Isoperimetric profile comparisons and Yamabe constants

Abstract: We estimate from below the isoperimetric profile of $S^2 \times \re^2$ and use this information to obtain lower bounds for the Yamabe constant of $S^2 \times \re^2$. This provides a lower bound for the Yamabe invariants of products $S^2 \times M^2$ for any closed Riemann surface $M$. Explicitly we show that $Y(S^2 \times M^2) > (2/3) Y(S^4)$.