Abstract

Abstract. Let a smooth family of Riemannian metrics g(τ) satisfy the backwards Ricci flow equation on a compact oriented n-dimensional manifold M. Suppose two families of normalized n-forms ω(τ) ≥ 0 and ˜ω(τ) ≥ 0 satisfy the forwards (in τ) heat equation on M generated by the connection Laplacian ∆g(τ). If these n-forms represent two evolving distributions of particles over M, the minimum root-mean-square distance W2(ω(τ), ˜ω(τ), τ) to transport the particles of ω(τ) onto those of ˜ω(τ) is shown to be non-increasing as a function of τ, without sign conditions on the curvature of (M, g(τ)). Moreover, this contractivity property is shown to characterize supersolutions to the Ricci flow.

Citations