The sphere theorems for manifolds with positive scalar curvature

Abstract

Some new differentiable sphere theorems are obtained via the Ricci flow and stable currents. We prove that if $M^n$ is a compact manifold whose normalized scalar curvature and sectional curvature satisfy the pointwise pinching condition $R_0>σ_{n}K_{\max}$, where $σ_n\in (\frac{1}{4},1)$ is an explicit positive constant, then $M$ is diffeomorphic to a spherical space form. This gives a partial answer to Yau's conjecture on pinching theorem. Moreover, we prove that if $M^n(n\geq3)$ is a compact manifold whose $(n-2)$-th Ricci curvature and normalized scalar curvature satisfy the pointwise condition $Ric^{(n-2)}_{\min}>τ_n(n-2)R_0,$ where $τ_n\in (\frac{1}{4},1)$ is an explicit positive constant, then $M$ is diffeomorphic to a spherical space form. We then extend the sphere theorems above to submanifolds in a Riemannian manifold. Finally we give a classification of submanifolds with weakly pinched curvatures, which improves the differentiable pinching theorems due to Andrews, Baker and the authors.