex orbifolds \cite{kollar2006circle}.

The motion of a slender vortex in ideal incompressible fluid is a classic problem in hydrodynamics. Formulae for the velocity of a vortex ring go back to work of Kelvin, Helmholtz, Hicks and Dyson in the nineteenth century, while more recently a number of models have been created for simulating the motion of slender tubes of vorticity of general shape. For a vortex tube or filament localised near to a curve C(t), the relevant small parameter to measure slenderness is the tube radius divided by the radius of curvature of C. The present paper revisits this range of classic problems by introducing a coordinate system closely linked to the geometry of vortex surfaces in a slender vortex. The motion of fluid elements in this coordinate system has an action–angle form, and with this the vorticity equation simplifies radically. At the same time, however, most aspects of the shape or evolution of a vortex are thrown into the description of the coordinates, and in particular the corresponding metric and volume form. As the coordinate system is non-orthogonal and time-dependent, tools of differential geometry are most easily used to describe the structure of both vorticity and coordinate system, and a general mathematical framework is set out. This resulting system of equations is taken as far as possible with only the assumption of vortex slenderness in place, but allowing arbitrary motions and distortions of the vortex core and of the curve C(t). The modelling is applied to calculate the motion of a slender vortex ring with arbitrary axial flow, solving directly for the shape of perturbed vorticity surfaces and giving results in agreement with earlier studies. The general framework set up in this paper is suitable for the development of simplified equations for vortex motion and interaction in future studies.

We study proper actions on homogeneous spaces of the group $\mathrm{B}(n)$ of invertible upper triangular matrices from a coarse-geometric viewpoint. We obtain sufficient conditions for the properness of the natural $L$-action on $\mathrm{B}(n)/H$, where $L,H$ are closed subgroups of $\mathrm{B}(n)$. We also give an explicit sufficient condition for properness of the $L$-action on a homogeneous space naturally identified with $\mathrm{B}(n)/H\cong \mathbb{R}^{n-1}$. In addition, we discuss extensions to the case where the ambient group $G$ is a subgroup of $\mathrm{B}(n)$ and $L,H$ are closed subgroups of $G$, with particular attention to the unipotent subgroup $\mathrm{N}(n)$.

We prove that every compact four-dimensional weakly Einstein Ricci soliton is Einstein. The nontrivial compact case reduces to the gradient shrinking setting, where a differential identity for weakly Einstein four-manifolds, together with the curvature identity for gradient Ricci solitons, yields the pointwise relation $|R|^2\nabla f=0$ for the soliton potential $f$. Consequently, no compact proper weakly Einstein four-manifold admits a Ricci soliton structure. A noncompact homogeneous example shows that the compactness assumption is essential.

We relate the generalized Ricci curvature of left-invariant generalized metrics on a Lie group with the Ricci curvature of certain metric Lie algebras. As an application, we prove subconvergence of rescaled generalized Ricci flows to expanding generalized Ricci solitons on simply connected Lie groups with positive semi-definite Killing form. Under the same hypotheses, subconvergence of pluriclosed flows to expanding pluriclosed solitons is also shown. We further prove that left-invariant Bismut-Ricci flat metrics arise as critical points for the generalized scalar curvature functional on unimodular Lie groups. In view of this, we establish dynamical stability for the generalized Ricci flow of so-called standard bi-invariant, Bismut-flat metrics on compact, simply connected, semisimple Lie groups and construct examples of dynamically unstable Bismut-flat metrics which are non-standard.

Let $(M^{n+1},g)$ be a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary. Under the assumptions $\Ric_g\geq ng$ and $\II_g\geq0$, Wang proposed a sharp strengthening of the Choi–Wang–Reilly estimate, asserting that the first nonzero Laplace eigenvalue of the boundary is at least $n$; see [J. Geom. Anal. 31 (2021)]. We disprove this assertion in every dimension $n+1\geq3$. More precisely, we construct a sequence of metrics on the hemisphere $\Sph^{n+1}_{+}$ converging in $C^\infty$ to the round metric and satisfying \[ \Ric_g>n g,\qquad \II_g>0,\qquad \lambda_1(\partial\Sph^{n+1}_{+},g|_{\partial\Sph^{n+1}_{+}})<n. \] The construction starts from Zhu's infinitesimal conformal deformation, which lowers one branch of the first boundary eigenspace while preserving the normalized Ricci lower bound to first order. We add a multiple of the spherical height function.

A typical example of a quandle is the conjugation quandle. A quandle is said to be admissible if it is isomorphic to a conjugation quandle. We study the admissibility problem for quandles, that is, determining whether a given quandle is admissible. In particular, we focus on generalized Alexander quandles, which are groups equipped with quandle structures defined by group automorphisms. In this paper, we provide a sufficient condition for admissibility in terms of geometric properties of quandles: namely, if every antipodal set in each algebraically connected component consists of a single point, then the quandle is admissible. This result generalizes previous results on generalized Alexander quandles.

The Bernstein problem for the affine maximal type equation \[ \sum_{i,j=1}^n f^{ij} w_{ij}=0,\qquad w\equiv \left[\det\left(\frac{\partial^2 f}{\partial x_i\partial x_j}\right)\right]^a,\quad x\in\Omega\subset\mathbb R^n, \] is a central problem in affine geometry. It originates from Chern's conjecture on entire locally convex graphs for the case $n=2$ and $a=-\frac{3}{4}$ in 1977. This conjecture was completely resolved by Trudinger and Wang in 2000, who moreover proposed a generalization to arbitrary dimension $n\ge2$ for $a=-\frac{n+1}{n+2}$ under the assumption of Euclidean completeness. Later, using real affine techniques, Li and Jia provided a new purely analytic proof of Chern's conjecture by establishing the Bernstein theorem for $n=2$ and $a\in(-\infty,-\frac{3}{4}]$. Despite considerable efforts over the past two decades, the higher-dimensional Chern's conjecture remains open. Recently, Du constructed explicit non-quadratic Euclidean complete solutions for $a\in[-\frac{n-1}{n},0)$. In this paper, from the perspective of submanifold theory and Calabi affine geometry, we investigate affine maximal type surfaces. It provides a geometric characterisation for Du's explicit Euclidean complete counterexamples—including Warren type, Trudinger-Wang type, and other solutions in dimension two. More importantly, we construct a new class of non-quadratic Euclidean complete affine maximal type hypersurfaces, which extends Du's parameter range, for all $n\ge 2$, to $a\in[-\frac{n}{n+1},\,0).$

In this paper, we initiate the study of the Yang-Mills-Higgs-Schrödinger(YMHS) flow, i.e. the Hamiltonian flow of the Yang-Mills-Higgs functional defined on a symplectic fiber bundle. The YMHS flow provides a natural gauge-theoretic extension of the classical Schrödinger flow within the framework of symplectic reduction theory, and generalizes the Chern-Simons-Schrödinger equations to a non-Abelian gauge and non-linear fiber setting. We study its geometric structures and establish the local well-posedness of the corresponding Cauchy problem on compact Riemann surfaces.

We give an explicit polynomial deformation of the Euclidean metric on the unit three-ball which has positive Ricci curvature and strictly convex boundary but violates Escobar's conjectured lower bound for the first nonzero Steklov eigenvalue. Our proof is fully human-verifiable.

We prove that the connected sum of a possibly noncompact area enlargeable manifold $M_1$ with an arbitrary spin manifold $M_2$ of the same dimension admits no complete Riemannian metric of uniformly positive scalar curvature. This extends a theorem of Wang–Zhang, where $M_1$ is assumed closed, to noncompact enlargeable summands; in this generality the uniform positivity hypothesis enters the argument in an essential way. We also prove a spectral analogue of the generalized Geroch conjecture in terms of the $\gamma$-spectral constant: for $\gamma>(\dim M_1-1)/(4\dim M_1)$, such a connected sum carries no complete metric with positive $\gamma$-spectral constant. The proofs are based on a covering connected sum construction together with the scalar-cowaist and spectral-cowaist inequalities.

We characterize all maximally charged black hole spacetimes in $3+1$ dimensions. More precisely, given any initial data set $(M,g,k)$ saturating the mass-charge inequality that satisfies the charged dominant energy condition, we show that $(M,g,k)$ must arise from an isometric embedding into a Majumdar-Papapetrou spacetime.

Hypercube graphs are fundamental model spaces of positive curvature in discrete comparison geometry. Let $G$ be a finite, connected, simple, unweighted graph with Bakry–Émery curvature bounded below by $K$. We call $G$ Lichnerowicz-sharp if its first non-zero non-normalized Laplacian eigenvalue $\lambda_1=K$. We prove that, after removing a canonical collection of edges on which every $K$-eigenfunction is constant, the resulting graph has a canonical bundle structure. Its fibers are regular, have similar structure with hypercubes, and are Laplacian-cospectral with hypercubes, although they need not themselves be hypercubes. If the base graph is nontrivial, then it satisfies $\mathrm{CD}(K,\infty)$ and has first eigenvalue strictly greater than $K$. As a consequence, if the vertex degree in $G$ is constant along each canonical fiber, then every fiber is a hypercube and $G$ is a hypercube bundle. Conversely, for every $d\geq 4$, we construct Lichnerowicz-sharp graphs with non-hypercube canonical fibers of degree $d$.

In low-regularity spacetimes and Lorentzian length spaces, achronal causal curves play the role of null (pre-)geodesics. Because of the lack of a geodesic equation, they do not come with a canonical parametrization. In this context, we discuss a notion of affine parametrization via limits of affinely parametrized timelike geodesics. However, we point out a major drawback: an example where this approximation procedures gives a non-unique result, in a way that even completeness or incompleteness of the limit null geodesic is not well-defined. This example involves discontinuous gluing of two Lorentzian metrics across a null hypersurface to give a well-behaved Lorentzian length space and as such is, just like the parametrization problem itself, manifestly Lorentzian. In view of this, we explore possibilities for a Penrose-type singularity theorem using timelike geodesics.

A formula for the $\alpha$-K-energy functional for the Kähler-Yang-Mills (KYM) equations is provided in this paper. Using this formula and Chen's $\epsilon$-geodesic equation on the space of Kähler potentials, we prove that if a solution exists to the KYM equations for a simple vector bundle on a Kähler manifold with discrete automorphism group, then it is unique and the $\alpha$-K-energy is bounded from below. Inspired by the study of constant scalar curvature Kähler metrics, we introduce a coupled J-equation to study the $\alpha$-K energy functional.

Wei and Wylie asked whether a complete weighted manifold with nonnegative Bakry–Émery Ricci curvature and bounded potential must admit a Riemannian metric with nonnegative Ricci curvature. We answer this question negatively in every dimension \(8k+1\) and \(8k+2\), where \(k\geq1\). Our main geometric result is that every smooth homotopy sphere of dimension at least seven admits a weighted core metric \((g,e^{-f})\) with \(\Ric_g+\Hess_g f>0\). On the other hand, in dimensions \(8k+1\) and \(8k+2\), where \(k\geq1\), we prove that a homotopy sphere with nonzero \(\alpha\)-invariant admits no Riemannian metric with \(\Ric\geq0\). Since homotopy spheres with nonzero \(\alpha\)-invariant exist in every dimension \(8k+1\) and \(8k+2\), and since compactness makes the potential bounded, these manifolds provide the required counterexamples.

Let $n>2$. We construct a map $U\in W^{1,n}(B^n,\mathbb{R}^{n+2})$ that is discontinuous at the origin and smooth on the punctured ball $B^n \setminus \{0\}$, together with an antisymmetric potential $\Omega\in L^n(B^n,so(n+2)\otimes\mathbb{R}^n)$ such that $-\mathrm{Div}(|\nabla U|^{n-2}\nabla U)=\Omega\cdot |\nabla U|^{n-2}\nabla U$ in $D'(B^n)$. This gives a negative answer to a regularity question posed by Rivière. Our potential admits the Lorentz-space regularity $\Omega \in \bigcap_{q>2}L^{(n,q)} \setminus L^{(n,2)}$. In addition for given $1<p<\infty$ we can enforce $\nabla U \in L^{(n,p)}$ but $\nabla U \notin L^{(n,1)}$. The construction does not give a counterexample to regularity for weakly $n$-harmonic maps or for higher-dimensional $H$-systems. The example was generated by ChatGPT 5.6 Sol on August 5, 2026. The work itself was written by the author and thoroughly reviewed to ensure its correctness.

We study the (canonical) 1st derivatives of proper submersions represented as height functions and belonging to a certain class: a proper map means a map the preimage of a compact set by which is always compact. We investigate their Reeb spaces. They are the quotient spaces defined by the equivalence relations on the manifolds of the domains where we identify two points in a same connected component of a same level set of them. They have been important since the establishment of theory of Morse functions, in the 20th century, They are in certain tame situations $0$- or $1$-dimensional and graphs naturally. Related facts have been shown by Gelbukh and Saeki in the 2020s for certain proper smooth real-valued functions. In non-proper cases, even related explicit theory has been difficult, except some previously given case of the author. Our study is on a new related case.

We develop a general theory for the dynamics of the geodesic flow of locally CAT(k) branched coverings and we show that it does not depend on the specific covering but only on the base space, the branching set and the degree of the covering. We find an explicit formula for the entropy: it equals the topological pressure of the associated natural dynamical system on the space of broken geodesics with a natural geometric potential. We find the exact asymptotic of the entropy as the number of sheets of the branched covering goes to infinity, as well as asymptotic properties of the measures of maximal entropy.

Let $K\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ be a convex body with support function $h_K$. For $\nu\in\mathbb{S}^{n-1}$, $p\in\mathbb{R}$, and $u\in\nu^\perp$, we introduce the slicing support function $h_\nu(u,p)$, defined as the support function of the slice $K\cap\{x\cdot\nu=p\}$ in the direction $u$. For each fixed $p$, this is precisely the support function of the corresponding translated fiber appearing in the construction of the convex fiber body of Mathis and Meroni \cite{MathisMeroni2023}. We derive an infimal representation of $h_\nu$ in terms of $h_K$, together with a corresponding minimax identity. Using the Fenchel–Moreau theorem, we prove that $h_K$, and hence $K$, can be recovered from the slicing support function without any regularity assumption on $\partial K$. We also obtain a differential recovery formula when $K$ is strictly convex and $\partial K$ is of class $C^1$. In dimension three, we establish a cylindrical Monge–Ampére-type determinant identity expressed in terms of the spherical curvature matrix of $\partial K$. When the relevant tangent directions are principal directions, this determinant reduces to a weighted ratio of the corresponding principal radii of curvature. We further characterize this principal-direction condition by showing that, for convex bodies with $C^2$-boundary and positive Gaussian curvature, the spherical coordinate directions are principal directions away from the poles if and only if, up to translation, the body is a body of revolution. Finally, we extend the construction to higher-codimensional iterated slicing support functions and derive a full-Hessian determinant identity via the Schur complement.

We exhibit an explicit closed seven-dimensional Riemannian manifold \[ (M,g)=\mathbb S^2(1)\times \mathbb S^5\left(\frac1{100}\right), \] where the displayed parameters denote sectional curvatures, for which \(\Ric_g>0\), and hence \(Q_g^{(2)}>0\). Moreover, \[ Q^{(4)}_g>0,\qquad Q^{(6)}_g>0, \] and the sixth-order GJMS operator \(P_{6,g}\) is strictly positive as a self-adjoint operator, but nevertheless \(P_{6,g}\) fails the strong maximum principle. The failure is caused by a nonconstant positive eigenvalue of \(P_{6,g}\) lying strictly below the eigenvalue of the constant mode. The example also has \(Y_2(M,[g])>0\) and \(Y_4(M,[g])>0\), while \(P_{6,g}\) does not have a positive Green function. It disproves Conjecture~1 of Andrade, Piccione, and Wei and its general-order formulation by Case and Gover.

Let $(M^3, g_{\mathrm{hyp}})$ be a closed oriented hyperbolic three-manifold normalized so that $\operatorname{sec}_{g_{\mathrm{hyp}}} \equiv -1$. We prove a sharp lower bound for the volume of hypersurfaces in $M^3 \times \mathbb{S}^1$ representing the slice class $[M^3 \times \{ \mathrm{pt} \}] \in H_3(M^3 \times \mathbb{S}^1; \mathbb{Z})$, and we classify the equality case. If $g$ is a smooth Riemannian metric on $M^3 \times \mathbb{S}^1$ with the scalar curvature $\operatorname{Sc}_g \geq -6$, then every closed embedded hypersurface $\Sigma$ representing the slice class $[M^3\times\{\mathrm{pt}\}]$ satisfies $\operatorname{vol}_g(\Sigma) \geq \operatorname{vol}_{g_{\mathrm{hyp}}}(M^3)$. The bound is attained by the product metric $g_{\mathrm{hyp}}+h$, with $h$ any metric on $\mathbb{S}^1$. Conversely, if equality holds for some $\Sigma$, then up to a diffeomorphism preserving the slice class, $g=g_{\mathrm{hyp}}+h$ and $\Sigma = M^3 \times \{\mathrm{pt}\}$.