Pointwise positivity conjecture for the second- and fourth-order curvature quantities

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Let n>6n>6 and let u∈C∞(Rn∖0)u\in \mathcal{C}^{\infty}(\mathbb{R}^n\setminus\\{0\\}) be a positive solution of the sixth-order limiting equation referenced in the source. Define

Q2(u):=−Δu−4n−6∣∇u∣2u.Q_2(u):=-\Delta u-\frac{4}{n-6}\frac{|\nabla u|^2}{u}.

For the conformally flat metric g=u4/(n−6)δg=u^{4/(n-6)}\delta, define Q4(u)Q_4(u) by

Q4(u):=Δ2u−8n−6u(8−n)/2⟨∇u,∇Δu⟩−4n−6u(8−n)/2∣D2u∣2−8(8−n)(n−6)2u7−nD2u(∇u,∇u)−4(8−n)(n−6)2u7−n∣∇u∣2Δu−2(n−7)(n−8)(n−6)3(n−4)u(20−3n)/2∣∇u∣4.\begin{aligned} Q_4(u):={}&\Delta^2 u-\frac{8}{n-6}u^{(8-n)/2}\langle\nabla u,\nabla\Delta u\rangle-\frac{4}{n-6}u^{(8-n)/2}|D^2u|^2\\\\ &-\frac{8(8-n)}{(n-6)^2}u^{7-n}D^2u(\nabla u,\nabla u)-\frac{4(8-n)}{(n-6)^2}u^{7-n}|\nabla u|^2\Delta u\\\\ &-\frac{2(n-7)(n-8)}{(n-6)^3(n-4)}u^{(20-3n)/2}|\nabla u|^4. \end{aligned}

Pointwise positivity conjecture. The estimates

Q2(u)≥n−6nun/(n−6),Q4(u)≥n−6nun/(n−6)Q_2(u)\geq\sqrt{\frac{n-6}{n}}u^{n/(n-6)},\qquad Q_4(u)\geq\sqrt{\frac{n-6}{n}}u^{n/(n-6)}

hold throughout Rn∖0\mathbb{R}^n\setminus\\{0\\}. In particular, the curvatures Qg2Q_g^2 and Qg4Q_g^4 associated with gg are both positive.

The claim is posed after observing that the assumptions Qg2≥0Q_g^2\geq0 and Qg4≥0Q_g^4\geq0 do not directly imply Δ2u≥0\Delta^2u\geq0. Its status is not resolved in the supplied material.

References

Primary source

João Henrique Andrade, João Marcos do Ò, Jesse Ratzkin and Juncheng Wei, “Compactness of singular solutions to the sixth order GJMS equation”, arXiv:2302.05770 (2023).

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