Geometric and spectral estimates based on spectral Ricci curvature assumptions

Abstract: We obtain a Bonnet-Myers theorem under a spectral condition: a closed Riemannian manifold $(M^n,g)$ for which the lowest eigenvalue of the Ricci tensor $\rho$ is such that the Schr\"odinger operator $(n-2)\Delta + \rho$ is positive has finite fundamental group. As a continuation of our earlier results, we obtain isoperimetric inequalities from a Kato condition on the Ricci curvature. Furthermore, we obtain the Kato condition for the Ricci curvature under purely geometric assumptions.