Universal Volume Growth Bounds from Positive Intermediate Curvature

Abstract

Let $n,m$ be integers such that $n\ge 2$ and $0\le m\le n-2$. Let $C_{m+1}$ denote the $(m+1)$-intermediate curvature introduced by Brendle--Hirsch--Johne. We prove that there are constants $\nu (n,m),C(n,m)>0$ such that the following holds. If $(M^n,g)$ is complete and connected and, for $\delta \ge 0$, \[ \mathrm{Ric}\geq-δ^2, \qquad C_{m+1}\geq 1, \] then \[ δR\leqν(n,m) \quad\Longrightarrow\quad \mathrm{Vol} B_R(p) \leq C(n,m)R^m \quad \text{for every $p\in M$ and $R>0$.} \] In particular, taking $m=n-2$ and $\delta =0$ gives Gromov's conjectured codimension-two volume growth estimate under $\mathrm{Ric}\ge 0$ and $\mathrm{Scal}\ge 1$.

15 pages. Minor revision. Theorems 1.2 and 1.4 are generalized beyond the nonnegative-Ricci setting of v1, requiring only minor changes to their proofs. Added Theorem 1.6. Expanded the Acknowledgments, Disclosure of AI tools, and Addendum; other changes are expository