On Euler characteristic and Hitchin-Thorpe inequality for four-dimensional compact Ricci solitons

Abstract: In this article, we investigate the geometry of $4$-dimensional compact gradient Ricci solitons. We prove that, under an upper bound condition on the range of the potential function, a $4$-dimensional compact gradient Ricci soliton must satisfy the classical Hitchin-Thorpe inequality. In addition, some volume estimates are also obtained.