<p>The Ricci flow is a powerful technique that integrates geometry, topology, and analysis. Intuitively, the idea is to set up a PDE that evolves a metric according to its Ricci curvature. The resulting equation has much in common with the heat equation, which tends to "flow" a given function to ever nicer functions. By analogy, the Ricci flow evolves an initial metric into improved metrics. Richard Hamilton began the systematic use of the Ricci flow in the early 1980s and applied it in particular to study 3-manifolds. Grisha Perelman has made recent breakthroughs aimed at completing Hamilton's program. The Ricci flow method is now central to our understanding of the geometry and topology of manifolds. This book is an introduction to that program and to its connection to Thurston's geometrization conjecture. The authors also provide a "Guide for the hurried reader", to help readers wishing to develop, as efficiently as possible, a nontechnical appreciation of the Ricci flow program for 3-manifolds, i.e., the so-called "fast track".</p>

The Ricci Flow: An Introduction (Mathematical Surveys and Monographs)

Science & Math

Bennett Chow

Dan Knopf

Mathematics

American Mathematical Society

<p>Geometric analysis has become one of the most important tools in geometry and topology. In their books on the Ricci flow, the authors reveal the depth and breadth of this flow method for understanding the structure of manifolds. With the present book, the authors focus on the analytic aspects of Ricci flow. Some highlights of the presentation are weak and strong maximum principles for scalar heat-type equations and systems on manifolds, the classification by Bohm and Wilking of closed manifolds with 2-positive curvature operator, Bando's result that solutions to the Ricci flow are real analytic in the space variables, Shi's local derivative of curvature estimates and some variants, and differential Harnack estimates of Li-Yau-type including Hamilton's matrix estimate for the Ricci flow and Perelman's estimate for fundamental solutions of the adjoint heat equation coupled to the Ricci flow. The authors have tried to make some advanced material accessible to graduate students and nonexperts. The book gives a rigorous introduction to some of Perelman's work and explains some technical aspects of Ricci flow useful for singularity analysis. They have also attempted to give the appropriate references so that the reader may further pursue the statements and proofs of the various results. See also: The Ricci Flow: An Introduction The Ricci Flow: Techniques and Applications. Part I: Geometric Aspects The Ricci Flow: Techniques and Applications. Part III: Geometric-Analytic Aspects (forthcoming)</p>

The Ricci Flow: Techniques and Applications (Mathematical Surveys and Monographs) (Part II) (Mathematical Surveys and Monographs, 144)

Sun-Chin Chu

David Glickenstein

Christine Guenther

James Isenberg

Peng, Lü

and Lei Ni

Tom Ivey

Feng Luo

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