Let $(M^{n+1},g)$ be a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary. Under the assumptions $\Ric_g\geq ng$ and $\II_g\geq0$, Wang proposed a sharp strengthening of the Choi--Wang--Reilly estimate, asserting that the first nonzero Laplace eigenvalue of the boundary is at least $n$; see [J. Geom. Anal. 31 (2021)]. We disprove this assertion in every dimension $n+1\geq3$. More precisely, we construct a sequence of metrics on the hemisphere $\Sph^{n+1}_{+}$ converging in $C^\infty$ to the round metric and satisfying \[ \Ric_g>n g,\qquad \II_g>0,\qquad \lambda_1(\partial\Sph^{n+1}_{+},g|_{\partial\Sph^{n+1}_{+}})<n. \] The construction starts from Zhu's infinitesimal conformal deformation, which lowers one branch of the first boundary eigenspace while preserving the normalized Ricci lower bound to first order. We add a multiple of the spherical height function.
Escobar (J Funct Anal 165(1):101-116, 1999) conjectured that for every $n\ge 3$, an $n$-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature and all boundary principal curvatures bounded below by $\kappa>0$ must satisfy $\sigma_1\geq \kappa$. We disprove this conjecture for every $n\geq 3$ by constr...
We give counterexamples to Yau's question on normalized scalar curvature integrals in every dimension $n\geq4$. For each such $n$, there exists a smooth complete Riemannian metric $g$ on $\mathbb{R}^n$ with nonnegative Ricci curvature and a pole such that \[ \lim_{R\to\infty}R^{2-n}\int_{B_q(R)}\mathrm{Scal}_g\,\mathrm...
We study volume comparison for closed Riemannian manifolds satisfying a positive Ricci curvature lower bound together with an improved scalar curvature lower bound. We prove that if a closed Riemannian manifold $(N^n, g)$ satisfies $\operatorname{Ric}_g\ge (n-1)g$ and the scalar curvature $R_g\ge n(n-1)(1+\varepsilon)$...
Let $(M^n, g, f)$ be a complete shrinking gradient Ricci soliton with constant scalar curvature. Under the assumptions that (i) $Ric \geq \frac{\nabla_{\nabla f}Ric}{f}$ on $M\setminus D$, where $D$ is a compact set over $M$; (ii) $(M^n, g, f)$ smoothly converges to $\mathbb{R}^2 \times \mathbb{S}^{n-2}$, we conclude t...
Let $V$ be an $n$-dimensional Euclidean vector space, ,where $n\ge 4$, and $\ell = \lfloor\frac{n}{2}\rfloor$. We prove the sharp pointwise estimate \[ q_2(E) \ge -\frac{2(\ell -1)}{3\ell} \mathrm{Scal}(E) \mathrm{Id}_{\Lambda^2V^*} \] for every algebraic curvature tensor $E$ on $V$ with nonnegative sectional curvature...
We establish sharp Sobolev-type geometric inequalities on $\mathbb{S}^n$ involving the total $\sigma_k$-curvatures $\int_{\mathbb{S}^n}\sigma_k(g)\,dv_g$. These results extend the optimal inequalities of Guan--Wang~\cite{GWDuke} from the cone $\mathcal{C}_k$ to the strictly larger cone $\mathcal{C}_{k-1}$, thereby enla...
