On static manifolds and related critical spaces with cyclic parallel Ricci tensor

We classify 3-dimensional compact Riemannian manifolds (M 3, g) that admit a non-constant solution to the equation −Δfg +Hess f − f Ric = μ Ric +λg for some special constants (μ, λ), under the assumption that the manifold has cyclic parallel Ricci tensor. Namely, the structures that we study here are: positive static triples, critical metrics of the volume functional, and critical metrics of the total scalar curvature functional. We also classify n-dimensional critical metrics of the volume functional with non-positive scalar curvature and satisfying the cyclic parallel Ricci tensor condition.

Killing fields generated by multiple solutions to the Fischer–Marsden equation

In the process of finding Einstein metrics in dimension n ≥ 3, we can search critical metrics for the scalar curvature functional in the space of the fixed-volume metrics of constant scalar curvature on a closed oriented manifold. This leads to a system of PDEs (which we call the Fischer–Marsden Equation, after a conjecture concerning this system) for scalar functions, involving the linearization of the scalar curvature. The Fischer–Marsden conjecture said that if the equation admits a solution, the underlying Riemannian manifold is Einstein. Counter-examples are known by O. Kobayashi and J. Lafontaine. However, almost all the counter-examples are homogeneous. Multiple solutions to this system yield Killing vector fields. We show that the dimension of the solution space W can be at most n+1, with equality implying that (M, g) is a sphere with constant sectional curvatures. Moreover, we show that the identity component of the isometry group has a factor SO(W). We also show that geometries admitting Fischer–Marsden solutions are closed under products with Einstein manifolds after a rescaling. Therefore, we obtain a lot of non-homogeneous counter-examples to the Fischer–Marsden conjecture. We then prove that all the homogeneous manifold M with a solution are in this case. Furthermore, we also proved that a related Besse conjecture is true for the compact homogeneous manifolds.

INVARIANT EINSTEIN METRICS ON GENERALIZED FLAG MANIFOLDS WITH TWO ISOTROPY SUMMANDS

Let M=G/K be a generalized flag manifold, that is, an adjoint orbit of a compact, connected and semisimple Lie group G. We use a variational approach to find non-Kähler homogeneous Einstein metrics for flag manifolds with two isotropy summands. We also determine the nature of these Einstein metrics as critical points of the scalar curvature functional under fixed volume.

ON UNIQUENESS AND DIFFERENTIABILITY IN THE SPACE OF YAMABE METRICS

It is shown that there is a unique Yamabe representative for a generic set of conformal classes in the space of metrics on any manifold. At such classes, the scalar curvature functional is shown to be differentiable on the space of Yamabe metrics. In addition, some sufficient conditions are given which imply that a Yamabe metric of locally maximal scalar curvature is necessarily Einstein.