Small Normal Curvature and Three-Manifold Topology

Abstract

For $m=2,3$, we prove that every smooth immersion $F:\mathbb{R}{\mathbb{P}}^m\looparrowright {\overline{\mathbb{B}}}^{,N}(1)$ satisfies $\kappa (F{)}^2\ge 2m/(m+1)$, with equality only for the Veronese embedding, up to congruence. We also prove that a closed, connected, orientable three-manifold admitting an immersion into a Euclidean unit ball with $\kappa (F)\le \sqrt{3/2}$ is diffeomorphic to $S^3$, $\mathbb{R}{\mathbb{P}}^3$, or $S^2\times S^1$. All three possibilities occur, while $\kappa (F)<\sqrt{3/2}$ forces $X\cong S^3$. These results answer a question of Petrunin and prove a conjecture of Chodosh--Li concerning the normal curvature of three-manifolds. The key intrinsic input is the strict scalar--systolic inequality \[ (\min_Y R_g)\text{sys}(g)^2<6π^2 \] for every spherical three-space form $Y$ with $|{\pi }_1(Y)|>2$. Its proof uses systolic monotonicity along Ricci flow with surgery. This strict inequality complements the sharp scalar--systolic inequality for $\mathbb{R}{\mathbb{P}}^3$ of Bray--Brendle--Eichmair--Neves.

New results added: a classification of closed orientable 3-manifolds, a sharp sphere theorem, and a Ricci flow scalar--systolic gap