Gap Theorems for Locally Conformally Flat Manifolds

In this paper, we prove a gap result for a locally conformally flat complete non-compact Riemannian manifold with bounded non-negative Ricci curvature and a scalar curvature average condition. We show that if it has positive Green function, then it is flat. This result is proved by setting up new global Yamabe flow. Other extensions related to bounded positive solutions to a schrodinger equation are also discussed.Comment: Accepted version in Journal of Differential Equatrio

Scalable Bayesian model averaging through local information propagation

We show that a probabilistic version of the classical forward-stepwise variable inclusion procedure can serve as a general data-augmentation scheme for model space distributions in (generalized) linear models. This latent variable representation takes the form of a Markov process, thereby allowing information propagation algorithms to be applied for sampling from model space posteriors. In particular, we propose a sequential Monte Carlo method for achieving effective unbiased Bayesian model averaging in high-dimensional problems, utilizing proposal distributions constructed using local information propagation. We illustrate our method---called LIPS for local information propagation based sampling---through real and simulated examples with dimensionality ranging from 15 to 1,000, and compare its performance in estimating posterior inclusion probabilities and in out-of-sample prediction to those of several other methods---namely, MCMC, BAS, iBMA, and LASSO. In addition, we show that the latent variable representation can also serve as a modeling tool for specifying model space priors that account for knowledge regarding model complexity and conditional inclusion relationships

Hamilton type estimates for heat equations on manifolds

In this paper, we study the gradient estimates of Li-Yau-Hamilton type for positive solutions to both drifting heat equation and the simple nonlinear heat equation problem $$u_t-\Delta u=au\log u, \ \ u>0$$ on the compact Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ of dimension $n$ and with non-negative (Bakry-Emery)-Ricci curvature. Here $a\leq 0$ is a constant. The latter heat equation is a basic evolution equation which is the negative gradient heat flow to the functional of Log-Sobolev inequality on the Riemannian manifold. We derive various versions of gradient estimates which generalize Hamilton's gradient estimate. An question concerning the Hamilton type gradient estimate for the simple nonlinear heat equation is addressed.Comment: 15 page