We explore fast convergence of the Riemannian Frank--Wolfe method for smooth geodesically convex optimization over compact feasible sets. Hadamard manifolds are the main setting. On general complete manifolds, the analysis accounts for all feasible minimizing geodesics. We consider the open loop step-size $\eta_k=a/(k+a)$, which only uses the iteration index. Under a local H\"olderian error bound and local length-normalized directional scaling, every $a>2$ gives the eventual rate $O(k^{-1/(1-\theta)})$ for $\theta\in(0,1/2]$. An interior-ball condition yields $O(k^{-2})$ for strongly geodesically convex objectives. Under an exact Riemannian scaling inequality and a uniform positive lower bound on the gradient norm, every $a\geq2$ gives $O(k^{-a})$ after an explicit threshold index. The same rate holds for the smallest Frank--Wolfe gap over the most recent half of the iterates. For geodesic balls of radius \(R<\pi/2\) in the unit sphere, we establish the scaling inequality with $\alpha_R=\tfrac12\cot R$, yielding $O(k^{-a})$ primal error and recent-window gap rates. We also analyze the standard gap-feedback short step under the local error-bound conditions, obtaining $O(k^{-1/(1-2\theta)})$ for $\theta<1/2$ and a linear rate for $\theta=1/2$. Numerical experiments illustrate the predicted rates and compare iteration-only and feedback-based step selection.
We study the quasilinear Liouville equation \[ -\Delta_n u=e^u \] on complete noncompact Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative Ricci curvature. Our first result shows that, if a solution $u$ satisfies the optimal logarithmic lower bound \[ u(x)\ge -\frac{n^2}{n-1}\log r(x)+o(\log r(x)) \quad \text{as }r(x)\to+\infty, \] then the underlying manifold is isometric to the Euclidean space and $u$ is a standard bubble solution. Both the leading coefficient and the remainder term in the assumption are sharp. The key ingredient in the proof is the connection between the logarithmic lower bound and a sharp upper bound on the total volume of the solution. We also formulate a conjecture concerning the interaction between the sub-logarithmic decay of solutions and the underlying geometry, and prove it for $n=2$, as well as for $n\ge 3$ under a strengthened assumption.
We study sharp estimates for the $p$-capacity on complete non-compact Riemannian manifolds under lower Ricci curvature bounds. First, we establish sharp comparison inequalities for the $p$-capacity of bounded smooth domains in manifolds satisfying $\operatorname{Ric}\ge -ng.$ The estimates are expressed in terms of the boundary mean curvature and correspond to natural warped-product model ends. We characterize all equality cases and show that equality forces the exterior region to be isometric to the corresponding warped product. We also obtain an analogous sharp estimate under nonnegative Ricci curvature, whose equality case is described by an asymptotically flat model end. Second, we investigate normalized lower bounds for the relative $p$-capacity of condensers. We introduce scale-invariant quantities involving the volume of the inner set and the diameter of the ambient domain, establish uniform positive lower bounds, and determine the optimal ranges of the normalization parameters.
We develop a pluripotential approach to complex Hessian equations on compact Hermitian manifolds. In this setting, the lack of closedness of the background metric introduces torsion terms that prevent a direct extension of the K\"ahler theory. Our main result is a uniform $L^\infty$ estimate for bounded $\omega$-$m$-subharmonic solutions of the equation \[ (\omega + dd^c u)^m \wedge \omega^{n-m} = cf\,\omega^n, \] under the assumption that $f \in L^p$, $f \ge 0$ for some $p>1$. The proof combines a weak comparison principle with torsion error, a capacity theory adapted to the Hermitian setting, and a nonlinear iteration scheme controlling the decay of sublevel sets. As applications, we obtain existence, stability and compactness results for weak solutions with $L^p$ densities. These results extend several aspects of the pluripotential theory. of complex Hessian equations beyond the K\"ahler framework.
We establish the rigidity statement in the equality case of the hyperspherical-radius inequality of Brendle, Tsiamis, and Wang for compact spin fill-ins with scalar curvature bounded below. More precisely, let $(M^{n\geq 3},g)$ be a compact, connected Riemannian spin manifold having a connected boundary $\Sigma$ and scalar curvature satisfying $\mathrm{scal}_g\geq -n(n-1)$. We prove that equality in the upper bound \[ \inf_{\Sigma}H\leq (n-1)\sqrt{1+\operatorname{Rad}(\Sigma)^{-2}} \] given by Brendle, Tsiamis, and Wang holds if and only if $(M,g)$ is isometric to a geodesic ball in hyperbolic space.
Let $(M,g)$ be a connected, compact, $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifold with $\operatorname{Ric}(M,g)\geq-(n-1)\kappa g$. We introduce a weighted combinatorial Laplacian on $\varepsilon$-discretizations of $M$ and prove a spectral comparison theorem between the weighted graph Laplacian and the Laplace-Beltrami operator. More precisely, the eigenvalues of the two operators are uniformly comparable with constants depending only on $n,\kappa,\varepsilon$, independently of the injectivity radius. As an application, we prove spectral stability under measured Gromov-Hausdorff convergence. We also recover the Schoen-Wolpert-Yau inequality using the weighted discretization on families of pinching genus-$2$ hyperbolic surfaces.
We study the long-time behavior of the Wasserstein gradient flow of the squared Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD) between a probability measure $\rho$ and a target measure $\mu$, where the underlying kernel is given by a Coulomb potential. For $L^\infty$ target densities $\mu$, we establish the existence of global weak solutions starting from arbitrary Borel probability measures and prove that the density $\rho_t$ belongs to $L^\infty$ for any $t>0$. We also show that the H\"older norm can grow exponentially in time. On the flat torus ${\mathbb{T}}^\mathsf{d}$, we prove a global metric PL inequality for every finite-Coulomb-energy source and nearly uniform target. For general bounded, uniformly positive targets, we prove exponential decay of the squared MMD without requiring a lower bound on the initial data, using a defective PL inequality. We also prove that the usual PL inequality may fail when the target vanishes only at one point and that, when $\mathsf{d}\ge2$, no PL constant can hold uniformly over all targets satisfying a prescribed lower bound. On ${\mathbb{R}}^\mathsf{d}$, for $\mathsf{d}\ge2$, under radial symmetry, source-support inclusion, and target-positivity assumptions, we establish a PL inequality and exponential convergence. On the unrestricted whole-space class, neither a multiplicative squared-MMD decay modulus uniform over the initial datum nor a global PL inequality can hold. Finally, in every dimension and in both spatial settings, we prove that every Lagrangian critical point coincides with the target when $(\rho-\mu)^+$ is absolutely continuous. In dimension two, the energy supplies uniform tightness. This implies that if our constructed solutions have finite energy at some positive time, then they converge to the target narrowly and strongly in negative-order Sobolev spaces.
Antonin Chodron de Courcel, Matthew Rosenzweig· 0 citations