All Questions
72 questions
18
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Poincare lemma for non-smooth differentiable forms
The Poincare lemma is almost always formulated for differential forms with smooth coefficients (or sometimes for currents that have distributional coefficients). I would like to have it for $C^k$-...
- 16.4k
17
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Invariant definition of the space of symbols on a vector bundle (pseudo-differential operators)
Normally, in the context of pseudo-differential operators, a symbol on a vector bundle $E$ is defined as a smooth function on $E$ which in each trivializing chart fulfills the usual symbol estimates
\...
- 5,824
13
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Sobolev spaces and geometry
This is a very naive question, is there a way to geometrically understand Sobolev spaces without going through analysis and PDE's? To my knowledge, Sobolev spaces where created precisely to study PDE'...
- 947
13
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Space of sections of a fibre bundle with non-compact base space
Let $\pi: E \rightarrow M$ be a fiber bundle over the manifold M and denote by $\Gamma(E)$ the space of smooth sections of $E$.
For compact $M$ it is well known (Hamilton 1982, Part II Corollary 1.3.9)...
- 5,824
10
votes
1
answer
957
views
Do eigenfunctions of elliptic operator form basis of $H^k(M)$?
We know that the eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on a compact manifold $M$ form a countable basis of $H^1(M)$ and $L^2(M)$.
If $L$ is a $2k$-order elliptic operator, do the eigenfunctions of $L$ ...
- 103
8
votes
1
answer
712
views
Pseudo-differential operators with compactly supported symbols
If the symbol $p(x,\xi)$ of a pseudodifferential operator $P$ has compact $x$-support, then for any Schwartz function $f$, $Pf$ has compact $x$-support.
Is the reverse true? Namely that if some PDO $...
- 728
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Survey papers on the role played by PDE in mathematics
There are already several questions on MathOverflow that inquire about the many diverse relationships between PDE and several other 'areas' of mathematics (e.g., algebraic and differential geometry ...
8
votes
1
answer
496
views
Is $C^{\infty}(M)$ dense in weighted Sobolev space $W_{X}^{1}(M)$?
Let $M$ be a compact manifold without boudary and let $X_{1},\ldots,X_{m}$ be smooth vector fields on $M$. Consider the following weighted Sobolev space:
$$ W_{X}^{1}(M)=\{f\in L^{2}(M)|X_{j}f\in L^2(...
- 287
8
votes
1
answer
311
views
Laplacian spectrum asymptotics in neck stretching
Let $M$ be a compact Riemannian manifold. Let $S \subset M$ be a smooth hypersurface separating $M$ into two components. Let $g_T$ be a family of Riemannian metric obtained by stretching along $S$, i....
- 1,207
7
votes
2
answers
920
views
Exotic spectrum of Laplace operator
Given a closed Riemannian manifold and a generalized Laplace $\Delta$ operator,
it is well known that $\Delta$ has discrete spectrum $(\lambda_n)_n$ (arranged in a increasing way, not counting ...
- 101
7
votes
0
answers
80
views
Given composition rules, determining whether a continuous map between smooth functions is a pseudodifferential operator
Let $M$ be a closed manifold, and let $P:C^{\infty}(M)\rightarrow C^{\infty}(M)$ be a continuous linear map in the smooth Fréchet topologies. In what is to come, if it helps, one can assume further ...
- 808
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Vector Fields in a Riemannian Manifold
Suppose $(M,g)$ is a Riemannian manifold.
Is there a way to classify manifolds where there exists a vector field that commutes with the laplace beltrami operator?
Thanks
- 4,135
6
votes
1
answer
215
views
Boundary values of boundary value problems
Let $M$ be a manifold with smooth boundary. We can consider the Dirichlet or the Neumann problem on $M$. Let $(\phi_k)$ be an orthonormal basis of eigenfunctions to the Dirichlet problem and let $(\...
- 9,853
5
votes
1
answer
932
views
Mellin transform between heat kernel and zeta-function
For some notion of a "positive operator" $D$ of "Laplacian type" one seems to be able to define a notion of a zeta-function as $\xi(s,f,D) = Tr_{L^2}(f D^{-s})$ where $f \in L^2$ (the space of square-...
- 617
5
votes
1
answer
224
views
Spectral theory of infinite volume hyperbolic manifolds
I have a question about the discrete spectrum of the Laplace operator on hyperbolic manifolds with infinite volume. I understand the case of infinite area surfaces: see Chapter 7 (Sections 1 and 2) of ...
- 1,407
5
votes
1
answer
743
views
Eigenvalues and Domain of the Laplace-Beltrami Operator
Assume $(M,g)$ is a compact Riemannian manifold without boundary, where $g$ is the Riemannian metric. Let $L:=-\Delta$ be the Laplace-Beltrami operator on $M$ defined by $\Delta \cdot = \text{div}(\...
- 51
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Compactly supported functions and Sobolev spaces on manifolds
It is well-known that if a complete Riemannian manifold has bounded curvature and injectivity radius bounded away from zero, then the space $C^\infty_c(M)$ is dense in the Sobolev spaces $W^{k, p}(M)$ ...
- 9,853
5
votes
1
answer
233
views
Zeta-Determinant Theorem
Recently, someone asked on MO about lecture notes from Graeme Segal's "Stanford lectures" on TQFT, and the answer was to check here.
When scrolling over the notes, I stumpled of Prop. 2.8.2 in ...
- 9,853
5
votes
0
answers
360
views
Injectivity of div–curl operator
$\DeclareMathOperator\div{div}\DeclareMathOperator\curl{curl}$Consider a div–curl system
\begin{align*}
Lu &= (\div(u), \curl(u)) \text{ in } \Omega \subset M, \text{ a 3-manifold}, \\
u &= 0 \...
- 419
4
votes
2
answers
505
views
Eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on singular spaces
Consider a compact manifold $M$ with boundary and corner. As an example, we could have the cube $\{(x_1, x_2,..x_n) \in \mathbb{R}^n : x_i \in [0,1]\}$. We could very well define the Laplacian $\Delta$...
- 43
4
votes
1
answer
727
views
Simplicity of the first Laplace-Beltrami eigenvalue on Riemannian manifolds
On a compact Riemannian manifold $M$ (we assume Dirichlet boundary condition if $\partial M \neq \emptyset$), the Laplace-Beltrami operator $-\Delta$ has a discrete spectrum $0 < \lambda_1 \leq \...
- 43
4
votes
1
answer
398
views
Proving the inequality $|\nabla |\nabla^r \psi|| \le |\nabla^{r+1} \psi|$
Following Aubin's book "Some nonlinear problems in Riemannian geometry", we use the notation
$$
|\nabla^r \psi|^2 = \nabla_{\alpha_1}\cdots \nabla_{\alpha_r}\psi \nabla^{\alpha_1}\cdots \nabla^{\...
- 1,245
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
The space of diffeomorphisms on a manifold
It is well known that given a compact connected smooth manifold without boundary $M$, the set of diffeomorphisms $Diff^{r}(M)$ of $M$ for $r≥1$, is open in $C^{r}(M)$, the set of continuous functions (...
- 43
4
votes
1
answer
497
views
Eigenfunction basis of Laplacian on a manifold
It is a well known result that for $\Omega$ bounded open set in $\mathbb{R}^n$, there exists a basis of $C^\infty$ eigenfunctions of the Laplacian for $L^2(\Omega)$. It is also known that there exists ...
- 41
4
votes
0
answers
199
views
Spectral problems with the wrong sign on the Poincaré disk
Let $\mathbb{D}$ denote the open unit disk in $\mathbb{C}$ equipped with the Poincaré metric $g$ of negative scalar curvature $-1$. Denote by $\Delta_g = \mathrm{Tr}_g(\nabla^g d) = - d^{\ast_g} d$ ...
- 2,816
4
votes
0
answers
172
views
Donnelly-Fefferman growth of eigenfunctions
Let $(M, g)$ be a compact Riemannian manifold, and let $\lambda^2$, $\varphi_\lambda$ represent eigenvalues and eigenfunctions respectively of the Laplacian $\Delta$, that is, $-\Delta \varphi_\lambda ...
- 41
3
votes
2
answers
956
views
Hodge decomposition on open manifold
For the open manifold like $X\times \mathbb R$ or $X\times \mathbb R^+$, where $X$ is a closed manifold.
Is there any decomposition like (Hodge Decomposition) of the Differential forms on it.
- 1,915
3
votes
1
answer
661
views
What is visualization of gradient flow of a functional?
I don't work on functional analysis but during my study, I faced gradient of a functional. I read its definition, but I can not understand why it is a useful tool? Why if a flow can be written as a ...
- 1,303
3
votes
2
answers
262
views
The gradient $\nabla u$ of $u\in W^{1,p}(M;N)$ is tangent to $N$ almost everywhere
Let $M,N$ be (compact) Riemannian manifolds. $N$ is viewed as an embedded submanifold of $\Bbb R^K$. The Sobolev space $W^{1,p}(M;N)$ is defined as
$$
W^{1,p}(M;N):=\{ u\in W^{1,p}(M;\Bbb R^K)\ |\ u(x)...
- 1,245
3
votes
1
answer
214
views
Convergence of spectrum
Let $M$ be a compact manifold and $g_k$ be a sequence of Riemannain metrics smoothly converging to another Riemannian metric $g$.
Let $\{\lambda^k_j\}$ be the spectrum of the Laplacian of the ...
- 1,211
3
votes
1
answer
190
views
Laplace eigenfunction on a polygonal domain symmetric about an axis
Consider a polygon $\Omega \subseteq \mathbb{R}^2$, and let us consider the usual Laplacian operator $\Delta = \partial_x^2 + \partial_y^2$, with Dirichlet boundary conditions. My question comes from ...
- 33
3
votes
1
answer
326
views
Spectral multipliers vis-a-vis Differential geometry
Let us mention two papers for examples: this one by Seeger and Sogge and this by Cheeger, Gromov and Taylor. One can also mention papers by Stein, for example, this one. There are also many others of ...
- 141
3
votes
1
answer
733
views
Trace theorem for manifolds with boundary
Can I get a reference to a trace theorem for a manifold $M$ with boundary $\partial M$, and I am hoping the inequality
$$\lVert Tu \rVert_{L^2(\partial M)} \leq c\lVert u \rVert_{H^1(M)}$$
will hold.
...
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Friedrichs mollifiers and Sobolev spaces
$\renewcommand{\epsilon}{\varepsilon}$The following is from John Roe's book Elliptic operators, topology and asymptotic methods. $S$ is a vector bundle on a compact manifold $M$, but I think for my ...
- 1,141
3
votes
0
answers
108
views
A question on essentially self-adjoint differential operators of the type $\Delta=D^{\ast}D$
Let $(M,g)$ be a smooth (connected, complete, oriented) Riemannian manifold and let $D:C^{\infty}(M)\to C^{\infty}(M)$ be a linear partial differential operator, which I view as an operator in $L^{2}(...
- 1,171
3
votes
0
answers
153
views
Quasimode construction on a compact Riemannian manifold
Let $M$ be a closed Riemannian manifold, $\Delta$ be the usual Laplace-Betrami operator on $M$ and $\gamma : [0, L] \to M$ be a stable elliptic periodic geodesic of length $L$. I have heard in several ...
- 131
3
votes
0
answers
110
views
On the relation between ellipticity and Fredholmness as properties of linear PDE's on Fréchet spaces of smooth sections
Let $M$ be a compact manifold equipped with finite rank vector bundles $E$ and $F$ with spaces of $C^{\infty}$ sections denoted $\Gamma(E)$ and $\Gamma(F)$ respectively. It is standard that a ...
3
votes
0
answers
130
views
Is the range of the exterior covariant derivative closed in $L^{2}$?
Let $(M,g)$ be a compact Riemannian manifold. Given a tensor bundle $\mathbb{E}$, let $\nabla:\Gamma(\mathbb{E}) \rightarrow \Gamma(T^{*}M\otimes \mathbb{E})$ be the canonical connection induced by ...
- 808
3
votes
0
answers
125
views
Green operator of elliptic differential operator and radius of convergence
Let $E \to X$ be a hermitian vector bundle over a compact Kähler manifold and let $L$ be a self-adjoint elliptic linear differential operator on $E$. Suppose that $E \to X$ and $L$ are real-analytic. ...
- 1,383
3
votes
0
answers
280
views
Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition
I have a question regarding a decomposition of a vector field. So fix $ 1<p<\infty$ and let $ \Omega$ denote a smooth bounded domain in $ R^N$. Now let $ F $ denote a smooth vector field $F:\...
- 1,385
2
votes
2
answers
326
views
Are $\lVert \Delta u \rVert_{L^2(S)}$ and $\lVert u \rVert_{H^2(S)}$ equivalent norms on a compact manifold?
Hi,
I am looking for the result:
$$\text{The norm} \quad \lVert \Delta u \rVert_{L^2(S)} \quad \text{is equivalent to} \quad \lVert u \rVert_{H^2(S)}$$
for scalar functions $u \in H^2(S)$, where $S$ ...
- 55
2
votes
1
answer
352
views
Poisson equation on noncompact manifold
Let $(M,g)$ be a complete non-compact manifold with bounded geometry, such that the Sobolev embeddings hold and $C^\infty_c$-functions are dense in $L^p_k$ space.
For the equation
$$\Delta u=f,$$
...
- 1,915
2
votes
1
answer
652
views
Extension of outer unit normal vector to interior
Suppose we have a bounded smooth domain $\Omega$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$, so there exists an outer unit normal vector field $\eta$ everywhere on the boundary. Can we extend it to the interior satisfying ...
- 237
2
votes
1
answer
238
views
If $f \in H^{\frac 12}$ and $\varphi$ is Lipschitz, is $f\varphi \in H^{\frac 12}$ (on a Lipschitz hypersurface)?
Let $M$ be a bounded hypersurface. Let $f \in H^{\frac 12}(M)$ and let $\varphi\colon M \to \mathbb{R}$ be a Lipschitz function.
When $M=\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ an open domain, we know that the ...
- 307
2
votes
1
answer
687
views
Solutions to Heat Equations with Obstacles!
Consider a closed Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ and a positive function $\psi: M \to R$. Fix a point $p \in M$, I have been struggling to construct a solution to the heat equation, $\partial_t u = \...
2
votes
1
answer
219
views
Right inverse of the Seiberg-Witten functional
For closed 4 manifold X, we consider the derivative of the Seiberg-Witten functional, i.e.
$$\Omega^1_2(X;\sqrt{-1}\mathbb R)\oplus\Gamma_2(S^+)\overset{D}{\to}\Omega^2_{+,1}(X;\sqrt{-1}\mathbb R)\...
- 1,915
2
votes
0
answers
92
views
Sharp Sobolev trace inequalities on Riemannian manifolds with boundaries
For $n \geq3$, let $(M,g)$ be smooth $n$-dimensional, compact, Riemannian manifold with a smooth boundary. Then there exists some constant $A=A(M,g)>0$ such that, for all $u \in H^1(M)$
\begin{...
- 101
2
votes
0
answers
114
views
Poincare inequality on the hemisphere
Background:
Let $\mathbb{S}^2_+$ be the hemisphere. Then we know that for $f:\mathbb{S}^2_+\to \mathbb{R}$ satisfying (when written in coordinates) $\int_{0}^{2\pi}\int_{0}^{\pi/2}f(r,\theta)\sin(r)dr ...
- 537
2
votes
0
answers
126
views
Differential equations: trying to connect a nonlinear equation to a linear one
The following is motivated by taking a product space $\Omega$ and splitting it into two parts via projections, whose subspaces, $T$ and $X$, are home to functions which satisfy a nonlinear PDE and a ...
- 383
2
votes
0
answers
382
views
Poincaré inequality holds on Riemannian manifolds (min max principle)
In YuChang Xia's book "Eigenvalues on Riemannian Manifolds" Page 4 equation (1.16）Poincaré inequality:
I want to know which manifold(s)/function(s) can make the inequality hold. What if we ...
- 71