In this paper, we introduce a new notion for lower bounds of Ricci curvature on Alexandrov spaces, and extend Cheeger-Gromoll splitting theorem and Chengs maximal diameter theorem to Alexandrov spaces under this Ricci curvature condition.
Recently, in [49], a new definition for lower Ricci curvature bounds on Alexandrov spaces was introduced by the authors. In this article, we extend our research to summarize the geometric and analytic results under this Ricci condition. In particular, two new results, the rigidity result of Bishop-Gromov volume comparison and Lipschitz continuity of heat kernel, are obtained.
We study closed three-dimensional Alexandrov spaces with a lower Ricci curvature bound in the $mathsf{CD}^*(K,N)$ sense, focusing our attention on those with positive or nonnegative Ricci curvature. First, we show that a closed three-dimensional $mathsf{CD}^*(2,3)$-Alexandrov space must be homeomorphic to a spherical space form or to the suspension of $mathbb{R}P^2$. We then classify closed three-dimensional $mathsf{CD}^*(0,3)$-Alexandrov spaces.
In this paper, we establish a Bochner type formula on Alexandrov spaces with Ricci curvature bounded below. Yaus gradient estimate for harmonic functions is also obtained on Alexandrov spaces.
We prove the generalized Margulis lemma with a uniform index bound on an Alexandrov $n$-space $X$ with curvature bounded below, i.e., small loops at $pin X$ generate a subgroup of the fundamental group of unit ball $B_1(p)$ that contains a nilpotent subgroup of index $le w(n)$, where $w(n)$ is a constant depending only on the dimension $n$. The proof is based on the main ideas of V.~Kapovitch, A.~Petrunin, and W.~Tuschmann, and the following results: (1) We prove that any regular almost Lipschitz submersion constructed by Yamaguchi on a collapsed Alexandrov space with curvature bounded below is a Hurewicz fibration. We also prove that such fibration is uniquely determined up to a homotopy equivalence. (2) We give a detailed proof on the gradient push, improving the universal pushing time bound given by V.~Kapovitch, A.~Petrunin, and W.~Tuschmann, and justifying in a specific way that the gradient push between regular points can always keep away from extremal subsets.
We relate the existence of many infinite geodesics on Alexandrov spaces to a statement about the average growth of volumes of balls. We deduce that the geodesic flow exists and preserves the Liouville measure in several important cases. The developed analytic tool has close ties to integral geometry.