The Fisher Metric of the Ricci Flow Heat Kernel

Abstract

We introduce and study a Fisher information metric \(g^F_τ\) associated to the conjugate heat kernel of a Ricci flow \((M^n,g_t)\). This tensor measures, at a fixed scale, how the pointed heat-kernel measure changes when the base point is moved. We prove that \(g^F_τ\) is monotone in scale and satisfies \(g^F_τ\le g_t\). We relate its trace to the pointed Nash entropy and prove a matrix square identity for the Fisher defect \(g_t-g^F_τ.\) This identity gives a rigidity theorem for the equality case; on closed connected flows one has the strict inequalities \(0<g^F_τ<g_t\) at every positive scale, while in the complete case equality forces a Euclidean splitting. We also develop several consequences of this point of view. These include a sharp reverse Poincaré inequality for the heat semigroup, a contraction formula for \(φ\)-divergences along conjugate heat flow, and a canonical construction of heat-kernel splitting maps from large eigenvalues of the Fisher endomorphism. As applications, we relate pointed Nash entropy close to \(0\) to small Fisher deficit at comparable scales, and we obtain a codimension-one Fisher-metric criterion for applying Bamler's \(\varepsilon\)-regularity theorem.