arXiv research

On a closed 4-dimensional Riemannian manifold, we give a lower bound for the square of the first eigenvalue of the Yamabe operator in terms of the total Branson's Q-curvature. As a consequence, if the manifold is spin, we relate the first eigenvalue of the Dirac operator to the total Branson's Q-curvature. On a closed …

The Midwest Geometry Conference 2007 was devoted to the substantial mathematical legacy of Thomas P. Branson who passed away unexpectedly the previous year. This contribution to the Proceedings briefly introduces this legacy. We also take the opportunity of recording his bibliography. Thomas Branson was on the Editoria…

We define the second Paneitz-Branson operator on a compact Einsteinian manifold of dimension $n\geq 5$ and we give sufficient conditions that make it attained.

We prove universal recursive formulas for Branson's $Q$-curvatures in terms of respective lower-order $Q$-curvatures, lower-order GJMS-operators and holographic coefficients.

In this paper, we study some fourth order singular critical equations of Lichnerowicz type involving the Paneitz-Branson operator, and we prove existence and non existence results under given assumptions.

We prove a universal recursive formulas for Branson's $Q$-curvature of order eight in terms of lower-order $Q$-curvatures, lower-order GJMS-operators and holographic coefficients. The results prove a special case of a conjecture in {arXiv:0905.3992}.

We prove that under suitable assumptions, the constant term in the Green function of the Paneitz-Branson operator on a compact Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ is positive unless $(M,g)$ is conformally diffeomophic to the standard sphere. The proof is inspired by the positive mass theorem on spin manifolds by Ammann-Humbert…

A new derivation is given of Branson's factorization formula for the conformally invariant operator on the sphere whose principal part is the k-th power of the scalar Laplacian. The derivation deduces Branson's formula from knowledge of the corresponding conformally invariant operator on Euclidean space (the k-th power…

We give a representation theoretical proof of Branson's classification of minimal elliptic sums of generalized gradients. The original proof uses tools of harmonic analysis, which as powerful as they are, seem to be specific for the structure groups SO(n) and Spin(n). The different approach we propose is based on the r…

For odd dimensional Poincaré-Einstein manifolds $(X^{n+1},g)$, we study the set of harmonic $k$-forms (for $k<\ndemi$) which are $C^m$ (with $m\in\nn$) on the conformal compactification $\bar{X}$ of $X$. This is infinite dimensional for small $m$ but it becomes finite dimensional if $m$ is large enough, and in one-to-o…

The spectral asymptotics for linear elasticity with mixed boundary conditions are shown to be old results.

This is the original manuscript dated March 9th 1983, typeset by the Editors for the Proceedings of the Midwest Geometry Conference 2007 held in memory of Thomas Branson. Stephen Paneitz passed away on September 1st 1983 while attending a conference in Clausthal and the manuscript was never published. For more than 20 …

We give sufficient conditions on a function invariant under the action of an isometry group to be Branson's Q-curvature of a metric in a given conformal class, using the conformal GJMS operators.

It is shown that the variational derivative of the integral of Branson's Q-curvature is the ambient obstruction tensor of Fefferman-Graham. A classification of irreducible conformally invariant tensors modulo quadratic and higher degree terms in curvature is established.

We study an asymptotic Dirichlet problem for Weyl structures on asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds. By the bulk-boundary correspondence, or more precisely by the Fefferman-Graham theorem on Poincaré metrics, this leads to a natural extension of the notion of Branson's $Q$-curvature to Weyl structures on even-dimension…

We give explicit formulas for the intertwinors on the scalar functions over the product of spheres with the natural pseudo-Riemannian product metric using the spectrum generating technique. As a consequence, this provides another proof of the even order conformally invariant differential operator formulas obtained earl…

In this paper, we compute the first two equivariant heat kernel coefficients of the Bochner Laplacian on differential forms. The first two equivariant heat kernel coefficients of the Bochner Laplacian with torsion are also given. We also study the equivariant heat kernel coefficients of nonmininmal operators on differe…

We completely resolve the boundary value problem for differential forms and conformally Einstein infinity in terms of the dual Hahn polynomials. Consequently, we produce explicit formulas for the Branson-Gover operators on Einstein manifolds and prove their representation as a product of second order operators. This le…

This paper describes the connection between scattering matrices on conformally compact asymptotically Einstein manifolds and conformally invariant objects on their boundaries at infinity. The conformally invariant powers of the Laplacian arise as residues of the scattering matrix and Branson's Q-curvature in even dimen…

We describe GJMS-operators as linear combinations of compositions of natural second-order differential operators. These are defined in terms of Poincaré-Einstein metrics and renormalized volume coefficients. As special cases, we find explicit formulas for conformally covariant third and fourth powers of the Laplacian. …

A conformal description of Poincare-Einstein manifolds is developed: these structures are seen to be a special case of a natural weakening of the Einstein condition termed an almost Einstein structure. This is used for two purposes: to shed light on the relationship between the scattering construction of Graham-Zworski…

A well known question in differential geometry is to control the constant in isoperimetric inequality by intrinsic curvature conditions. In dimension 2, the constant can be controlled by the integral of the positive part of the Gaussian curvature. In this paper, we showed that on simply connected conformal flat manifol…

This paper derives an explicit formula for Branson's Q-curvature in even-dimensional conformal geometry. The ingredients in the formula come from the Poincare metric in one higher dimension; hence the formula is called holographic. When specialized to the conformally flat case, the holographic formula expresses Q-curva…

We give a geometric derivation of Branson's Q-curvature in terms of the ambient metric associated with conformal structures; it naturally follows from the ambient metric construction of conformally invariant operators and can be applied to a large class of invariant operators. This procedure can be also applied to CR g…

We introduce a fourth order CR invariant operator on pluriharmonic functions on a three-dimensional CR manifold, generalizing to the abstract setting the operator discovered by Branson, Fontana and Morpurgo. For a distinguished class of contact forms, all of which have vanishing Hirachi-$Q$ curvature, these operators d…

In this paper, we study contact forms on the three- dimensional Heisenberg manifold with its standard CR structure. We discover that the $Q'$-curvature, introduced by Branson, Fontana and Morpurgo [BFM13] on the CR three-sphere and then generalized to any pseudo-Einstein CR three manifold by Case and Yang [CY95], contr…

Let $(M, g)$ be a closed Riemannian manifold of dimension $5$. Assume that $(M, g)$ is not conformally equivalent to the round sphere. If the scalar curvature $R_g\geq 0$ and the $Q$-curvature $Q_g\geq 0$ on $M$ with $Q_g(p)>0$ for some point $p\in M$, we prove that the set of metrics in the conformal class of $g$ with…

The study finds multiple solutions for constant Q-curvature metrics.

This article presents a new definition of Branson's Q-curvature in even-dimensional conformal geometry. We derive the Q-curvature as a coefficient in the asymptotic expansion of the formal solution of a boundary problem at infinity for the Laplacian in the Poincare metric associated to the conformal structure. This giv…

In this paper we demonstrate that under general conditions there exists a metric in the conformal class of an arbitrary metric on a smooth, closed Riemannian manifold of dimension greater than four such that the $Q$-curvature of the metric is a constant. Existence of solutions is obtained through the combination of var…

Examples are given of prime Legendrian knots in the standard contact 3-space that have arbitrarily many distinct Chekanov polynomials, refuting a conjecture of Lenny Ng. These are constructed using a new `Legendrian tangle replacement' technique. This technique is then used to show that the phenomenon of multiple Cheka…

The coefficient of the logarithmic term in the entropy on even spheres is re-computed by the local technique of integrating the finite temperature energy density up to the horizon on static d--dimensional de Sitter space and thence finding the entropy by thermodynamics. Numeric evaluation yields the known answer i.e. (…

This work generalizes a construction by Habermann and Jost of a canonical metric in a Yamabe-positive conformal class, which uses the Green function of the conformal Laplacian. In dimension $n=2k+1$, $2k+2$, or $2k+3$, if the $k$-th GJMS operator $P_k$ admits a Green function, the constant term of its singularity is sh…

We simplify and extend a 6D conformal gravity theory to 8D, linking it to Q-curvature.

This is an expanded version of a series of two lectures given at the IMA summer program "Symmetries and Overdetermined Systems of Partial Differential Equations". The main part of the article describes the Riemannian version of the prolongation procedure for certain overdetermined system obtained recently in joint work…

We formulate and discuss two conjectures concerning recursive formulae for Branson's $Q$-curvatures. The proposed formulae describe all $Q$-curvatures on manifolds of all even dimensions in terms of respective lower order $Q$-curvatures and lower order GJMS-operators. They are universal in the dimension of the underlyi…

Simplified Obata-Vétois argument for Einstein manifolds with nonnegative scalar curvature.

For an embedded conformal hypersurface with boundary, we construct critical order local invariants and their canonically associated differential operators. These are obtained holographically in a construction that uses a singular Yamabe problem and a corresponding minimal hypersurface with boundary. They include an ext…

The Q-curvature has been playing a central role in conformal geometry since its discovery by T. Branson. It has natural analogy in CR geometry, however, the CR Q-curvature vanishes on the boundary of a strictly pseudoconvex domain in C^{n+1} with a natural choice of contact form. This fact enables us to define a "secon…

We develop a general regulated volume expansion for the volume of a manifold with boundary whose measure is suitably singular along a separating hypersurface. The expansion is shown to have a regulator independent anomaly term and a renormalized volume term given by the primitive of an associated anomaly operator. Thes…

Let (M^n, g) be a closed smooth Riemannian spin manifold and denote by D its Atiyah-Singer-Dirac operator. We study the variation of Riemannian metrics for the zeta function and functional determinant of D^2, and prove finiteness of the Morse index at stationary metrics, and local extremality at such metrics under gene…

We look at several problems in even dimensional conformal geometry based around the de Rham complex. A leading and motivating problem is to find a conformally invariant replacement for the usual de Rham harmonics. An obviously related problem is to find, for each order of differential form bundle, a ``gauge'' operator …

Study optimal partition problem for Q-curvature equations on Einstein manifolds.

On conformally compact manifolds of arbitrary signature, we use conformal geometry to identify a natural (and very general) class of canonical boundary problems. It turns out that these encompass and extend aspects of already known holographic bulk-boundary problems, the conformal scattering description of boundary con…

The conformal anomalies and functional determinants of the Branson--GJMS operators, P_{2k}, on the d-dimensional sphere are evaluated in explicit terms for any d and k such that k < d/2+1 (if d is even). The determinants are given in terms of multiple gamma functions and a rational multiplicative anomaly, which vanishe…

For even dimensional conformal manifolds several new conformally invariant objects were found recently: invariant differential complexes related to, but distinct from, the de Rham complex (these are elliptic in the case of Riemannian signature); the cohomology spaces of these; conformally stable form spaces that we may…

We describe an elementary algorithm for expressing, as explicit formulae in tractor calculus, the conformally invariant GJMS operators due to C.R. Graham et alia. These differential operators have leading part a power of the Laplacian. Conformal tractor calculus is the natural induced bundle calculus associated to the …

We propose and discuss recursive formulas for conformally covariant powers $P_{2N}$ of the Laplacian (GJMS-operators). For locally conformally flat metrics, these describe the non-constant part of any GJMS-operator as the sum of a certain linear combination of compositions of lower order GJMS-operators (primary part) a…