Ricci flows and their integrability in two dimensions

Abstract

We review the main aspects of Ricci flows as they arise in physics and mathematics. In field theory they describe the renormalization group equations of the target space metric of two dimensional sigma models to lowest order in the perturbative expansion. As such they provide an off-shell approach to the problem of tachyon condensation and vacuum selection in closed string theory in the weak gravitational regime. In differential geometry they introduce a systematic framework to find canonical metrics on Riemannian manifolds and make advances towards their classification by proving the geometrization conjecture. We focus attention to geometric deformations in low dimensions and find that they also exhibit a rich algebraic structure. The Ricci flow in two dimensions is shown to be integrable using an infinite dimensional algebra with antisymmetric Cartan kernel that incorporates the deformation variable into its root system. The deformations of two dimensional surfaces also control the Ricci flow on 3-manifolds and their decomposition into prime factors by applying surgery prior to the formation of singularities along shrinking cycles. A few simple examples are briefly discussed including the notion of Ricci solitons. Other applications to physical systems are also listed at the end.

15 pages, contribution to Strings 2004; two minor typos corrected

References in corpus (2)

• Ricci flow with surgery on three-manifolds
• Finite extinction time for the solutions to the Ricci flow on certain three-manifolds

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• Special solutions for Ricci flow equation in 2D using the linearization approach
• The algebraic structure of geometric flows in two dimensions
• Deformed $\sigma$-models, Ricci flow and Toda field theories
• Reduction of coupling constants in two-dimensional sigma models
• Noncommutative Root Space Witt, Ricci Flow, and Poisson Bracket Continual Lie Algebras
• Three dimensional conformal sigma models