We show that any closed spin manifold not diffeomorphic to the two-sphere admits a sequence of volume-one-Riemannian metrics for which the smallest non-zero Dirac eigenvalue tends to zero. As an application, we compare the Dirac spectrum with the conformal volume.
An almost contact metric structure is parametrized by a section of an associated homogeneous fibre bundle, and conditions for this to be a harmonic section, and a harmonic map, are studied. These involve the characteristic vector field, and the almost complex structure in the contact subbundle. Several examples are given where the harmonic section equations reduce to those for the characteristic field to be a harmonic section of the unit tangent bundle. These include trans-Sasakian structures, and certain nearly cosymplectic structures. On the other hand, we obtain examples where the characteristic field is harmonic but the almost contact structure is not. Many of our examples are obtained by considering hypersurfaces of almost Hermitian manifolds, with the induced almost contact structure, and comparing the harmonic section equations for both structures.
We study the existence and regularity of energy-minimizing harmonic almost complex structures. We have proved results similar to the theory of harmonic maps, notably the classical results of Schoen-Uhlenbeck and recent advance by Cheeger-Naber.
We define and study the harmonic heat flow for almost complex structures which are compatible with a Riemannian structure $(M, g)$. This is a tensor-valued version of harmonic map heat flow. We prove that if the initial almost complex structure $J$ has small energy (depending on the norm $| abla J|$), then the flow exists for all time and converges to a Kahler structure. We also prove that there is a finite time singularity if the initial energy is sufficiently small but there is no Kahler structure in the homotopy class. A main technical tool is a version of monotonicity formula, similar as in the theory of the harmonic map heat flow. We also construct an almost complex structure on a flat four tori with small energy such that the harmonic heat flow blows up at finite time with such an initial data.
We use the symmetries of the tetrahedron, octahedron and icosahedron to construct local models for a $mathbb{Z}/2$ harmonic 1-form or spinor in 3-dimensions near a singular point in its zero loci. The local models are $mathbb{Z}/2$ harmonic 1-forms or spinors on $mathbb{R}^3$ that are homogeneous with respect to rescaling of $mathbb{R}^3$ with their zero locus consisting of four or more rays from the origin. The rays point from the origin to the vertices of a centered tetrahedron in one example; and they point from those of a centered octahedron and a centered icosahedron in two others.