Paper · Jan 13, 2022

An Illustrated Introduction to the Ricci Flow

Gabriel Khan

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Abstract

The Ricci flow is one of the most important topics in differential geometry, and a central focus of modern geometric analysis. In this paper, we give an illustrated introduction to the subject which is intended for a general audience. The goal is to provide a working definition of the Ricci flow as well as some intuition for its behavior without assuming any prerequisite knowledge of differential geometry or topology.

Comments: 42 pages, 22 figures

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The 6 papers on this site closest to this one, judged by the topics they share, the words and phrases in their titles and abstracts, and their authors. They are not its citations, but a map of the work around it. Papers here go back to 2021, plus the canon.

Connected papers This paper in the centre and the 6 papers closest to it around it, in date order clockwise from the top. The closer a paper sits to the centre, the stronger the connection. This paper Log-Concavity and Fundamental Gaps on Surfaces of Positive Curvature (Gabriel Khan, Xuan Hien Nguyen, Malik Tuerkoen et al., 2022)2Khan 2022 Curvature-Torsion Entropy for Twisted Curves under Curve Shortening Flow (Gabriel Khan, 2023)4Khan 2023 Courant Algebroid Relations, T-Dualities and Generalised Ricci Flow (Thomas C. De Fraja, Vincenzo Emilio Marotta and Richard J. Szabo, 2025)6De Fraja 2025 Extensions and Applications of Bredon's Trick in Geometric and Topological Contexts (Mauricio Angel, 2025)3Angel 2025 Global Analysis: An Introduction to Nonlinear Analysis and Its Variational Methods on Riemannian Manifolds (Carlos Daniel Velázquez-Mendoza, María de los Ángeles Sandoval-Romero and Romulo Diaz Carlos, 2026)1Velázquez-Me 2026 Characterization of Sasakian Manifolds by Curvature Conditions (Sourav Nayak, Vladimir Rovenski and Dhriti Sundar Patra, 2026)5Nayak 2026
Closer to the centre: more closely connected. Clockwise from the top: oldest to newest. Ricci flowWider flowsalso connected to each other
  1. Extensions and Applications of Bredon's Trick in Geometric and Topological Contexts

    Mauricio Angel PDF

    Topics Ricci flow · Shared terms “differential geometry”, “geometric analysis”

  2. Characterization of Sasakian Manifolds by Curvature Conditions

    Sourav Nayak, Vladimir Rovenski and Dhriti Sundar Patra PDF

    Topics Ricci flow · Shared terms “differential geometry”

Read around it

Background reading

The guides for the topics of this paper: what each idea is, why it matters, and the papers to read first.

In the guidebook

  1. 5A.5
    Uniformization and the Two-Dimensional Ricci FlowBook 5A · Complex Analysis and Conformal Geometry

    Constant-curvature metrics on surfaces, and Ricci flow as a heat equation for the conformal factor.

  2. 10A.12
    Curve Shortening and Minimal DiscsBook 10A · Three-Manifolds and Geometrization

    How loops shrink under curvature, how the discs they bound lose area, and Perelman's extinction estimate.

  3. 11A.1
    The Equation and Its First SolutionsBook 11A · The Ricci Flow: Existence and Maximum Principles

    A heat equation for the metric: spheres, cylinders and scaling.