Bach flows of product manifolds

Abstract

We investigate various aspects of a geometric flow defined using the Bach tensor. Firstly, using a well-known split of the Bach tensor components for $(2,2)$ unwarped product manifolds, we solve the Bach flow equations for typical examples of product manifolds like $S^2\times S^2$, $R^2\times S^2$. In addition, we obtain the fixed point condition for general $(2,2)$ manifolds and solve it for a restricted case. Next, we consider warped manifolds. For Bach flows on a special class of asymmetrically warped four manifolds, we reduce the flow equations to a first order dynamical system, which is solved exactly to find the flow characteristics. We compare our results for Bach flow with those for Ricci flow and discuss the differences qualitatively. Finally, we conclude by mentioning possible directions for future work.Comment: to appear in IJGMMP (2012