Stability of Euclidean space under Ricci flow

Abstract

We study the Ricci flow for initial metrics which are C0 small perturbations of the Euclidean metric on ℝn. In the case that this metric is asymptotically Euclidean, we show that a Ricci harmonic map heat flow exists for all times, and converges uniformly to the Euclidean metric as time approaches infinity. In proving this stability result, we introduce a monotone integral quantity which measures the deviation of the evolving metric from the Euclidean metric. We also investigate the convergence of the diffeomorphisms relating Ricci harmonic map heat flow to Ricci flow.