We generalize an inequality of E. Heintze and H. Karcher for the volume of tubes around minimal submanifolds to an inequality based on integral bounds for k-Ricci curvature. Even in the case of a pointwise bound this generalizes the classical inequality by replacing a sectional curvature bound with a k-Ricci bound. This work is motivated by the estimates of Petersen-Shteingold-Wei for the volume of tubes around a geodesic and generalizes their estimate. Using similar ideas we also prove a Hessian comparison theorem for k-Ricci curvature which generalizes the usual Hessian and Laplacian comparison for distance functions from a point and give several applications.

Joint with Analysis Seminar

I will discuss a new construction of families of Ricci-flat Kahler metrics on K3 surfaces which collapse to an interval, with Tian-Yau and Taub-NUT metrics occurring as bubbles. There is a corresponding singular fibration from the K3 surface to the interval, with regular fibers diffeomorphic to either 3-tori or Heisenberg nilmanifolds. This is joint work with Hans-Joachim Hein, Song Sun, and Ruobing Zhang.

Convex surface theory and bypasses are extremely powerful tools
for analyzing contact 3-manifolds.  In particular they have been
successfully applied to many classification problems.  After reviewing
convex surface theory in dimension three,  we explain how to generalize many
of their properties to higher dimensions.   This is joint work with Yang
Huang.

We show that the degenerate special Lagrangian equation (DSL), recently introduced by Rubinstein–Solomon, induces a global equation on every Riemannian manifold, and that for certain associated geometries this equation governs, as it does in the Euclidean setting, geodesics in the space of positive Lagrangians. For example, geodesics in the space of positive Lagrangian sections of a smooth Calabi–Yau torus fibration are governed by the Riemannian DSL on the base manifold. We then develop their analytic techniques, specifically modifications of the Dirichlet duality theory of Harvey–Lawson, in the Riemannian setting to obtain continuous solutions to the Dirichlet problem for the Riemannian DSL and hence continuous geodesics in the space of positive Lagrangians