Related papers: Flows of $G_2$-structures, II: Curvature, torsion,…

This is a foundational paper on flows of G_2 Structures. We use local coordinates to describe the four torsion forms of a G_2 Structure and derive the evolution equations for a general flow of a G_2 Structure on a 7-manifold. Specifically,…

Interest in Riemannian manifolds with holonomy equal to the exceptional Lie group $\mathrm{G}_2$ have spurred extensive research in geometric flows of $\mathrm{G}_2$-structures defined on seven-dimensional manifolds in recent years. Among…

This paper initiates a classification programme of flows of $\mathrm{SU}(2)$-structures on $4$-manifolds which have short-time existence and uniqueness. Our approach adapts a representation-theoretic method originally due to Bryant in the…

We develop an abstract theory of flows of geometric $H$-structures, i.e., flows of tensor fields defining $H$-reductions of the frame bundle, for a closed and connected subgroup $H\subset SO(n)$, on any connected and oriented $n$-manifold…

We study flows of $G_2$-structures guided by the principle of dimensional reduction: natural geometric flows in $G_2$-geometry reduce to natural flows in complex geometry. Our main examples are the $G_2$-Laplacian coflow, which lifts the…

We study a flow of $G_2$ structures which induce the same Riemannian metric which is the negative gradient flow of an energy functional. We prove Shi-type estimates for the torsion tensor along the flow. We show that at a finite-time…

Geometric flows have proved to be a powerful geometric analysis tool, perhaps most notably in the study of 3-manifold topology, the differentiable sphere theorem, Hermitian-Yang-Mills connections and canonical Kaehler metrics. In the…

We introduce a flow of $G_2$-structures defining the same underlying Riemannian metric, whose stationary points are those structures with divergence-free torsion. We show short-time existence and uniqueness of the solution.

Given a $7$-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold $\left( M,g\right) $ that admits $G_{2}$-structure, all the $G_{2}$-structures that are compatible with the metric $g$ are parametrized by unit sections of an octonion bundle over $M$. We…

This article consists of some loosely related remarks about the geometry of G_2-structures on 7-manifolds and is partly based on old unpublished joint work with two other people: F. Reese Harvey and Steven Altschuler. Much of this work has…

In this paper we introduce a new functional on the space of $G_2$-structures which we call the $G_2$-Hilbert functional. It is uniquely determined by a few basic principles inspired by the Einstein-Hilbert functional in Riemannian Geometry,…

We give a twistorial interpretation of geometric structures on a Riemannian manifold, as sections of homogeneous fibre bundles, following an original insight by Wood (2003). The natural Dirichlet energy induces an abstract harmonicity…

We consider non-infinitesimal deformations of G2-structures on 7-dimensional manifolds and derive an exact expression for the torsion of the deformed G2-structure. We then specialize to a case when the deformation is defined by a vector v…

We introduce a geometric flow of conformally coclosed $G_2$-structures, whose fixed points are large volume solutions of the heterotic $G_2$ system, with vanishing scalar torsion class $\tau_0 = 0$. After conformal rescaling, it becomes a…

These notes give an informal and leisurely introduction to $\mathrm{G}_2$ geometry for beginners. A special emphasis is placed on understanding the special linear algebraic structure in $7$ dimensions that is the pointwise model for…

The Ricci flow has been of fundamental importance in mathematics, most famously though its use as a tool for proving the Poincar\'e Conjecture and Thurston's Geometrization Conjecture. It has a parallel life in physics, arising as the first…

We survey recent progress in the study of flows of isometric $G_2$-structures on 7-dimensional manifolds, that is, flows that preserve the metric, while modifying the $G_2$-structure. In particular, heat flows of isometric $G_2$-structures…

We develop a geometric flow framework to investigate two classical shape functionals: the torsional rigidity and the first Dirichlet eigenvalue of the Laplacian. First, by constructing novel deformation paths governed by height-stretching…

We describe the $10$-dimensional space of $Sp(2)$-invariant $G_2$-structures on the homogeneous $7$-sphere $S^7=Sp(2)/Sp(1)$ as $\mathbb{R}^+\times Gl^+(3,\mathbb{R})$. In those terms, we formulate a general Ansatz for $G_2$-structures,…

We consider $G_{2}$-structures on $7$-manifolds that are warped products of an interval and a six-manifold, which is either a Calabi-Yau manifold, or a nearly K\"{a}hler manifold. We show that in these cases the $G_{2}$-structures are…